NHS Shared Business Services is establishing a major framework for construction consultancy services across the NHS and wider public sector. With an estimated value of £2.3 billion and 11 specialist lots, the opportunity could give successful consultancies access to a substantial pipeline of new-build, refurbishment and infrastructure projects.
Competition is likely to be strong. Suppliers will need to do more than demonstrate technical competence. Choosing the right lots, providing relevant public-sector contract examples and translating specialist expertise into clear, scored answers will all be central to a competitive submission.
The Framework at a Glance
The NHS SBS Public Sector Construction Consultancy Framework has reference SBS10528 and is being procured under the Procurement Act 2023.
| Framework detail | Current information |
| Framework owner | NHS Shared Business Services |
| Reference | SBS10528 |
| Estimated value | £2.3 billion excluding VAT |
| Number of lots | 11 |
| Service type | Construction professional services |
| Planned duration | Four years |
| Coverage | UK, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Jersey |
| Submission deadline | 21 September 2026 |
| Planned framework start | 10 January 2028 |
The framework will be available to NHS and social care organisations, as well as other public and private-sector bodies authorised by NHS SBS.
It covers consultancy and professional services rather than the physical construction works themselves. Businesses seeking works contracts will therefore need to distinguish this framework from NHS SBS construction works opportunities.
Which Services Are Included?
The framework is divided into 11 lots:
- Multidisciplinary Services
- Project Management
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Quantity Surveying
- Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health Services
- Principal Designer CDM Services
- Architectural Services
- Building Surveying
- Healthcare Planning
- Net Zero, Environmental Consultancy and Sustainability
- Ancillary Services
This structure creates routes for both multidisciplinary practices and specialist consultancies.
Lot 1 is intended for suppliers capable of leading an integrated team that includes project management, quantity surveying, architecture, civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical services, public health and principal designer expertise.
The appointed supplier will be expected to manage the other disciplines and coordinate design information. Access to a network of consultants will not be enough on its own. Bidders must demonstrate how those professionals will work as one controlled project team.
The remaining lots allow organisations to compete within their core discipline. A specialist building surveyor, healthcare planner or sustainability consultancy does not need to create an artificial multidisciplinary offer if another lot is a closer fit.
Firms with healthcare experience should also consider how their work supports the wider risks commonly assessed in hospital estates tenders, including continuity, safe access and disruption management.
Choose the Right Lots
A £2.3 billion framework can encourage businesses to pursue more lots than their evidence supports. That can dilute the quality of the submission and create unnecessary work during a demanding tender period.
Assess each lot separately:
- Do you deliver the core service directly?
- Can you provide the required contract examples?
- Are suitably qualified people available?
- Do you hold the necessary memberships and accreditations?
- Can your insurance arrangements meet the requirements?
- Do you understand the relevant public-sector environment?
- Will you rely on subcontractors or consortium members?
- Can you service the full geographical scope you select?
- Do you have capacity to respond to call-off competitions?
- Can you present a clear commercial offer?
A focused bid for one or two well-matched lots may be stronger than a broad application built around marginal experience.
Lot 1 requires particular care. The lead supplier must show how disciplines will be coordinated, how design responsibilities will be controlled and how disagreements or gaps between consultants will be resolved.
Our construction bid writing team can help consultancies assess the opportunity and turn technical processes into clear, evaluator-focused responses.
Prepare Your Contract Examples
NHS SBS bidder materials indicate that suppliers will need to provide three contract examples for each lot they target. The examples should be from the previous five years, relate to the lot and originate from projects procured under public-sector procurement rules.
Suppliers may use projects delivered for different contracting authorities, but private-sector work alone may not satisfy the stated requirement.
For each example, gather:
- The contracting authority
- The procurement route
- The project and construction value
- Your consultancy fee
- The services provided
- Relevant RIBA stages or project phases
- The people and disciplines involved
- Programme and cost performance
- Risks or challenges managed
- Sustainability outcomes
- Measurable results
- A suitable reference contact
Do not choose examples purely because the client is well known or the project value is high. Relevance is more useful than scale.
A project management example should demonstrate how your team controlled delivery, decisions, risks and stakeholders. An MEP example should show relevant design expertise, coordination and technical outcomes. A healthcare planning example should evidence an understanding of service models, clinical relationships and future demand.
Your case studies should make your role unmistakable. Evaluators should not have to work out which activities were completed by your organisation and which belonged to the wider project team.
Show You Understand Public-Sector Estates
The framework is open to the wider public sector, but NHS organisations are likely to remain significant users. Consultants should understand the pressures associated with healthcare buildings and operational public estates.
These may include:
- Occupied clinical environments
- Critical utilities and infrastructure
- Restricted shutdown periods
- Infection prevention requirements
- Sensitive patient areas
- Safeguarding
- Live building work
- Complex stakeholder groups
- Ageing assets
- Backlog maintenance
- Energy and carbon targets
- Limited capital budgets
Connect your discipline to these issues.
An architect could explain how user engagement informs design decisions without delaying the programme. A quantity surveyor might show how whole-life cost and risk allowances support an affordable business case. An MEP consultant could address resilience, maintainability and carefully planned shutdowns.
Project managers should demonstrate how clinical, technical and commercial stakeholders will be coordinated. Sustainability consultants will need to show how recommendations can be prioritised, funded and delivered, rather than simply producing an aspirational net zero plan.
Bidding offers specialist support for NHS bids across estates, facilities management, construction consultancy and other non-clinical services supplied to NHS organisations.
Make Quality Easy to Score
Technical expertise does not automatically translate into a high-scoring tender response. Evaluators need a structured explanation of what you will do, who will do it and how the approach improves project outcomes.
The Construction Playbook sets out public-sector expectations around early planning, collaboration, risk allocation, delivery models and performance. Suppliers should reflect these principles through practical methods rather than repeating policy language.
Mobilisation
Explain how each call-off project will be established, including:
- Named roles and responsibilities
- Information requirements
- Stakeholder mapping
- Initial workshops
- Reporting arrangements
- Risk and issue registers
- Mobilisation milestones
Governance
Set out the meeting structure, decision-making authority, change control and escalation routes. Avoid creating unnecessary layers, but make accountability clear.
Multidisciplinary Coordination
Where several disciplines are involved, explain how information will be shared, reviewed and approved.
This may include design responsibility matrices, common data environments, coordinated reviews and clash detection. State who is responsible for resolving interfaces between disciplines.
Cost and Programme Control
Describe how you will establish baselines, monitor progress and respond to variance. Include early-warning processes, forecasting, risk allowances and corrective action.
Simply naming project-management software will not demonstrate control.
Quality Assurance
Show how work will be checked before it reaches the client. Relevant measures could include technical reviews, independent checks, design audits, document controls and professional sign-off.
For every process, connect the method to the result. Explain how it reduces risk, protects the programme or improves the quality of decisions.
Treat Social Value as a Core Workstream
NHS SBS has stated that sustainability and social value will receive significant attention within the tender. Suppliers should not leave this section until the technical responses and commercial submission are complete.
The strongest approaches to social value in NHS tenders are relevant to the consultancy service and proportionate to the work awarded.
Potential commitments include:
- Apprenticeships and graduate opportunities
- Placements for underrepresented groups
- Careers engagement
- Local recruitment
- SME and voluntary-sector supply-chain opportunities
- Skills transfer to client teams
- Employee wellbeing initiatives
- Reducing travel emissions
- Low-carbon design support
- Improving biodiversity
- Designing for accessibility and health equality
Avoid listing every activity your organisation has ever delivered. Select commitments that can be implemented through this framework.
For each one, identify:
- The action you will take
- The intended beneficiary
- The measurable target
- The delivery period
- The responsible person
- The evidence reported to the client
The NHS Social Value Playbook emphasises relevant and proportionate commitments, supported by contract KPIs. It also encourages NHS buyers to connect social value to local health, economic and environmental priorities.
Prepare for Framework Call-Offs
Winning a place does not guarantee work. Approved organisations may use the framework to run an award with competition or, where the framework terms permit it, make an award without competition.
Suppliers should therefore plan beyond the initial application.
Once appointed, your business may need to:
- Monitor framework enquiries
- Make rapid bid decisions
- Respond to project-specific questions
- Maintain current CVs and case studies
- Propose available personnel
- Submit fee schedules
- Attend interviews or presentations
- Keep framework information up to date
- Report sales and pay the applicable levy
NHS SBS also expects an NCIS levy of 2% on framework sales. This should be included when modelling fees and margins.
Framework success depends on having the resource to pursue call-offs. A supplier that wins a place but cannot respond quickly to later opportunities may see limited commercial return.
What Should You Do Now?
Begin with a disciplined preparation plan:
- Select your lots. Compare each scope with your direct services and strongest evidence.
- Confirm the contract examples. Check dates, procurement routes, relevance and reference availability.
- Review the conditions of participation. Identify missing policies, memberships, certifications or financial information.
- Update key CVs. Make qualifications, responsibilities and relevant project experience clear.
- Map the delivery model. Agree governance, interfaces, quality controls and escalation.
- Confirm partner roles. Complete due diligence and secure commitments from subcontractors.
- Develop social value commitments. Give them owners, targets and reporting measures.
- Register on the required systems. Keep SAP Ariba and Central Digital Platform information current.
- Plan reviews early. Protect enough time to challenge the quality, consistency and evidence within the full submission.
Do not wait until the closing week to resolve evidence gaps or agree a multidisciplinary team. Important approvals and partner contributions often take longer than expected.
Strengthen Your NHS SBS Framework Bid
The NHS SBS Public Sector Construction Consultancy Framework could create significant opportunities for multidisciplinary firms and specialist practices. Its scale will also attract credible competitors with strong public-sector experience.
Bidding helps construction consultancies choose the right lots, gather relevant evidence and develop clear responses around the published scoring criteria. We can coordinate technical contributors, challenge generic answers and keep an important framework application moving towards the deadline.
Speak to Bidding about strengthening your NHS SBS Construction Consultancy Framework submission.
