Official UK procurement notice
Sports Equipment and Fitness Equipment and the Maintenance of Gymnasium Equipment and Fitness Equipment
Authority: the Education Authority (Central government)
What is being bought4 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThis Framework is let by the Northern Ireland Education Authority (“EA”) and is open to the EA, including the NI educational bodies listed below. At some point during the life of the Framework these bodies may wish to utilise the Framework and must have access, at any point, with the permission of EA. This Framework is not intended to replace any current agreements that participating or non-participating institutions may already have in place.
www.education-ni.gov.uk/services/schools-plus ↗
Primary and Post Primary schools under the control of the EA, Catholic Maintained Schools, Independent Schools in NI, Irish Medium Schools in NI, both Controlled and, Voluntary Grammar Schools, Nursery School for NI (both controlled and Catholic Maintained), school meals kitchens on-site at all of these schools, and Controlled Youth Centres.
www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/further-edu… ↗
Further Education Colleges in NI
www.nicie.org/parents/school-finder/ ↗
Grant Controlled Integrated Education Schools in NI
www.isc.co.uk/schools/northern-ire… ↗
Independent School in NI
Libraries NI: www.librariesni.org.uk/Libraries/ ↗
EA Teachers’ and Educational Centres
Council for the Curriculum, Examination and Assessment NI (CCEA)
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Middletown Centre for Autism
Controlled Schools Support Council (CSSC)
Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 16 Sept 2030, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Field and court sports equipment · Fitness equipments · Installation services of fitness equipment · Miscellaneous repair and maintenance services · Sports goods and equipment
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 7 Feb 2027, Not applicable. The Framework is for a period of four years.
- Supplier levy on call-offs (max %)
0.75% of call-off value · Suppliers will pay the EA a Management Levy for the duration of the Framework. The Management Levy is a sum payable by the Supplier to the EA in accordance with the provisions of document 08. Appendix I Management Levy.
The Management Levy payable by the Supplier to the EA for this Contract shall be 0.75% where spend exceeds £100,000 with any one supplier, across all Lots.
Published description of the framework
It is envisaged that this Framework will have a maximum of;
Two Suppliers awarded a place on the Framework for each Core List Item in Lot 1 - Sports Equipment. Lot 1 will be awarded on a line by line basis.
Three Suppliers awarded a place on the Framework for each sub-Lot of Lot 2 Fitness Equipment, and;
Two Suppliers awarded a place on the Framework for each of Lot 3 Maintenance of Gymnasium Equipment and Lot 4 Maintenance of Fitness Equipment.
The Buyer intends for this Framework to operate on a non-exclusive basis. The Buyer’s clients will purchase items or services from the Framework via direct call off or via mini-competition.
The Buyer will select a supplier associated within the relevant Lot on the Framework (appointed on the basis of the criteria set out in the Call for Tender), who is considered to best meet their operational and technical requirements, considering some or all of the following criteria:
- Price
- Availability
- Delivery lead time
- Compatibility
- Continuity of Requirements
- Product Characteristics
- Any other reason based on the Buyer’s specific requirements
All Core List products in the Awarded Lots and sub-Lots will be added to the Buyer's P2P platform.
There will also be the opportunity to engage all suppliers in a specific Lot for a Mini-competition process for circumstances such as bulk requirements or any other situation where pricing efficiencies are anticipated. Any mini-competition will be awarded on the basis of the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) to the Supplier who is the highest scoring, compliant Supplier following the process of Mini-competition. For the avoidance of doubt, the Buyer will not be required to use the Mini-competition route for bulk requirements and may opt to use a direct call-off option at their own discretion. Any mini-competition will be based on 100% price, however there may be a requirement for additional mandatory criteria specific to individual projects, for example supply / delivery / installation by a specified time / date. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no obligation on the Buyer to conduct mini-competition for requirements in excess of £10k within a Lot, however, the Buyer may do this should they envisage mini-competition could deliver better value for money.
For the avoidance of doubt, in the event a mini-competition is required for any equipment under one of the sub-lots of Lot 2, the mini-competition will be completed on a Lot basis (inviting all the Suppliers from the Lot), rather than a sub-lot basis.
To note, the Framework includes Lots for both Supplies and Services - the Tender Documents held on eTendersNI include a 06a Short Form Supplies Framework Agreement which is intended to be used for Lots 1 and 2 only, and an 06b Short Form Services Framework Agreement which is intended to be used for Lots 3 and 4 only.
Lots and requirements (4)Procurement structure
4 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lotEvery one of these 2 lots carries the same published figure, £250,000: it is the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each lot's own budget, and no share per lot is published. The cards below say ceiling above rather than repeat it.
Lot #1Sports EquipmentPublished value£5,400,000
Lot 1 is for the supply and delivery of Sports Equipment.
Lot #2Fitness EquipmentPublished value£2,100,000
Lot 2 is for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of Fitness Equipment
Lot #3Maintenance of Gymnasium Equipmentceiling above
Lot 3 is for the maintenance of gymnasium equipment.
Lot #4Maintenance of Fitness Equipmentceiling above
Lot 4 is for the maintenance of Fitness Equipment.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (1)
- Price
- Price carries 100 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 10 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Sports Equipment and Fitness Equipment and the Maintenance of…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract: call-offs may be direct or by further competition.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 16 Sept 2030
- First published
- 3 Apr 2026, 16:06 BST
- Last source update
- 4 Sept 2026, 15:32 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 14 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
FAE-26-003- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-084012- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067c76Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
The Supplier must ensure that the Buyer has issued a Purchase order number in advance of any goods being delivered.
Payments will only be made on receipt of an invoice quoting the relevant purchase order number.
The Supplier must ensure that purchase orders received are accurate in that they state the correct contract prices, or return for correction prior to the order being fulfilled, as discrepancies could result in delays to invoice payments where purchase orders and invoices do not match.
Invoices must be in pounds Sterling (GBP).
Suppliers must submit invoices directly to the address as specified on the order.
Supplier must submit a group statement for outstanding invoices on a monthly basis. The supplier may liaise with EA Accounts Payable to identify the information required on the statement.
The Supplier must replace or make good at their own expense any items that are or become defective as a result of poor design, materials or service.
Payment shall be made through the Bankers Automated Clearing System. The Supplier will be required to provide bank account details to the Buyer to facilitate this method of payment.
The Buyer reserves the right to withhold payment against any invoice which is not submitted in accordance with the Framework, or which covers or purports to relate to goods which have not been provided in accordance with the Contract and shall forthwith notify the supplier accordingly in writing.
During the Term the Buyer reserves the right to review ordering and/or invoicing procedures with the Supplier.
For an invoice to be considered valid it must be legible, from which a clear scanned image can be produced, and clearly show the following information:
- Purchase Order number (only one purchase order per invoice)
- Invoice number
- Invoice date / tax point
- Supplier name, address, postcode and VAT registration number
- Remittance name and address where this is different to above
- Goods details which match the PO details, including quantity billed, item description, unit of measure, unit price and total value (only goods delivered should be on an invoice)
All invoices must be made payable to the Supplier and not to any nominated subcontractor(s).
- Risks
Please note that there may be additional requirements required from the Supplier during the term of the Framework that could not be identified or foreseen at the time of tender, but which are consistent with the requirements noted. In such circumstances the EA may seek to agree a modification of the Framework through a Framework variation to facilitate the provision of such requirements by the Supplier, with the charges for such set out in the Pricing Schedule as per the tender. It is envisaged that such modifications will be made without requiring a new procurement procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and Procurement Regulations 2024.
Suppliers should note that, in accordance with Section 31 and /or Section 74 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Buyer reserves the right to modify the Framework without a new procurement process in certain circumstances. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, Suppliers should note that the true value of the Framework may differ from the values outlined for the following reasons:
- Increase/decrease in the number of schools and number of pupils.
- Increase/decrease in the demand to use the Framework
- General increases/decreases in all costs such as equipment, insurances, labour rates etc.
- Unforeseen/unplanned events (for e.g., new schools which are an amalgamation of existing schools that were previously identified by EA as being eligible to utilise this Framework).
- Increase/decrease in EA funding.
- Legislative changes and/or advances in technology that impact the requirements or the items on this Framework.
- Environmental considerations and/or changes in EA environmental policy that impact the requirements for this type of Goods.
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 30 Sept 2026, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 21 Sept 2026, 15:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
- Supplier levy on call-offs (max %)
call-off levy · 0.75% of call-off value · Suppliers will pay the EA a Management Levy for the duration of the Framework. The Management Levy is a sum payable by the Supplier to the EA in accordance with the provisions of document 08. Appendix I Management Levy.
The Management Levy payable by the Supplier to the EA for this Contract shall be 0.75% where spend exceeds £100,000 with any one supplier, across all Lots.
https:www.etendersni.gov.uk ↗
Timeline
3 Apr 2026 → 7 Feb 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published209 days ago3 Apr 2026, 16:06 BST
- Market engagement183 days ago28 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI), in preparation for a procurement process, wish to engage with the market to seek supplier views and feedback on potential approaches for a Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Sports and Fitness Equipment, and the Maintenance of Gymnasium and Fitness Equipment.
Market Feedback will be provided via the completion of a questionnaire, to be submitted via eTendersNI. Suppliers who wish to participate in the pre market engagement exercise should complete the pre market engagement questionnaire on eTendersNI, accessible under the CfT CA Unique ID EANI-5203
Furthern information including the questionnaire can be downloaded from the CfT on eTendersNI. Suppliers also have the opportunity to submit queries regarding the engagement via the eTendersNI messaging function.
The Questionnaire must be completed and submitted via the messaging function on eTendersNI no later than 3pm on Tuesday 28 April 2026.
There are no documents required at this point other than the completed questionnaire.
Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future tender evaluation exercise.
Please note that participation or nonparticipation in this preliminary market consultation exercise shall not prevent any supplier from participating in any potential procurement process, nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage or disadvantage in any forthcoming procurement process.
For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process.
- Next notice expected166 days ago15 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published55 days ago4 Sept 2026, 15:32 BST
- Clarification questions by38 days ago21 Sept 2026, 15:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period ends29 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown30 Sept 2026, 15:00 BST
- Today29 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 46 days14 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 100 days7 Feb 2027
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 3 Apr 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Apr 2026, 16:06 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published4 Sept 2026, 15:32 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender