A good share of public sector spending does not go through a fresh tender for every contract. Buyers set up an agreement with a group of suppliers once, then award individual contracts to them over several years. If you are not on the list, you do not see the work.
Frameworks
A framework is an agreement between one or more buyers and a set of suppliers, setting the terms under which contracts will later be awarded. Individual contracts, often called call-offs, are then awarded to framework suppliers either directly or through a mini-competition among them.
- They are usually closed. Suppliers are appointed when the framework is set up. Miss that tender and you normally wait until it is replaced.
- They have a maximum length. Under the Procurement Act 2023, most frameworks can last up to four years, and up to eight for defence, security and utilities.
- Open frameworks are different. The Act introduced frameworks that must be reopened to new suppliers at set points and can run for longer overall. If you missed the first round, a reopening is your way in.
- A place is not a promise of work. Many framework suppliers never receive a call-off. Being on a framework is a licence to compete, not a contract.
Frameworks are run by individual councils and trusts, by regional purchasing consortia, and nationally by Crown Commercial Service. Large frameworks are often divided into lots by service and region, and some lots are sized with smaller suppliers in mind.
Dynamic markets
The Act replaced the dynamic purchasing system with the dynamic market. The important difference from a framework is that a dynamic market stays open for its whole life. A supplier can apply to join at any time and must be admitted if it meets the conditions for membership. Contracts are then competed among the members.
That makes a dynamic market the one route into public work with no deadline to miss for getting on the list. They are common in social care, transport, and other services bought repeatedly in small pieces. Dynamic purchasing systems set up under the old rules continue until they expire.
Many notices establishing a dynamic market state no end date for applications. That is normal, not a gap: there is simply no closing date.
What to do about it
- Find the lists your buyers use. Award notices name the framework a contract was called off from. If the buyers you want keep using one, that is the tender to prepare for.
- Join the dynamic markets that fit. It costs an application, not a bid, and you can do it this week.
- Watch for reopenings and replacements. A framework nearing its end will be re-tendered, and the preliminary market engagement is when to get involved.
- Consider subcontracting. Framework suppliers often need local delivery partners. Being someone's reliable subcontractor is a legitimate way to build evidence.
On Bidwire
The dynamic markets page lists every market currently accepting applications, and notices that set up a framework are marked as such in every listing and digest.