Contractors alerted for £200m university refurb framework

Contractors have been put on standby for a four-year framework to refurbish university buildings in England.

The framework – which will include “all aspects of refurbishment works” – is worth £200m, and could cover any parts of university sites including laboratories, lecture theatres, libraries, cafes, and offices.

The contractors could also be asked to work on public areas, meeting rooms, conference rooms, accommodation sites and plant areas.

Contractors appointed to the framework should also expect to get work on “buildings of varying age/condition, listed/heritage type buildings”, according to a contract notice published last Friday (13 December).

The framework is split into four lots depending on the value of the work, while each lot has been split into sub-lots for different areas of the country.

Lot one – for work worth up to £250,000 – is split into three sub-lots, covering the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the Midlands. The North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC) – the framework client – has valued lot one at £30m, split equally three ways across the sub lots.

The second lot – worth £30m in total – will be for work worth between £250,000 and £1.5m, and is split into two sublots, covering Yorkshire and the Humber, and the Midlands. The £30m pot will be split equally across the two sub lots.

The third and fourth lots are also split into two sublots each for work in Yorkshire and the Humber and the Midlands. Lot three is for work worth between £1.4m and £4m, while the fourth lot is for work valued at between £4m and £10m.

NEUPC has earmarked £50m for lot three, and £90m for lot three. Again, those are split equally across the sub-lots.

The initial framework will run for four years, but could get a two-year extension. This will “allow for long term planning of capital projects and complex call off planning and evaluations”, according to tender documents published last week (13 December).

Interested contractors can submit their bids for the wok online here. The deadline for submitting tenders is midday on 30 January 2025.