Official UK procurement notice
T2743 Digitisation of Building Control Records
Authority: Belfast City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Contract is for the digitisation of building control records. This involves the process of converting information onto an electronic format and the database management of such information held electronically.
The Service provided is compatible with the Councils existing software systems.
Scanned copies of all original documentation and drawings to be uploaded to a secure share point site following digitisation.
The Contractor liaises with the nominated officer and other relevant Council staff as necessary throughout the contract period.
The Council currently digitises its Building Control records for the following reasons:
To reduce in-house storage of hardcopy records and to comply with retention and disposal schedules.
Faster access to information (thus reducing staff time and saving money);
Disaster recovery/business continuity;
Currently only Building Regulation Full Plans applications are processed in batches of approximately 20 applications per week for digitisation, however this process may be widened to include all Building Regulations and Licensing applications. In addition, it may be widened in future to include street naming and numbering documentation and site inspection diaries when required.
CPV: Microfilm and microfiche equipment · Microfilming services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Belfast City Council buys Photographic and ancillary services (CPV 7996), and who usually turns up
Belfast City Council’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: Photographic and ancillary services (CPV 7996) →
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 73 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 bid67% / 23%
2–313% / 28%
4–620% / 28%
7+0% / 21%
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 estimate0% / 18%
Within ±2%75% / 68%
Above estimate25% / 14%
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 7996Estimate not published
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 206 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid23%
2–328%
4–628%
7+21%
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
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Apr 2026, 09:41 BST
- Last source update
- 1 Apr 2026, 09:41 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-030122- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067a3cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
1 Apr 2026 → 5 Oct 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published210 days ago1 Apr 2026, 09:41 BST
- Market engagement186 days ago24 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Pre Market Engagement is being carried out prior to release of the regulated below threshold tender.
Pre Market Engagement for the Digitisation of Building Control Records. The Council is carrying out PME to engage with the marketplace to understand the current market offering of Microfiche, Microfilm and associated industry standards.
To register your interest to participate in the PME and obtain a Questionnaire to complete, please send an email to cps@belfastcity.gov.uk at the latest by 3pm on or before Friday 24th April 2026.
The pre market engagement exercise will take the form of an initial questionnaire and will help the Council develop an informed specification that is fit for purpose.
If required, the Council will engage with Suppliers through clarifications, meetings etc to discuss the responses. If you have any questions about this requirement, please send them to cps@belfastcity.gov.uk. We will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible.
The Council reserves the right to contact any or all organisations who responds to this PME, however, there is no guarantee that all organisations will be contacted who submit an interest.
All information returned as part of this PME exercise will assist in the development of the specification.
The Council uses eSourcing NI as its etendering platform. If you are not yet registered with eSourcing NI we would suggest you do so without delay.
Whilst the Council will endeavour to keep any respondents to this PME exercise informed on developments of the tender process, the Council cannot guarantee this.
Organisations are advised to register with eSourcing NI in order to see any advertised tender opportunities as well as regularly checking the Council's website for opportunities.
The Council reserves the right to discontinue any discussions or tender procedures at any time and are not liable for any costs incurred by suppliers associated with participating in this PME exercise.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a regulated below threshold tender that will be advertised on the etendering portal - eSourcing NI (e-sourcingni.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml ↗).
No further notices will be published in relation to this tendering opportunity in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
- Contract starts23 days ago5 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 Apr 2026, 09:41 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