Planned Procurement Notice - Repairs & Maintenance Framework

Aspire Housing is looking to create a repairs and maintenance framework. A soft market test has been undertaken to give potential contractors and other stakeholders the opportunity to express their interests and feed in their views about the potential service model. Aspire has used the information to appraise options and further develop the specification/tender pack.
Aspire housing has a DLO off circa 130 operatives, delivering responsive repairs, voids, planned works, grounds maintenance and damp and Mould works. Our first point of call is to deliver works using the DLO however due to volume of work, we rely heavily on sub-contractors. Hence the need for this Repair & Maintenance framework. The works are predominantly reactive, and our busiest time is December – April as we approach year end to ensure we are hitting our job target dates, which usually means a quick turnaround.
The framework is broken down into Lots - “A” lots are dedicated for SMEs - The UK Public procurement definition of SME is - fewer than 250 employees. Tenderers can bid for Lots “A” if classed as a SME (Small, Medium sized Entity) or Lots “B” if not classed as a SME i.e larger company. Lots with no “A” or “B” can be bid on by any size organisation.
Aspire has structured this Framework into Lots and sub‑Lots, each with an estimated annual value to support proportionate competition and market access. Aspire reserves the right not to award a sub‑Lot where insufficient competition or capacity is demonstrated. In such circumstances, Aspire may merge the sub‑Lot back into the overarching Lot and proceed with award under the main Lot structure.
The lot structure has been designed to support Aspire’s objective of diversifying the supply base and ensuring that SMEs have equitable access to the Framework. By establishing a dedicated SME Lot, smaller providers compete solely against organisations of a similar scale, removing barriers that can arise when SMEs are evaluated alongside significantly...