Official UK procurement notice
Supply, Delivery, Installation & On-Site Maintenance of Digitisation Scanning Equipment
Authority: UK Hydrographic Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe objective of this tender is to procure brand-new digitisation equipment and accompanying
software (with licence) to support the high-quality, digital capture of a wide range of archival and
heritage materials of varying size, thickness and weight in this Financial Year.
We require a large format floor mounted image scanner (up to A0 size) with a mobile scanning bed.
Among other features, it must be capable of manual access, integrated quality control, resolution
up to 600PPI optical (however higher levels can be offered) and integrated software with OCR ability.
The equipment required includes:
- Overhead planetary scanner for fragile, rare, or bound documents like books and maps with a stand mounted camera system to capture images without any contact with the document.
- The ability for the scanner to scan oversized documents, such as folios, plans, surveys, maps, atlases, books, illustrations, paintings, sketches and charts.
- It should have the flexibility to allow for scanning of historic books that are unable to be fully opened due to their spine integrity and delicate condition.
System Depth of Field - should be capable of scanning thick books and folded materials.
Cradle/Stage/Platform requirements:
- Adjustable bed frame or camera position with manual or automated control
- Book cradle table for originals up to 645 mm x 860 mm (>A0) and self-aligning and height-adjustable (motorised) able to accommodate books up to 50 cm thick and weighing up to 50Kgs
- Image Quality - Resolution from 300 PPI - 600PPI. Scans need to have even and uniform illumination - even at the image corners and edges. The Scanner requires controlled lighting within book curves to prevent loss of image details.
- Conservation lighting - Modern, LED lighting concept (UV / IR and ozone free). Glare and flicker-free lighting during capturing (no flash effects). Colour temperature from 5,500 to 6,500 Kelvin. Adjustable light intensity from 1,000 to 3,500 lux.
Scanning Outputs
- Internal colour depth: 48-bit colour.
- 24/48-bit colour, 8/16 bit grey and 1 bit B/W.
- Colour ranges: sRGB, Adobe 1998 RGB, or according to ICC standard
- File formats: Archival TIFF/RAW, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PDF, PDF-A, PDF OCR (searchable content), Multipage TIFF and PDF.
- System Data Transfer rate - Use of USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 connectivity with data transfer rate of 5GB per second.
i. Functional Requirements
o Image Quality: The primary goal is to create images that are as legible as the original.
o Resolution (PPI): Up to 600 PPI for documents.
o Colour Depth: Scan ordinary documents up to 48-bit colour as required
ii. Performance Requirements
o Image Integrity: Scans should capture the entire page with a clear border, be size-for-size, and be free from digital artifacts like spots or dark patches.
o File Format Master Files: Use preservation-grade, lossless formats like TIFF or JPEG2000 for master archive copies. Should use formats like PDF/A (ISO19005 standard) for distribution, accessibility, and general use, as they support long-term preservation and text searching.
o The scanner needs to produce high-quality images to ISO19264, ISO19005 standards (full capture area, full resolution, in colour). There should be image previews while scanning.
o Metadata: A comprehensive metadata framework is essential for searchability and context. Metadata should include information such as title, author, date, keywords, unique identifiers, and retention periods.
iii. Technical Requirements
o Building Access: The scanner stage and equipment should be able to be brought into the Archive facility through standard door apertures to be assembled within the space required in the Scanning Room facility.
o Dimensions: The area for installation of the new system should fit within the areas allowed
2.5M deep
3.5M wide
3.0M high
o Power: The system should be operable using normal UK mains power voltage (230V) and frequency (50Hz).
o Training: We require orientation and training for all the staff of the Archives (up to 10 people) on the operation and use of the scanning systems supplied.
o Warrantee and Maintenance: The procured system should be covered by a minimum three-year warrantee for all defects and should not require maintenance until operational year 4.
CPV: Scanners
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Hydrographic Office buys Scanners (CPV 3852), and who usually turns up
UK Hydrographic Office’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: Scanners (CPV 3852) →
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 outside 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 37 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 bid30%
2–350%
4–620%
7+0%
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% / 58%
Within ±2%40% / 25%
Above estimate0% / 17%
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 3852Published estimate£80k
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 20 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid30%
2–350%
4–620%
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
- Goods
- 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
- 8 Jun 2026, 14:14 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Jun 2026, 14:14 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-053823- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06afd7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
8 Jun 2026 → 1 Aug 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published142 days ago8 Jun 2026, 14:14 BST
- Tender notice expected135 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Market engagement135 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Contact Procurement@ukho.gov.uk if interested in bidding or for further questions.
- Contract starts89 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Jun 2026, 14:14 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