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Specialist advice and testing on corrosive protection of Steelwork

National Highways

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

30 Jul 2026 at 16:31

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

22 Jun 2026 at 11:45

UK5 - Transparency Notice
PlanningUpdate

08 Aug 2025 at 10:14

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

06 Aug 2025 at 14:19

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

National Highways Limited procured independent specialist advice and testing on the corrosion protection of steelwork used in highway structures. The single-supplier service covers technical advice on paints and corrosion protection, inspections of painted structures at sites in England, collection and laboratory testing of paint samples, and durability testing of paint products. The requirement relates to the strategic road network, including motorways, single and dual carriageway trunk roads, and the maintenance and construction of steel bridges, gantries, masts, lighting columns and other structures. The procurement is for corrosion engineering services. Delivery is across England, for National Highways Limited, a central government public authority responsible for the strategic road network.

The procurement is complete and was awarded directly to Socotec UK Limited on 1 June 2026. The award covers one lot and has a value of £300,000 excluding VAT (£360,000 including VAT). The contract period runs from 24 August 2026 to 24 August 2028, with an option to extend by up to two years, to 23 August 2030. National Highways used a direct award after market engagement identified only one supplier able to meet the requirement. The evaluation basis was technical reasons associated with a single supplier. The contract requires UK-based laboratories, fully UKAS-accredited paint inspection and testing facilities, self-delivery of all elements, and personnel qualified to at least Level 2 under NACE/AMPP and the Institute of Corrosion.

This award indicates a focused requirement for suppliers combining corrosion-protection expertise, paint inspection and laboratory testing. A credible future competitor would need UK laboratory facilities, UKAS accreditation covering the relevant inspection and testing capabilities, and the ability to deliver the complete service directly rather than relying on subcontractors. The work also requires personnel with at least Level 2 qualifications under the National Association of Corrosion Engineers/Association for Materials Protection and Performance and Institute of Corrosion arrangements. Relevant capability includes advising on protective paint systems, inspecting coatings on bridges and other highway steelwork, sampling coatings and testing durability. Experience supporting a major strategic road network or comparable infrastructure estate would help demonstrate the technical competence and operational coverage National Highways requires.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Specialist advice and testing on corrosive protection of Steelwork

Notice Description

National Highways (NH) is looking to secure the provision of a single supplier to provide independent specialist technical advice on all issues relating to paints and the corrosion protection of steelwork used in our highway structures. As well as providing specialist technical advice the services will include undertaking inspections of paint to structures on sites within England, obtaining and testing paint samples and the testing of paints to ensure durability of products used. The strategic road network includes motorways, and single and dual carriageway all-purpose trunk roads. It is proposed to construct a large number of steel highway structures associated with major schemes. National Highways is also responsible for maintaining approximately 1750 steel bridges, 3000 steel gantry structures and many minor steel structures such as masts and lighting columns on the strategic road network

Planning Information

Please complete the Microsoft form available at - https://forms.office.com/e/gFEEERCWvz

Procurement Information

The specialist advice and testing contract requires a company which can provide independent specialist technical advice on paints and the corrosion protection of steelwork used in our highway structures, as well as undertaking inspections of paint to structures on sites within England and the testing of paints to ensure durability of products used. National Highways can only contract with organisation that has laboratories based in the UK including that the paint inspection and facility capabilities are fully UKAS accredited, and self deliver all elements of the scope. There is a need for a UK testing facility and UKAS accreditation requirements. There is also a mandatory requirement that all personnel must be qualified to a minimum level 2 of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) and Institute of Corrosion (Corr) personnel. National Highways released a UK2 Market Engagement Notice in August 2025 to start market engagement activities and understand the capability of the suppliers in this sector. Following extensive engagement there was only one supplier identified that could provide the services are described above and so NH moved away from an open market competition to a Direct Award approach.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-058291
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072377-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

71337000 - Corrosion engineering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£300,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£300,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Sep 2025Expired
Award Date
1 Jun 20264 months ago
Contract Period
24 Aug 2026 - 24 Aug 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
National Highways
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

SOCOTEC UK Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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