Southern Water has gone out to tender with a framework contract for its AMP8 2025-30 capital infrastructure programme worth up to an estimated £700 million in total.

The water company is anticipating that AMP8 will be the largest investment programme it has ever undertaken, given its plans for the Water industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and its Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP).

Southern Water wants to secure a range of supply chain partners for the delivery of its AMP8 capital programme which will run from April 2025 to March 2030. The current frameworks used for engineering, design and construction services have been in place for almost 10 years and expire on 31st March 2025.

In parallel to the procurement process, the utility is currently working up its plans for PR24 – including working with regulators and stakeholders to confirm the investment that will be available and the capital delivery projects that will need to be undertaken.

Southern Water is looking to establish a collaborative framework to deliver low complexity infrastructure design and build schemes. The framework is being tendered in the following 2 separate Lots for water and wastewater.

• Lot 1 Capital Infrastructure Water
• Lot 2 Capital Infrastructure Wastewater

A separate framework for non-infrastructure works has already been established for the remainder of AMP 7 and 8.

The framework is intended to be used for routine asset replacement works which require limited design, and can be readily packaged and allocated by the client. Successful contractors will work with the company to provide engineering capability and expertise to:

Identify and develop options in accordance with the client’s technical and engineering standards for all aspects of water and wastewater systems.

Achieve the required asset performance or customer outcomes by identifying:

• low build or no-build solutions.
• sustainable including low carbon, catchment, and nature-based solutions.
• lowest Totex or Best Value solutions across an agreed tranche or programme of works.

Construction management services and expertise to be provided under both Lots include:

• Create, manage and optimise its allocated programmes, including developing programme, tranche and project execution plans
• Pre-construction enabling activities
• Construction enabling activities (e.g. site surveys, site preparation, streetworks management, including communicating with the customer).
• Preparing all aspects of work delivery planning, including identification of the most cost-efficient civils, mechanical and electrical, and environmental construction resource to deliver the works, for review and acceptance by the client.
• Managing and undertaking construction delivery to the time, cost, quality and risk parameters agreed with the client,
• Managing and undertaking commissioning and handover according to Client Engineering Standard

The water company is looking to appoint up to six contractors to the framework, which will run for an initial 5 year term with the potential to be extended by a further 3 years.

Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 5 June 2023 – click here to access the tender documentation.