Burnley Borough Council Launches Three New Construction and Maintenance Frameworks: Part 1

Burnley Borough Council has released three new frameworks covering a broad range of construction, maintenance and professional services, creating upcoming opportunities for contractors and specialist suppliers across East Lancashire.

The three opportunities are:

• Repairs & Maintenance Framework
• Planned & Capital Works Framework
• Construction & Professional Services Framework

Together, the frameworks cover different areas of the Council’s property and construction requirements, giving businesses the opportunity to target the framework – and individual lots – most closely aligned with their services and experience.

In this announcement, we're taking a closer look at the Repairs & Maintenance Framework, which covers reactive construction, repairs and specialist maintenance works across the Council’s property portfolio.

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Three Frameworks: Where Does Repairs & Maintenance Fit?

The Repairs & Maintenance Framework forms part of a wider package of three frameworks released by Burnley Borough Council:

Repairs & Maintenance Framework

Focused on reactive repairs and maintenance requirements across the Council’s property portfolio. This includes general building fabric alongside specialist mechanical, electrical, fire safety, environmental and other maintenance services.

Planned & Capital Works Framework

Focused separately on the Council’s planned and capital works requirements.

Construction & Professional Services Framework

Covering construction-related professional services as a separate procurement opportunity.

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For contractors, this distinction is important.

Businesses shouldn't automatically assume the Repairs & Maintenance Framework is the only relevant opportunity. Depending on your services, project experience and delivery capabilities, you may need to assess one or more of the three frameworks before deciding where to focus your bidding resources.

The remainder of this announcement focuses specifically on the Repairs & Maintenance Framework and its 25 available lots.

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Repairs & Maintenance Framework Factfile

Contracting authority: Burnley Borough Council
Sector: Construction, repairs and maintenance
Estimated value: £3.8 million excluding VAT
Location: East Lancashire
Framework length: 4 years
Number of lots: 25
Tender submission deadline: 5pm on 17 November 2026

The Repairs & Maintenance Framework is designed to appoint a number of contractors to deliver reactive repairs and maintenance works across Burnley Borough Council’s property portfolio.

The Council intends to enter into the framework agreement in April 2027, with the agreement expected to run for four years until March 2031.

With 25 individual lots, the framework covers an extensive range of general and specialist trades, from building fabric, roofing and joinery through to electrical works, fire safety, renewable technologies and asbestos management.

This breadth creates opportunities for both multi-disciplinary maintenance contractors and specialist SMEs looking to secure public-sector work within their particular trade.

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Procurement Timeline

The current procurement timetable includes:

• Tender notice published: 29 September 2026
• Deadline for clarification questions: 5pm on 2 November 2026
• Tender submission deadline: 5pm on 17 November 2026
• Estimated award decision: 21 January 2027
• Expected framework commencement: 1 April 2027

The framework is expected to remain in place until 31 March 2031. Tender documents are available through The Chest procurement portal under reference DN831191, where submissions must also be completed.

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What Is the Burnley Borough Council Repairs & Maintenance Framework?

The framework is being established to give Burnley Borough Council access to contractors capable of responding to a wide variety of repairs and maintenance requirements across its commercial and operational property portfolio.

Rather than procuring all works through a single multi-trade contract, the framework divides requirements across 25 lots, opening the opportunity to businesses with specific areas of expertise.

The lots are divided into two broad groups: Rotation Lots for General Fabric Works and Ranked Lots for Specialist Trades.

This means opportunities range from everyday building repairs, joinery and decoration through to specialist areas including HVAC, solar PV, fire detection, asbestos removal and building management systems.

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How Is the Framework Structured?

Rotation Lots – General Fabric Works

The first 11 lots cover general building fabric and associated construction trades:

• Lot 1: General Building Fabric – Low Value, up to £10k
• Lot 2: Joinery and Internal Finishes
• Lot 3: Bespoke Joinery
• Lot 4: Plastering, Rendering and Dry Lining
• Lot 5: Brickwork, Masonry and External Fabric
• Lot 6: Roofing and Weatherproofing – Flat and Pitched
• Lot 7: Cladding and Rainscreen Systems
• Lot 8: Windows, Doors and Access
• Lot 9: Industrial Doors, Shutters and Barriers
• Lot 10: Groundworks, Excavation, External Surfacing, Hard Landscaping and Drainage
• Lot 11: Decoration – Internal and External

The largest individual rotation lot is General Building Fabric, with an estimated value of £524,000 excluding VAT. This covers reactive, low-value building repairs of up to £10,000 per order, including making good, joinery, masonry, plastering and associated trades.

Ranked Lots – Specialist Trades

A further 14 lots cover more specialist repairs and maintenance requirements:

• Lot 12: Plumbing, Gas and Commercial Heating
• Lot 13: Electrical – General Reactive
• Lot 14: HVAC and Commercial Ventilation Systems
• Lot 15: Mechanical and Electrical Systems – Specialist
• Lot 16: Renewable Technology – Solar PV Systems
• Lot 17: Fire Detection, Alarms and Suppression
• Lot 18: Fire and Intruder Security Systems
• Lot 19: Building Management Systems
• Lot 20: Lifts, Escalators and Access Equipment
• Lot 21: Asbestos Management and Removal
• Lot 22: Pool and Leisure Facility Maintenance
• Lot 23: Cleaning and Environmental Services
• Lot 24: Pest Control
• Lot 25: Damp Treatment and Specialist Waterproofing

These lots cover a considerable range of specialist requirements. For example, the plumbing and heating lot is estimated at £460,000 excluding VAT, while the electrical lot is valued at approximately £340,000.

The framework also creates opportunities in areas increasingly important to public-sector estates, including renewable technologies, fire safety and specialist building systems.

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Who Is the Opportunity Relevant To?

With 25 individual lots, the framework is relevant to businesses across a particularly broad section of the construction and property maintenance market.

This includes:

• General building and property maintenance contractors
• Joinery and carpentry businesses
• Plastering, rendering and dry-lining contractors
• Brickwork and masonry specialists
• Roofing and weatherproofing contractors
• Cladding specialists
• Window and door contractors
• Groundworks and drainage businesses
• Painting and decorating contractors
• Plumbing, gas and heating engineers
• Electrical contractors
• HVAC and ventilation specialists
• M&E contractors
• Solar PV and renewable technology businesses
• Fire detection and fire safety contractors
• Security and access-control specialists
• Asbestos contractors
• Cleaning and environmental service providers
• Pest-control businesses
• Damp-proofing and waterproofing specialists

Importantly, the procurement notice specifically identifies the opportunity as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

For smaller specialist contractors, this lot-based structure provides an opportunity to target the areas that genuinely match their experience rather than having to demonstrate the capability to deliver a complete property maintenance service.

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How Will Work Be Awarded?

Burnley Borough Council states that work through the framework may be awarded either with or without competition.

The framework does not set a maximum overall number of suppliers, meaning there is no published framework-wide cap on the number of contractors that can be appointed.

However, securing a framework position should not be confused with securing a guaranteed volume of work. Contractors should consider how individual call-offs will operate and make sure their pricing, capacity and delivery models remain sustainable throughout the four-year framework period.

Understanding the distinction between the rotation and ranked lots will also be important when deciding which opportunities to target.

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How Will Tenders Be Evaluated?

The published evaluation model is weighted:

Quality – 60%
Cost – 40%

The quality assessment covers areas including:

• Understanding of requirements
• Delivery methodology
• Health, safety and compliance
• Social value and community benefits
• Environmental sustainability

Cost considerations include the Schedule of Rates alongside daywork labour and plant rates.

With 60% of the available score allocated to quality, contractors will need to do considerably more than submit competitive rates.

Responses will need to clearly explain how services will be delivered, supported by relevant processes, experience and evidence.

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What Should Contractors Be Preparing?

With a November deadline, businesses considering the framework should begin assessing their readiness as early as possible.

One of the first steps should be lot selection.

With 25 lots available, applying for every technically relevant opportunity will not necessarily be the best strategy. Contractors should consider their existing experience, accreditations, workforce, geographic coverage, operational capacity and supporting evidence before deciding where they can submit the strongest response.

Technical requirements also vary between lots. For example, the plumbing, gas and commercial heating lot requires Gas Safe registration, while the Solar PV Systems lot requires MCS certification. Licensable asbestos works require the appropriate HSE asbestos licence.

Contractors should therefore review the requirements of their chosen lots carefully before committing resources to the bid.

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Building Strong Evidence for the Quality Submission

The 60% quality weighting means bidders should pay particular attention to the evidence supporting their written responses.

Where possible, examples should demonstrate experience delivering comparable reactive maintenance or construction works and clearly show the outcomes achieved.

Rather than simply stating that your business has an experienced team, robust health and safety procedures or effective environmental practices, your responses should demonstrate these through specific processes and evidence.

Useful preparation may include gathering:

• Relevant contract examples and case studies
• Client references and performance data
• Workforce and resource information
• Trade qualifications and accreditations
• Health and safety policies and procedures
• Environmental and sustainability evidence
• Reactive maintenance processes
• Escalation and communication procedures
• Quality assurance processes
• Social value examples and commitments

Starting this process early gives bidders more time to identify evidence gaps before responses are finalised.

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Social Value and Sustainability

Both Social Value and Community Benefits and Environmental Sustainability form part of the published quality criteria.

For contractors, this means these areas should be treated as scored elements of the submission rather than supplementary information.

Social value commitments should ideally be proportionate to the size and nature of the contract and connected to the communities affected by delivery.

Depending on the contractor and lot, this could include employment and apprenticeship opportunities, local supply-chain expenditure, skills development, community initiatives or other measurable local benefits.

Environmental responses should similarly focus on practical delivery. Contractors should consider how their fleet, materials, waste management, procurement, working practices and carbon-reduction measures can demonstrate tangible improvements throughout the framework.

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How Bid Writing Service Can Help

A 25-lot framework creates significant opportunities, but it can also make the bidding process more complex.

Before writing begins, contractors need to understand which lots are genuinely worth pursuing, what evidence is required and whether they have the resources available to develop a strong submission before the deadline.

Bid Writing Service can support contractors with:

• Bid/no-bid and lot-selection decisions
• Tender and compliance reviews
• Bid planning
• Submission management
• Quality response writing
• Construction and maintenance methodologies
• Case study and contract-example development
• Social value responses
• Health and safety responses
• Sustainability responses
• Evidence development
• Tender reviews and quality assurance
• Final submission support

Whether you have an established internal bid team that needs additional capacity or have limited experience with public-sector tenders, our support can be tailored around your business and the specific lots you are targeting.

Get in touch with our team at info@bidwritingservice.com to discuss your target lots and the level of support you need.