Eastern Procurement Limited is procuring a new Heating, Electrical, Mechanical and Decarbonisation Framework worth an estimated £1.061 billion excluding VAT and £1.273 billion including VAT. The four-year framework brings together a broad range of M&E, compliance, retrofit and low-carbon works for domestic and non-domestic buildings.
What makes this opportunity particularly notable is its structure. Rather than dividing heating, electrical, mechanical and decarbonisation requirements into separate lots, Eastern Procurement intends to appoint up to 10 suppliers to one integrated framework. Successful bidders will therefore need to demonstrate that they can cover the overall requirement either themselves or through a declared supply chain.
For contractors with the right breadth of capability, this could provide access to work covering everything from gas servicing and electrical compliance to heat pumps, solar PV, retrofit assessments and larger decarbonisation programmes. If you are assessing whether to bid, use the time before the deadline to test the opportunity against your capacity, relevant case studies, pricing position and compliance requirements. Thornton & Lowe can support the bid/no-bid decision as well as the submission itself. Contact us for expert support.
Quick facts
Buyer | Eastern Procurement Limited |
Estimated value | £1.061bn excluding VAT / £1.273bn including VAT |
Opportunity | Heating, Electrical, Mechanical and Decarbonisation Framework |
Structure | Single integrated framework, not divided into lots, with up to 10 suppliers |
| Framework term | 6 January 2027 to 5 January 2031 |
Tender deadline | 21 October 2026 at 12:00 |
| Notice | Read the Find a Tender notice |
What does the framework cover?
This isn't simply a heating or renewable energy framework. The specification combines several areas that might ordinarily be procured separately.
At its core are traditional heating services, including domestic, commercial and communal systems. The notice refers to gas and oil boilers, electric heating, hot-water systems, pipework, pumps, controls and heat networks. It also includes servicing, landlord safety requirements, breakdowns, planned and responsive repairs, void-property checks and emergency attendance. In some circumstances, suppliers may need to provide a 24-hour, 365/366-day response.
The electrical requirement is similarly broad. It includes rewiring, inspection and testing, Electrical Installation Condition Reports and remedial work, consumer units, distribution equipment, lighting, earthing and bonding, communal electrical systems and fire, smoke, heat and carbon-monoxide detection. EV charging infrastructure can also be supplied and installed through the framework.
Mechanical works include areas such as mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, thermostatic mixing valves, boosted cold-water pumps and related equipment.
The decarbonisation element then expands the framework considerably further. Potential requirements include:
- solar PV, including inverters, controls, metering and battery storage
- air source and ground source heat pumps
- solar-assisted heat pumps
- solar thermal systems
- biomass
- CHP and micro-CHP
- heat networks
- wind turbines
- smart heating controls and monitoring
- ventilation and indoor-air-quality measures
- other emerging low-carbon and energy-efficiency technologies.
It can also support EPC improvement, net-zero programmes and grant-funded retrofit activity. That breadth is important when deciding whether this opportunity genuinely fits your business.
The biggest bidding consideration: there are no lots
For many contractors, the first instinct with a framework of this size may be to look for the specific heating, electrical, renewables or retrofit lot that matches their specialism. There isn't one. Eastern Procurement says that feedback from its members showed a preference for a single integrated turnkey solution, rather than dividing the requirement by discipline. The intention is to improve coordination across services and allow contracting authorities to procure connected requirements through one framework.
This creates a very different bid/no-bid question. A contractor with excellent heat-pump credentials, for example, shouldn't assume that renewable heating capability alone makes it a strong candidate. Likewise, a large electrical contractor will need to consider how it addresses the heating, mechanical, retrofit and decarbonisation elements of the specification.
The notice does allow suppliers to provide the required capability through their declared supply chain, rather than performing every service directly. That opens the framework to businesses that have a strong core offer supported by established specialist partners.
The key issue is whether that combined delivery model is convincing.
What should your delivery model demonstrate?
For this framework, a supply-chain diagram by itself is unlikely to explain enough. A stronger submission will need to show how multiple technical disciplines operate as one service.
That means thinking carefully about practical interfaces.
If an occupied-property retrofit project involves electrical upgrades, a new heat pump, ventilation measures and subsequent energy assessment, who takes responsibility for sequencing the works? How are resident appointments coordinated? Who checks that one trade's activity hasn't created an issue for another? How are defects allocated and resolved?
The same applies to compliance and responsive services. If a contractor relies on specialist partners for certain disciplines, the buyer will need confidence that urgent work doesn't become slower or more fragmented simply because multiple organisations are involved.
Useful evidence could therefore come from programmes where you have already:
- coordinated several M&E or building-services disciplines under one contract
- managed subcontractors against common KPIs and service levels
- delivered planned work alongside responsive or emergency services
- worked in occupied homes or other sensitive operational environments
- integrated traditional heating and electrical work with low-carbon measures.
The strongest case studies may not necessarily be the biggest ones. A project that clearly demonstrates integration could be more useful than a higher-value contract delivered within only one narrow technical discipline.
Retrofit capability goes beyond installing technology
Another distinguishing feature is the extent to which the framework covers the activities surrounding physical retrofit works.
The notice includes Energy Performance Certificates, energy assessments, SAP10 assessments, retrofit assessments, retrofit coordination and design, PAS 2035 site visits, air-pressure testing and technical monitoring. It can also include cavity-wall borescope services and associated technical support.
This means bidders should think beyond equipment installation when mapping their capabilities.
For example, if your principal strength is delivering solar PV, heat pumps or other low-carbon technologies, consider who within your proposed model handles assessment and design. If those services come from partners, the tender response will need to show how they are incorporated into project governance rather than presented as separate organisations added to the bid.
Grant-funded programmes are specifically within scope too. Experience of delivering against funding conditions, technical standards, evidence requirements and programme deadlines could therefore be particularly useful.
Be ready to evidence responsive and compliance-led delivery
The framework isn't limited to planned capital programmes.
Eastern Procurement has deliberately included planned servicing, responsive repairs, breakdowns, emergency works, individual-property activity and grouped programmes alongside major retrofit and decarbonisation projects.
That mix can place quite different demands on a contractor.
A business geared primarily towards long, planned installation programmes may need a different operational model for same-day repairs or emergency attendance. Conversely, a responsive-maintenance contractor will need to show that it can control larger project-based retrofit activity.
When selecting evidence for the tender, it would therefore be sensible to avoid relying exclusively on one delivery type. Relevant examples could show how you manage:
- appointment scheduling and access in occupied properties
- emergency and out-of-hours resources
- statutory inspections and certification
- first-time fixes and follow-on works
- planned programme mobilisation
- resident or building-user communications
- quality assurance across installation and servicing activity.
This is one area where the breadth of your evidence library may become a genuine differentiator.
How will call-off work be awarded?
Appointment to the framework won't itself guarantee work.
The notice states that the framework uses an amended FAC-1 contract, with individual call-offs capable of being awarded with or without further competition, subject to the framework rules.
That makes the commercial strategy important beyond the initial tender.
If direct awards are available in appropriate circumstances, framework-level information such as capability, pricing and service coverage may influence whether a supplier is well positioned for those opportunities. Where further competitions are used, appointed contractors will need sufficient bid capacity to respond throughout the framework term.
There is also a maximum framework fee of 2%, which bidders should account for when assessing the commercial opportunity.
The evaluation approach deserves close attention
One detail that shouldn't be overlooked is Eastern Procurement's stated price-per-quality-point approach.
Rather than the notice giving a conventional fixed percentage split such as 60% quality and 40% price, it explains that each tenderer's total price will be divided by its quality score. The bidder with the lowest resulting price-per-quality-point ratio will be ranked first.
That creates an important relationship between the quality and commercial submissions.
A low price alone isn't necessarily enough if it is accompanied by a weak quality score. Equally, a strong technical submission still needs to be supported by commercially competitive pricing.
Before finalising the bid, it would therefore be worth modelling different scenarios. Understanding how movements in price and quality score affect the resulting ratio can help commercial and bid teams make more informed decisions before submission.
What could separate a stronger response?
Because the requirement is so broad, one risk is producing equally broad answers.
Statements such as having experienced engineers, trusted subcontractors or strong health and safety systems won't tell evaluators much unless they are connected to how this particular integrated service will operate.
A more persuasive response would make the delivery mechanics visible.
For example, if several specialist partners sit within your supply chain, explain who owns performance, how information moves between organisations and how competency is assured. If different teams respond to emergency repairs and planned decarbonisation schemes, show how resources are allocated without one service undermining another.
The framework is also designed to remain flexible as legislation, technical standards, funding requirements and technologies change over its four-year term.
Evidence of adapting to previous regulatory or technical changes could therefore be valuable. This could include introducing new low-carbon technologies, responding to revised safety standards or changing delivery processes as funding schemes evolve.
For construction and building-services contractors who need support developing this type of evidence, Thornton & Lowe provides specialist construction bid writing support for live tenders and framework applications. The emphasis for this opportunity should be on demonstrating that the different parts of the proposed solution genuinely connect, rather than describing each service in isolation.
Is the framework suitable for SMEs?
The notice explicitly identifies the framework as suitable for SMEs.
However, that shouldn't be interpreted as meaning the scope has been broken down to make it easy for smaller specialist contractors to compete. The opposite is true in structural terms: there are no lots, and framework suppliers need access to the full range of required capability.
An SME with established delivery partners may still have a credible proposition. In that situation, the question is likely to be whether the combined model provides enough capacity, resilience, governance and specialist expertise to operate as an integrated supplier.
For some businesses, this may make the opportunity more suitable as a supply-chain opportunity than as a direct framework bid. That decision is worth making early, before substantial time is committed to the tender.
Preparing for the deadline
The tender submission deadline is 12:00pm on 21 October 2026, with the enquiry period closing at 12:00pm on 12 October. Eastern Procurement currently expects to make its award decision on 9 December, ahead of the framework beginning on 6 January 2027.
For bidders, the most useful preparation now is likely to be specific to the integrated nature of the requirement: confirming exactly which capabilities sit in-house, identifying where partners are required, agreeing responsibilities across that supply chain and selecting evidence that demonstrates those organisations can operate together.
This is a large framework, but its size shouldn't be the main reason to bid. The stronger reason is having a delivery model that genuinely fits what Eastern Procurement is buying. Thornton & Lowe can help you assess the opportunity, structure the submission and turn technical delivery evidence into clear, framework-specific responses
