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S30115 Drainage Technical Standard Committee DMRB and MCHW cyclic reviews and delivery of updates

National Highways Limited

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

11 Aug 2026 at 14:13

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

National Highways Limited procured technical consultancy services to review and update drainage content in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) and Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW). The work covers all 20 drainage documents: DMRB CG 501, CG 502, CD 521 to CD 536, CS 551 and MCHW CC 500. The purpose is to correct errors, incorporate improvements and introduce modern technologies and practices for the Strategic Road Network and its users. Requirements range from straightforward editorial changes to research addressing knowledge gaps and drafting new technical sections. Delivery covers the United Kingdom and wider listed territories and locations, including Europe, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, British Overseas Territories and the rest of the world. The procurement category is development consultancy services.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to OVE Arup on 10 August 2026. The awarded value is £363,130.30 including the stated currency of GBP, against an estimated procurement value of £500,000. The contract runs from 10 August 2026 to 31 March 2029. It was a selective procedure using a call-off from a framework agreement, with tender submissions due by 22 June 2026 at 19:00. National Highways prioritised more than 250 unresolved items into Must, Should and Could categories. The supplier is expected to address all Must items, then Should items and as many Could items as time and budget allow. Documents are intended for sign-off in annual batches, with the first batch expected roughly nine months after commencement.

This award indicates demand for specialist highway drainage standards consultancy at a national scale. Relevant competitors would need demonstrable capability in road drainage design, technical standards development and structured document review, with the capacity to manage updates across 20 DMRB and MCHW documents. Credible teams would combine engineering expertise with technical writing, quality assurance and change control, because the requirement spans simple amendments, complex improvements and research to resolve knowledge gaps. Experience of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, the Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works, or comparable infrastructure standards would be valuable. Suppliers should also be able to prioritise a substantial technical backlog, coordinate stakeholder review and deliver publication-ready batches. The opportunity was identified as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

S30115 Drainage Technical Standard Committee DMRB and MCHW cyclic reviews and delivery of updates

Notice Description

National Highways "the Client" is seeking to set up a contract for the provision of technical services to undertake an update of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) with Drainage content. The DMRB drainage update is required as part of a cyclical ongoing process to improve the DMRB so that the Strategic Road Network and its users continue to benefit from modern technologies and practices. National Highways maintains a register of errors and potential improvements for the DMRB Drainage documents. It is National Highways' objective to resolve these errors and incorporate the improvements into the DMRB. There are upwards of 250 unresolved items on the register which range significantly in scale. The most straightforward are, for example, a simple edit to change a requirement to a recommendation. The most complex might be to undertake research to fill a knowledge gap before including a new section in the DMRB. These unresolved items have been reviewed and prioritised by National Highways and have been divided into three categories Must, Should and Could. Through this contract, National Highways' objective is to address all items categorised as Must. Should and Could items will then be addressed in that order, with the aim to also complete all Should items and as many of the Could items as time and budget allows. The priority categorisation will be reviewed by National Highways at the start of the contract and periodically as the works proceed. The items will require updates to all 20 drainage documents. These are: - DMRB CG 501 and CG 502 - DMRB CD 521 to CD 536 (inclusive) - DMRB CS 551 - MCHW CC 500 The contract will run for over 2 years until the end of March 2029. The last of the documents will need to be signed off for publication by the end of the contract. It is expected that the work will be spread over the period of the contract with updated DMRB documents being signed-off for publication in annual batches, the first batch signed-off approximately 9 months after project commencement

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-3f45a20b-8757-4b2d-95d5-deac28dc4b68
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/59bbfdd6-04c1-4235-8d55-49c733c0b121
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a framework agreement
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

CPV Codes

73220000 - Development consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£363,130 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
22 Jun 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
10 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
10 Aug 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
National Highways Limited
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BIRMINGHAM
Postcode
B4 6GA
Postcode Area
Birmingham
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG3 West Midlands
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG31 Birmingham
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Birmingham
Electoral Ward
Ladywood
Westminster Constituency
Birmingham Ladywood

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

OVE Arup

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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