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715124450 TWE 3

Defence Equipment and Support

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Implementation

30 Jul 2026 at 12:42

Award Notice
Award

27 Apr 2026 at 15:26

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

26 Feb 2026 at 14:02

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

01 Aug 2025 at 17:31

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Planning

01 Aug 2025 at 13:57

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Defence Equipment and Support procured technical working environment (TWE) support for temporary military shelters used by the UK armed forces. The requirement covers design services, including managing component obsolescence, redesign, modification, upgrades, safety and legislative compliance. It also covers repairs, maintenance and routine refurbishment beyond the capability of RAF 5001 Squadron, together with technical documentation, data and drawings to support repairs during operational deployments. An option provides a commercial mechanism for purchasing additional defence equipment. The shelters provide weatherproof, environmentally controlled working areas for armed attack aircraft, fast jets, unmanned air systems, helicopters, ordnance and armament storage. The services support equipment operating in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East, with delivery recorded in the United Kingdom. This is a defence equipment support and specialist military shelter maintenance requirement.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award for technical reasons. Rubb Buildings Limited, the original equipment manufacturer, was selected on 26 February 2026. The award and signed contract are valued at £8,000,000 excluding VAT and £9,500,000 including VAT. The contract runs from 11 March 2026 to 11 March 2029, with three one-year options for continuation. The evaluation was not a competitive tender: the buyer relied on the supplier’s exclusive technical documentation, specialist tools, equipment knowledge, intellectual property and ability to maintain the relevant safety case. There was one completed lot, identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community or social enterprises. The contract requires repair, maintenance and refurbishment work within 60 business days, alongside timely quotations, reports and spares.

This requirement indicates demand for suppliers able to support complex, safety-critical military shelter systems rather than provide general building maintenance. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need strong capability in temporary structure design, modification, repair, refurbishment and component obsolescence management, together with robust technical documentation and configuration control. Experience supporting aircraft shelters, fast jets, unmanned systems, helicopters, armament storage or comparable defence infrastructure would be relevant. Suppliers would also need the engineering governance and assurance capability to maintain a defensible safety case and meet applicable legislation, including ALARP requirements. The buyer’s performance expectations show the importance of responsive repair planning, strip-and-survey work, firm-price quotations, technical reporting, spares supply and delivery against demanding operational timescales. Evidence of work for defence users and the capacity to support equipment across multiple operational locations would strengthen credibility.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

715124450 TWE 3

Notice Description

TWE is a temporary structure designed to provide a safe and ambient working environment including extreme and austere weather conditions. TWE can house a fully armed Attack Aircraft in temperatures ranging from -10 Celsius up to 50 Celsius whilst maintaining an internal temperature of 26 Celsius. TWE can also withstand wind speeds of up to 90mph and snow load of up to 80kg/m2 TWE shelters are flexible in their approach allowing a wide spectrum of capabilities to be housed and maintained within them varying from fast jets, Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) to the CH-47 Chinook heavy lift rotary wing aircraft to ordnance of varying profiles and dimensions, and varying characteristics. The current capability consists of; * 25M x 40m RES (21.7m Heli Door width) (16) - Are typically fitted with a Heli-door, Roller Shutter Door at the rear and are 40m long. These typically house helicopters and UAVs. * 25M x 40m RES (18.75m Heli Door width) (2) - Are typically fitted with a Heli-door, Roller Shutter Door at the rear and are 40m long. These typically house helicopters and UAVs. * 25M x 100m RES (1) - Are typically fitted with a Heli-door, Roller Shutter Door at the rear and are 100m long. These typically house helicopters and UAVs. * 20M RES (67) - Typically support fast jet aircraft and are fitted with Trident doors which open and close like an eyelid * 25M Sunshade (4) - A hangar with no side walls or door ends, these are used to shelter helicopters and UAVs from the elements when sitting at the end of a runway on high readiness * 18M Sunshade (14) - A hangar without side walls or door ends, these are used to shelter fast jets from the elements when sitting at the end of a runway on high readiness. * ECASS (8) - These Environmentally controlled armament storage shelters are 9.1m x 16m in size and are used for armament storage; they are fitted with large heavy metal doors. The shelters are currently in service predominantly in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, supporting various operations. The scope of this procurement is: 1. Design services - The contractor is required to manage all aspects of component obsolescence, requirements for redesign/modification/upgrade of the systems and safety and legislative governance to meet the required ALARP status. 2. Repair and Refurbishment Activity - The Contractor is required to conduct repairs on the equipment that are beyond the capacity or capability of the maintainer (RAF 5001 Squadron) and to conduct routine scheduled refurbishment activity. 3. Provision and maintenance of Technical Documentation - The Contractor is required to provide technical data and drawings for the TWE capability to enable unit lines repairs in support of on-going operational deployments. 4. Option for the provision of additional equipment. - The contract is required to provide a commercial mechanism for purchases from wider defence.

Procurement Information

TWE is a temporary structure designed to provide a safe and ambient shelter system to provide a weatherproof working environment, including protection from extreme and austere weathers. TWE can house a fully armed Attack Aircraft in a range of temperatures. TWE can also withstand high wind speeds and heavy snow loads. TWE shelters are flexible in their approach allowing a wide spectrum of capabilities to be housed and maintained within them, including fast jets, Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), and helicopters. It is considered that this contract can be placed with Rubb Buildings Ltd using the Direct Award in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5 Paragraph 6 for technical reasons. The requirement for in-service support and additional equipment can only be placed with Rubb Buildings Ltd for the following reasons 1. Rubb Buildings Ltd are the OEM and the DA for the TWE equipment. An alternative supplier, nor the Authority would have access to the necessary technical documentation or the requisite knowhow to have a sufficient technical understanding of the equipment and to be able to understand or support the safety case for repairs and modifications. LSC do not have access to this technical documentation. 2. To conduct MRO Level 4 repairs the contractor requires a considerable number of jigs and specialist tools for the TWE equipment which have been manufactured as required by the OEM throughout the lifetime of the capability. The Authority does not own, nor have user rights to any information pertaining to these jigs and specialist tools. Any redesign of such jigs and tools by an alternative supplier would be considered to increase potential risks associated with the equipment. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) would not undersign the specifications and safety certifications of parts and components manufactured or sourced by other economic operators. The OEM would not undersign the Safety Case for its TWE structures with the input from other suppliers. The OEM would not provide IPR or technical information and know-how to other economic operators, or collaborate with other manufacturers that aimed to provide alternative designs to the authority. The authority would be at risk of operating TWE outside the safety case if other economic operators were to provide non-OEM TWE components. In addition the installing and maintaining RAF Squadron (5001) would not receive training or technical updates from the OEM if components from other suppliers were to be included in TWE installations, which would add to the safety risks.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-056b63
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072153-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

45 - Construction work

50 - Repair and maintenance services

CPV Codes

45216230 - Military shelter construction work

50710000 - Repair and maintenance services of electrical and mechanical building installations

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£8,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£8,000,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£8,000,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Jul 20263 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
4 Aug 2025Expired
Award Date
1 Aug 20251 years ago
Contract Period
11 Mar 2026 - 11 Mar 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Defence Equipment and Support
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS34 8JH
Postcode Area
Bristol
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Park & Cheswick
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Rubb Buildings Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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