Construction Tenders and Contracts

Construction procurement spans new-build schools and public buildings, civil engineering such as groundworks, demolition and bridge work, and refurbishment and roofing programmes across housing stock and public buildings. Specialist trades sit underneath the main contract: steelwork and fabrication, scaffolding, brickwork, cladding and asbestos removal.

Stotles brings together construction tenders and contracts from 100+ portals into one search, so you do not have to check each portal separately, and you can set alerts for new opportunities across the UK and Ireland.

If you want to search the government portals directly, Find a Tender carries higher-value contracts across the UK and Contracts Finder carries lower-value contracts in England. Public Contracts Scotland, Sell2Wales and eTendersNI cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ireland's eTenders covers Irish public bodies, and many councils, NHS bodies and housing associations publish on their own e-tendering portals such as ProContract. Larger works appear on Find a Tender, smaller council and school jobs often appear only on Contracts Finder or a buyer's own portal, and framework call-offs go only to contractors already on that framework.

Winning public sector construction work starts with the routes buyers actually use: minor works frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems for smaller jobs, and regional or national construction frameworks for larger projects. Bids are scored on quality, health and safety and price, and most projects are let on NEC or JCT contract forms, so experience of those terms helps. Pre-tender notices give contractors a chance to engage with buyers before the formal tender.

Construction tenders set minimum insurance cover, including employer's and public liability, check financial standing and ask for evidence of similar projects and a health and safety record at selection stage. Contractors also take on duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 on every project. Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded for certain criminal convictions, insolvency or failure to pay tax.

Procure Partnerships, LHC, Pagabo, SCAPE, Fusion21 and NEPO all run construction frameworks that councils, housing associations and schools call off from. Councils have appointed design-and-build contractors for school expansions through Procure Partnerships, and LHC runs a refurbishment and modernisation framework for Scotland. Many councils also run their own minor works dynamic purchasing systems.

Public sector construction projects are most often let on NEC or JCT contract forms, with design-and-build and two-stage early contractor involvement common on larger schemes. Smaller jobs may use a buyer's own minor works terms.

Yes. Councils, schools and town and parish councils let small refurbishment, groundworks and roofing jobs on their own, and many publish them on Contracts Finder. Subcontracting frameworks and minor works dynamic purchasing systems are built for smaller contractors, and larger projects are often split into lots by trade or site.

Read capital programmes, school estate plans, board papers and preliminary market engagement notices, which show construction work coming ahead of a formal tender. Pre-tender notices make up a large share of construction notices, so they are worth tracking. On Stotles you can follow those signals and the buyers behind them, then follow a notice from pre-tender through to award.

The core code is 45000000 (Construction work), alongside 45210000 (Building construction work), 45453100 (Refurbishment work), 45111100 (Demolition work) and 45261920 (Roof maintenance work). Design and consultancy appointments for construction projects carry 71000000 (Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services).