This review has examined the framework procurement documents, contracts, guidance and case studies shared by 20 clients and framework providers who serve central government departments, arm's length bodies, local authorities and the wider public sector. This review has also benefitted from over additional 100 contributions from clients, framework providers, industry membership organisations, consultants, contractors, specialists and advisers. All written contributions were submitted on a confidential basis, and many were followed up with discussions in online meetings.
Questionnaires were designed for framework providers, industry participants, membership organisations and advisers, in which they were invited to share their views and experience as to how current frameworks:
■ Operate in practice
■ Align the objectives, success measures, targets and incentives of users and suppliers
■ Enable joint working on improving value and reducing risk
■ Provide for transparent performance measurement and work allocation procedures.
The questionnaires also explored the following:
■ Numbers and types of suppliers appointed under each framework
■ Geographical range of each framework, its client users and duration
■ Total potential value of frameworks compared to total value of work awarded
■ Resources committed to bidding for frameworks and the reasons for decisions not to bid
■ Procurement processes and evaluation criteria for selecting suppliers
■ Framework contract terms, user joining systems, cost models and call-off systems
■ Project delivery models, project contract terms and call- off options
■ Management systems and decision-making processes for users and suppliers
■ Performance measurement processes
■ Case studies of agreed project outcomes, improved value and reduced risks
■ Framework problems and how these could be avoided or dealt with better
■ Framework systems for enabling, supporting and measuring:
■ Selection by value of project team members
■ Collaborative working and team integration
■ Early supply chain involvement
■ Use of digital technology
■ Joint risk management and fair risk allocation
■ Fair payment and payment security throughout the supply chain
■ Cost transparency, cost certainty and agreed cost savings
■ Improved quality and reduced defects
■ Improved safety and reduced accidents
■ Effective time management
■ Improved project operation and whole life value
■ Net zero targets and improved environmental sustainability
■ Employment opportunities and skills development
■ Opportunities for local and regional businesses
■ Problem resolution and dispute avoidance
■ Shared learning and continuous improvement.
The following clients and framework providers shared their views, experience, procurement documents, framework contracts, guidance and case studies:
■ Constructing West Midlands
The Constructing West Midlands framework covers capital works generally exceeding £250,000 in value: including new build, extensions, improvements, renovations, reinstatement, repairs, mechanical, electrical, services and infrastructure works. It has an estimated total value £2.1 billion, comprising Lot 1 generally between £250,000, and £5 million and Lot 2 generally in excess of £5 million.
■ Crown Commercial Service
The Crown Commercial Service framework alliances comprise:
■ Construction Professional Services with a total potential value of £ 1.3 billion in six lots (built environment & general infrastructure; urban regeneration; international; high rise; defence; environmental and sustainability technical services). Services in all lots include project management, cost consultancy, architectural, BIM, building services, civil and mechanical engineering.
■ Construction Works and Associated Services with a total potential value of £30 billion in 11 lots comprising five generalist value-banded lots and six specialist lots (residential works, high-rise, maritime, airfield, demolition and construction management).
■ Modular Building Solutions with a total potential value of £1.2 billion covering design consultants, project managers, principal contractor and building manufacturers in 5 lots (education purchase; health purchase; education hire; health hire; general buy or hire).
■ Building Materials and Equipment with a total potential value of £900 million comprising manufacturers, merchants and subcontractors in 9 lots (heavy building materials; plumbing, heating & bathrooms; electrical products; paints and solvents; flooring; kitchens; PPE and workwear; tools and equipment purchase; tools and equipment hire).
■ Department for Education
The Department for Education 2017 Construction Framework ('2017 CF') is the fourth iteration of DfE Frameworks with a potential total value of £8 billion across 3 value bands and geographical lots and 30 contractors. The 2021 CF is currently being procured with a potential total value of £7 billion and a scope that is widened beyond education buildings.
The Department for Education Offsite Schools Framework has a total potential value of £3 billion and 10 suppliers in 2 Lots (for projects or batched projects with a GIFA either above or below 6000m2). Suppliers include volumetric manufacturers, panelised systems, component-based solutions and hybrids.
■ Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions fit-out framework has a total potential value of £375 million over 4 a year tenure and features 17 suppliers across 5 geographical regions as well as national and financial lots. A recent requirement of the DWP Estate is the Rapid Estate Expansion Programme (REEP) using a direct award procedure under the CCS construction framework (Lot 2) for the delivery of urgent works in support of Covid19 recovery.
DWP use CCS frameworks for the provision of furniture and professional services such as design, cost and project management, and have worked extensively with CCS on thematic lotting for the strategy and proposed structure of their professional services framework.
■ Environment Agency
The Environment Agency Collaborative Delivery Framework has a potential total value of £1.5 billion, working through six Integrated Delivery Teams (IDT) comprising a multi-disciplinary consultant and a contractor. Each IDT delivers an allocated capital programme in two or three areas, with incentivisation mechanisms that are linked to performance, defined at framework level and administered at IDT and project level.
Other Environment Agency frameworks include water and environment management, national cost management, client support, mapping and modelling, marine and coastal, operational and national property flood resilience.
■ Highways England
Highways England operates frameworks in operational maintenance and repair and network enhancements. HE also operates service provision frameworks such as specialist technical and professional services, commercial and project management services and archaeology.
Operational maintenance and repair include an asset delivery programme with the asset delivery partner acting in the role of construction manager and HE awarding all works contracts direct.
The HE major frameworks for network enhancement are:
■ Regional Delivery Partnerships with a total potential value of £9 billion delivered in 5 regions by 13 Delivery Integration Partners and 6 Technical Advisors.
■ Smart Motorway Alliance with a total potential value of £6 billion delivered by 6 suppliers.
■ H.M. Revenue and Customs
HMRC established a Hubs Framework to deliver the Government Hubs Programme which had a potential value of £1 billion and covered fit out works creating hubs designed to reduce the Government office estate from around 800 buildings to around 200 by 2023, generating savings of around £2.24 billion over ten years. The Hubs Framework comprised three lots, namely a national lot for projects in excess of £25 million and northern and southern lots for projects below £25 million. Related professional services were delivered through CCS frameworks.
■ LHC
LHC provide the following current frameworks:
■ Off-site Construction of New Homes with a total potential value of £1.1 billion
■ Housing Construction Scotland, Consultancy, with a total potential value of £150 million
■ Services Housing Construction Scotland with a total potential value of £1.5 billion
■ Housing Construction Southwest and Wales, Consultancy, with a total potential value of £70 million
■ Housing Construction Southwest and Wales with a total potential value of £1.2 billion
■ North and Mid-Wales Residential Construction with a total potential value of £1 billion
■ Schools & Community Buildings with a total potential value of £6.92 billion
■ Modular Buildings with a total potential value of £1billion
■ Whole House Refurbishment and Improvement with a total potential value of £1.3 billion
■ A range of related frameworks including supply of kitchen units & worktops, heating services, energy efficiency, general refurbishment works and offsite project integrators.
■ Midlands Highway Alliance
The Midlands Highway Alliance frameworks are available to the 24 member authorities and comprise:
■ A highways contractor framework with a total potential value of £500 million delivered through four civil engineering contractors using a two-stage open book procurement model
■ A professional services framework in two lots comprising services with a potential total of £39 million delivered through two consultants and secondments with a potential total value of £26 million delivered through two suppliers.
■ Ministry of Justice
Frameworks are utilised widely across the Ministry of Justice. Typically, they are limited to a certain discipline or part of the supply chain e.g. professional services, tier 1 contractor, legal services, property services.
MoJ construction frameworks have included a £900 million new build alliance framework under a bespoke strategic alliance agreement and equivalent alliance frameworks for refurbishment and consultancy services.
MoJ construction frameworks are typically awarded for longer than 4 years and undertaken on a regional basis. Service frameworks vary in duration depending on the type, nature and complexity of the service.
Increasingly, MoJ are moving to utilising call-offs under the CCS pan-public sector frameworks, for example in relation to facilities management.
MoJ construction procurements typically follow the IPA Routemap https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-infrastructure-delivery-project-initiation-routemap.
■ Network Rail
Current Network Rail frameworks include IPSNE Renewals and Enhancements Framework with a total potential value of £1.9 billion delivered through 3 contractors appointed to 3 lots. The framework clients are the Scotland Region and Eastern Region Routes, LNE Route, Capital Delivery stakeholders, Transport Scotland and the DfT.
Network Rail has also established the following alliances with a combined potential value of £4.95 billion delivered through integrated teams each comprising one or two contractors and a designer:
■ North Rail Systems Alliance
■ Central Rail Systems Alliance
■ South Rail Systems Alliance.
■ NHS Procure 22
The NHS ProCure frameworks, currently ProCure 22, are now in their 19th year and have delivered 1,235 projects worth a total of £9.7 billion. These frameworks deliver projects through Principal Supply Chain Partners who are primarily large construction firms selected via mini-competition for project design and construction.
ProCure users are mostly NHS Trusts, who separately resource the client-side professional roles of Project Manager, Cost Advisor and Supervisor.
NHS ProCure is currently procuring a new 'ProCure2020' framework with a total potential value of over £9 billion.
■ NHS Shared Business Services
The NHS Shared Business Services public sector construction frameworks have a projected value of up to £1.5 billion per annum over 7 years, delivered through 57 contractors in 5 lots:
■ Lot 1 for projects of up to £2.5 million (12 regions)
■ Lot 2 for projects of £2.5m - £5 million (12 regions)
■ Lot 3 for projects of £5m - £15 million (12 regions)
■ Lot 4 for projects of £15m - £35 million (national)
■ Lot 5 for projects of over £35 million (national).
NHS Shared Business Services other frameworks include:
■ Construction Consultancy Services, with over 200 SME and national consultants covering architecture, project management, civil engineering and quantity surveying
■ Modular Buildings, with 19 specialist contractors covering offsite building solutions for purchase, hire and lease
■ Car Park Management and Infrastructure, with 30 providers of car parking goods and services and contractors for car park construction and refurbishment.
■ Healthcare Improvement Services including capital equipment services and advising on fit-outs.
■ North East Procurement Organisation
The North East Procurement Organisation Frameworks comprise:
■ Building and Construction Works with a total potential value of £300 million delivered through 20 contractors across 6 Lots split according to value thresholds except Lot 6 which is for housing-related works
■ Civil Engineering and Infrastructure with a total potential value of £900 million delivered through 26 contractors across 13 Lots split according to pre-determined value thresholds
■ Construction and Engineering Consultancy with a total potential value of £10 million delivered by 60 suppliers across 16 lots such as multi-disciplinary services, ecology, architectural services, highways planning and flood and marine defences.
■ North West Construction Hub
The current third iteration of the North West Construction Hub Construction Frameworks comprise
■ Low Value Framework (£500K - £3M), 7 Contractors across 1 Lot with a total potential value of £120 million
■ Medium Value Framework (£2M - £10M), 12 Contractors across 6 Lots with a total potential value of £1 billion
■ High Value Framework (£8M - £35M+), 11 Contractors across 3 Lots with a total potential value of £ 1.5 billion.
■ Consultant services are procured under an Integrated Consultant Framework with NWCH in three lots (Lot 1 South West, Lot 2 South East & London and Lot 3 North West and Midlands).
Consultant services are procured under an Integrated Consultant Framework with Southern Construction Framework in three lots (Lot 1 South West, Lot 2 South East & London and Lot 3 North West and Midlands).
■ Scape
The current Scape frameworks comprise:
■ Regional construction, Central and Eastern England, with a total potential value of value £1.1bn delivered through 11 suppliers
■ Minor works, with a total potential value of value £1.5bn delivered through 1 supplier
■ National construction, with total potential value of value £9 bn delivered through 4 suppliers
■ Civil engineering, with a total potential value of value £2.1bn delivered through 1 supplier
■ Future construction, with a total potential value of value £14 bn delivered through 12 suppliers
■ Consultancy, with a total potential value of value £1 bn delivered through 5 suppliers.
■ Southern Construction Framework
The Southern Construction Framework supports public sector clients and publicly funded projects delivered by 10 tier 1 contractors in three regional lots, with total potential values of 1.5 bn. (South West), £1.75 bn (South East) and £2bn. (London). It uses exclusively a Two Stage Open Book project procurement model.
Consultant services are procured under an Integrated Consultant Framework with North West Construction Hub in three lots (Lot 1 South West, Lot 2 South East & London and Lot 3 North West and Midlands).
■ South East and Mid-Wales Collaborative Construction Framework
The South East and Mid-Wales Collaborative Construction Framework (SEWSCAP) has 21 general contractors and 5 modular/demountable providers across 11 Lots, with the total estimated framework value being £1 billion.
■ South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework
The South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework is a construction framework with an overall potential value of £1 billion under which 19 contractors are appointed over 10 lots for general construction work split in accordance with value and location.
■ YORhub
The current YORhub frameworks comprise:
■ YORbuild2 building works with a potential total value of £2,028m
■ YORbuild Major Works with a potential total value of £1,500m
■ YORcivil2 civil works with a potential total value of £1,044m
■ YORcivil Major Works with a potential total value of £2,000m
■ YORconsult2 consultancy services with a potential total value of £120m.
The following additional clients, framework providers, regulators, good practice bodies, contractors, specialists, architects, engineers, project managers, surveyors, lawyers and advisers have shared their views, experience and case studies: