---
title: "Specialist advice and testing on corrosive protection of Steelwork"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-058291"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058291"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058291.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058291.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL HIGHWAYS LIMITED"
published: "2026-07-30"
---

# Specialist advice and testing on corrosive protection of Steelwork

Buyer: NATIONAL HIGHWAYS LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-058291

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## Summary

National Highways Limited has recently completed a procurement process for the contract titled "Specialist advice and testing on corrosive protection of Steelwork," aimed at providing independent technical advice on paint and corrosion protection for steelwork in highway structures. This contract falls under the services category, focusing on corrosion engineering, and covers locations across England. The contract was awarded directly to Socotec UK Limited, valued at £360,000, with a contractual period from 24th August 2026 to 24th August 2028, with the potential for a two-year extension. The procurement involved a direct award approach due to the specificity of requirements, which necessitated UK-based laboratories and specific accreditation levels.

This tender presents significant business growth opportunities for companies specialising in corrosion engineering and related services, specifically those equipped with UKAS-accredited facilities and personnel qualified to advanced standards in corrosion protection. Ideal contenders are large-scale businesses with the capability to deliver specialist technical advice, perform inspections and testing, and manage extensive maintenance projects across the strategic road network in England. With National Highways' focus on maintaining a substantial number of steel structures, this contract provides a platform for businesses to showcase their expertise and expand their footprint in infrastructure-related services.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072377-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Planning, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 30 Jul 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 30 Sep 2025 |
| Award date | 31 May 2026 |
| Contract period | 23 Aug 2026 - 24 Aug 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £300,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £300,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL HIGHWAYS LIMITED |
| Additional buyers | NATIONAL HIGHWAYS |
| Locality | GUILDFORD |
| Post town | Guildford |
| Postcode | GU1 4LZ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands |
| ITL 3 | TLG31 Birmingham |
| Local authority | Birmingham |
| Electoral ward | Ladywood |
| Westminster constituency | Birmingham Ladywood |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SOCOTEC |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

### Codes

- 71337000 - Corrosion engineering services

## Release History

- 30 Jul 2026 at 15:31 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072377-2026
- 22 Jun 2026 at 10:45 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058427-2026
- 8 Aug 2025 at 09:14 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047153-2025
- 6 Aug 2025 at 13:19 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046559-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072377-2026
  30th July 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058427-2026
  22nd June 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047153-2025
  8th August 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046559-2025
  6th August 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://forms.office.com/e/gFEEERCWvz
- https://nationalhighways.co.uk
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-058291. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-058291.json.