Defra in pre-tender engagement for £120m national property flood resilience framework

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a pre-tender engagement exercise on behalf of the Environment Agency for a new framework for the provision of services and works relating to property flood resilience.

Following the introduction of the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Code of Practice and new standards for flood products, the Environment Agency has decided to replace its current PFR procurement framework.

It is currently the intention of the EA that the new framework will have two Lots:

• Lot 1: Hazard assessment, property survey and handover (Standard 1, 2 and 5)
• Lot 2: Options, installation, commissioning and handover (Standard 3,4 and 5)

The EA is now inviting suppliers to take part in a short survey in order to obtain an understanding of supplier availability to deliver the services under each option. It is intended that this The outputs of the pre-tender engagement will assist with shaping the new framework and future of the service.

Definition of property flood resilience

The EA’s existing PFR framework focuses on the provision of resistance measures for residential property. The proposed new framework will require:

• Consideration of resistance, recoverability and preparedness interventions
• Provision of services for residential and non-residential premises

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management are currently developing an accreditation process; suppliers will be required to commit to obtaining this accreditation in due course. 

Regional delivery

The Environment Agency is considering national or regional delivery for the services which would be based on alignment to existing EA hubs: North East, North West, Midlands, Eastern, South West, South East. The Agency considers that benefits from delivering projects at a regional level could include:

• local business delivery
• increased collaboration
• carbon reduction
• the potential for increased uptake of maintenance packages.

The EA is now inviting interested suppliers to register their interest in the framework and take part in a short survey to assist with shaping the future framework. Envisaged start date for the framework is 1 November 2021, concluding on 31 October 2025.

Deadline to submit responses is 16 April 2021. Click here for information