Official UK procurement notice
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Maintenance Services RFI
Authority: THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University is seeking to appoint a suitably qualified and competent Supplier to deliver a fully comprehensive, all-inclusive service for the maintenance, servicing and repair of all the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning systems and associated equipment.
The Supplier shall carry out all repairs necessary as a result of both the planned maintenance servicing, break downs / call-outs of all equipment forming part of the refrigeration and air conditioning systems to maintain a fully functional system at all times on an all-inclusive basis on all campuses (i.e. at no extra cost to the University), except for vandalism, accidental damage or misuse. The Supplier will also maintain the University’s F Gas register.
During the term of the Contract the Supplier will provide the University with the inspection, testing and repair of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning systems in accordance with British standards and Manufacturers Maintenance recommendations.
CPV: Compressors for refrigerating equipment · Condenser air-cooling systems · Cooling and ventilation equipment · Heating-plant repair and maintenance work · Parts of refrigerating and freezing equipment and heat pumps · Refrigeration coils · Repair and maintenance services · Repair and maintenance services of building installations
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER buys Repair and maintenance services of building installations (CPV 5070), and who usually turns up
THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Repair and maintenance services of building installations (CPV 5070) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 46 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid11% / 14%
2–344% / 20%
4–644% / 22%
7+0% / 44%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate60% / 28%
Within ±2%0% / 53%
Above estimate40% / 19%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 4211Published estimate£485k
This lot is listed as CPV 4211. The table above uses the notice category.
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 16 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid19%
2–344%
4–638%
7+0%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 24 Sept 2026, 17:21 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2026, 17:21 BST
- Authority reference
CfT_6730173- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-090757- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0779f6Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
24 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published33 days ago24 Sept 2026, 17:21 BST
- Market engagement19 days ago8 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) notice and Request for Information (RFI) is to invite potential service providers to express an interest and provide information to assist with the procurement development of a specification for the University's Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Maintenance Services.
The procurement route, duration and type of contract(s) shall be determined following this preliminary market consultation and engagement with market participants.
It is important to note that this PME and RFI is not a call for competition, a pre-qualification questionnaire, part of any pre-qualification/selection process or a current tender opportunity. Potential providers will need to express an interest in any future tender opportunity once a Tender Notice is published.
This RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process, nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those individuals and organisations who express an interest in the RFI exercise.
It is anticipated that any future tender competition will have a different CfT reference to this RFI exercise on the eTendersNI platform
The RFI Questionnaire can be accessed by registering with eTendersNI (www.etendersni.gov.uk ↗) and searching for the relevant CfT_6730173.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 12 days9 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 154 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published24 Sept 2026, 17:21 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender