Burnley Borough Council £7m Construction Professional Services Framework Announcement

Burnley Borough Council has released the third and final framework within its wider programme covering maintenance, construction and professional services requirements across its estate.

The three frameworks are:

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

Together, the three opportunities provide routes to market across the lifecycle of the Council’s property requirements, from day-to-day reactive repairs and major capital projects to the specialist professional advice needed to support them.

Following the Repairs & Maintenance and Planned & Capital Works opportunities, this final framework is aimed specifically at construction consultants and specialist professional services providers.

Worth an estimated £7 million excluding VAT, the Construction Professional Services Framework is divided into five lots covering multidisciplinary consultancy, conservation architecture, asbestos consultancy, fire engineering and structural engineering.

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Construction Professional Services Framework Factfile

Framework: Construction Professional Services Framework
Contracting authority: Burnley Borough Council
Sector: Construction consultancy and professional services
Estimated value: £7 million excluding VAT
Location: East Lancashire
Framework length: 4 years
Number of lots: 5
Tender submission deadline: 5pm on 17 November 2026
Expected commencement: 1 April 2027  

The Council intends to use the framework for commissions of varying scale, complexity and value, ranging from individual pieces of specialist advice through to consultancy support for larger refurbishment, improvement and capital projects.

Like the other two frameworks in Burnley Borough Council’s wider procurement programme, all five lots are identified as particularly suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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Where Does the Professional Services Framework Fit?

This opportunity completes Burnley Borough Council’s three-part framework release.

While the Repairs & Maintenance Framework focuses on reactive maintenance and the Planned & Capital Works Framework covers larger planned, structural and capital projects, this framework is focused on the professional expertise required to support property and construction programmes.

This creates opportunities for consultants and specialist professional practices rather than works contractors alone.

The framework could support anything from individual surveys, assessments and specialist advice to professional input across larger refurbishment, conservation, improvement and capital schemes.

For consultancy businesses operating within the built environment, it therefore represents a distinct opportunity alongside the Council’s two works-focused frameworks.

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What Does the Construction Professional Services Framework Cover?

The framework is divided into five specialist lots, with each focusing on a different area of construction consultancy and advisory support.

Lot 1 – Multi-disciplinary

Estimated value: £2 million excluding VAT

The multidisciplinary lot covers a broad range of construction consultancy services, including:

• Project management
• CDM Principal Designer services
• Building surveying
• Quantity surveying
• Contract administration
• Access to wider design disciplines

This makes the lot particularly relevant to multidisciplinary construction consultancies capable of supporting projects across several stages and disciplines.

Businesses targeting this lot should consider how effectively they can demonstrate access to the necessary expertise, as well as their ability to coordinate different disciplines and provide joined-up support.

Lot 2 – Conservation Architect

Estimated value: £2 million excluding VAT

Lot 2 focuses specifically on conservation architecture for listed and historic buildings.

Services include surveys, condition reports, design, listed building consents and contract administration.

This closely complements the Historical Building Work lot available through Burnley Borough Council’s separate Planned & Capital Works Framework, with the professional services framework providing specialist consultancy expertise to support work across the Council’s historic estate.

For conservation architects, relevant experience with listed and historic properties is likely to provide important evidence when developing a submission.

Lot 3 – Asbestos Consultancy

Estimated value: £200,000 excluding VAT

The asbestos consultancy lot covers specialist services including:

• Management surveys
• Refurbishment and demolition surveys
• Air testing
• Four-stage clearance
• Analysis
• Asbestos management advice

Given the specialist nature of these services, bidders should ensure their submission clearly demonstrates relevant technical expertise and their approach to safety, compliance and quality.

Lot 4 – Fire Engineer

Estimated value: £400,000 excluding VAT

Lot 4 covers specialist fire engineering services for commercial buildings.

The scope includes fire strategies, fire risk assessments (FRA) and external wall appraisals (FRAEW).

For specialist fire consultancies, this creates an opportunity to support the Council with both individual assessments and wider property and capital projects throughout the four-year framework.

Lot 5 – Structural Consultant

Estimated value: £2 million excluding VAT

The final lot covers a substantial range of structural engineering consultancy services.

This includes:

• Structural surveys and condition assessments
• Structural calculations and analysis
• Design of alterations and new structural works
• Remedial and repair advice
• Preparation of specifications and drawings
• Structural input into refurbishment projects
• Conservation projects
• Demolition projects

The breadth of the scope means structural consultants should be prepared to demonstrate experience across both assessment and design, as well as their ability to contribute specialist expertise within wider construction projects.

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Who Is the Framework Relevant To?

Unlike the first two frameworks in Burnley Borough Council’s programme, this opportunity is primarily aimed at professional and technical service providers within the construction sector.

It could therefore be particularly relevant to:

• Multidisciplinary construction consultancies
• Project management consultancies
• Building surveyors
• Quantity surveyors
• CDM Principal Designers
• Conservation architects
• Heritage consultants
• Asbestos consultants
• Fire engineering consultancies
• Structural engineers
• Specialist construction consultants

All five lots are identified as particularly suitable for SMEs, creating opportunities for specialist independent consultancies as well as larger multidisciplinary practices.

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How Will Work Be Awarded?

Burnley Borough Council has specified no maximum number of suppliers for the framework.

Once established, individual commissions may be awarded either with or without further competition, in accordance with the framework arrangements.

The framework is being established for Burnley Borough Council's use, rather than as a wider framework available to multiple contracting authorities.

As with the other two opportunities, securing a framework position does not necessarily guarantee a particular volume or value of work.

Consultancies should therefore review the tender documents carefully to understand how future commissions will be allocated and how the framework will operate in practice.

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How Will Bids Be Evaluated?

The Professional Services Framework differs from the other two Burnley Borough Council frameworks in one particularly important area: quality carries an even greater weighting.

Tender submissions will be evaluated on a:

70% Quality / 30% Cost basis.

The published quality criteria include:

• Understanding of Requirements
• Delivery Methodology
• Health, Safety and Compliance
• Social Value and Community Benefits
• Environmental Sustainability
• Framework requirements

Cost will account for the remaining 30%, with the published criteria referencing areas including RIBA stages of work, day rates and survey costs.

With 70% of the available score allocated to quality, bidders should pay particular attention to the strength, relevance and detail of their written responses.

Consultancies will need to go beyond simply demonstrating that they employ appropriately qualified professionals. Responses should clearly explain how expertise will be applied to Burnley Borough Council’s requirements, supported by relevant examples, processes and outcomes.

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What Should Consultants Be Preparing?

As with the other frameworks in this release, the first step should be identifying the lot or lots where your business can demonstrate the strongest fit.

For professional services tenders, this means looking beyond whether your consultancy technically offers the required service.

Consider the quality of the evidence you can provide around:

• Relevant commissions and projects
• Experience within comparable property portfolios
• Professional qualifications and expertise
• Team structure and availability
• Project and commission management
• Quality assurance
• Health and safety
• Stakeholder management
• Risk management
• Social value
• Environmental sustainability
• Reporting and communication
• Delivery against agreed programmes and budgets

Relevant case studies will be particularly important.

Rather than providing a general overview of your consultancy's experience, examples should clearly demonstrate the relevance of previous commissions, your specific responsibilities, challenges encountered, approach taken and measurable outcomes.

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Demonstrating Specialist Expertise

Each of the five lots requires a different type of professional expertise, meaning bidders should avoid relying too heavily on generic corporate content.

A conservation architecture submission, for example, should demonstrate relevant experience working with listed and historic buildings, including the specific challenges associated with conservation, consent and sensitive project delivery.

Similarly, fire engineering, asbestos and structural consultancy submissions should make specialist technical expertise central to their evidence.

For multidisciplinary bidders, the challenge is slightly different. The submission should explain how different professional disciplines will work together and how the Council will receive a coordinated service rather than a collection of disconnected specialisms.

The strongest evidence should therefore be selected according to the requirements of the individual lot.

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Social Value and Environmental Sustainability

Despite being a professional services rather than works framework, Social Value and Community Benefits and Environmental Sustainability remain part of the quality assessment.

Consultancies should therefore consider what meaningful and proportionate commitments they can make through their professional services delivery.

Depending on the business, social value could include graduate opportunities, apprenticeships, work placements, careers engagement, local employment, professional mentoring, community support or engagement with local supply chains.

Environmental responses should similarly be connected to the services being delivered.

This could include sustainable design principles, reducing unnecessary travel, digital project delivery, carbon-conscious specifications and advising the Council on opportunities to improve environmental performance through its property and capital programmes.

The important point is to make commitments specific, measurable and relevant, rather than relying solely on wider company policies.

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Procurement Timeline

Consultants considering the framework should be aware of the following key dates:

Tender notice published: 29 September 2026
Enquiry deadline: 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
Expected framework end: 31 March 2031  

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How Bid Writing Service Can Help

Professional services tenders can be particularly evidence-heavy.

Your team may have extensive technical expertise and a strong history of successful projects, but evaluators can only score the information presented within your tender response.

For Burnley Borough Council’s Construction Professional Services Framework, Bid Writing Service can support with:

• Bid/no-bid and lot-selection support
• Tender and compliance reviews
• Bid planning and management
• Quality response writing
• Professional services methodologies
• Case study development
• Team and resource responses
• Health and safety responses
• Social value responses
• Environmental and sustainability responses
• Evidence development
• Tender reviews and quality assurance
• Final submission support

Our writers can work alongside your technical specialists to turn their knowledge and experience into structured, evidence-led responses aligned with the evaluation criteria.

Whether you're a specialist SME bidding for a single lot or a multidisciplinary consultancy targeting a broader opportunity, our support can be tailored around your internal resources and bidding experience.

Get in touch with our team at info@bidwritingservice.com to discuss this framework, among other similar opportunities.