Compliance Solutions framework

The framework and the DPS both cover compliance services, but they work differently and suit different needs. The framework has a fixed supply chain with regional rankings and pre-agreed pricing structures. You can go straight to the top-ranked supplier for your region through direct award, which is the fastest route to appointing a contractor. The DPS has an open supply chain where new suppliers can join at any point, and every procurement is a further competition where you set your own pricing, terms, and evaluation criteria. The framework covers five core compliance categories: asbestos, damp and mould, electrical, lifts, and legionella. The DPS covers 17 categories, adding heating, fire safety, access control, mansafe, Japanese knotweed, radon, and others. If your requirement is straightforward and falls within the five framework categories, direct award gets you to a contractor faster. If you need a category the framework does not cover, or you want to design a bespoke specification and run a competitive process with tailored evaluation criteria, the DPS gives you that flexibility. Many organisations use both. They use the framework for routine, recurring compliance appointments where speed and simplicity matter, and the DPS for larger, more complex, or multi-category programmes where they want to test the market. Inprova’s team can advise on which route best fits each specific requirement.

The frequency of electrical testing depends on the type of building and its use. The IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) recommend periodic inspection and testing (EICR) at least every five years for commercial premises and every five years for domestic rented properties. Some higher-risk environments, such as swimming pools, construction sites, and buildings with high footfall, may require more frequent testing. Landlords across sectors, including local authority housing, housing associations, schools, and NHS bodies, need to ensure that their tenanted or occupied properties have a valid EICR, and many organisations are moving towards more frequent cycles to maintain assurance across large portfolios. Fixed wiring testing, emergency lighting checks, and portable appliance testing each have their own recommended frequencies, and managing these overlapping cycles across hundreds or thousands of properties requires systematic planning. The framework provides direct award access to ranked electrical testing contractors in every region, which means you can appoint quickly as each testing cycle approaches. For organisations managing large rolling programmes, Inprova’s team can support the specification development to ensure the scope covers the full range of electrical compliance activities and that the contract structure aligns with your testing schedule. Using Quantum alongside the framework gives you a single view of contract dates, spend, and compliance status across the programme.

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the Procurement Act 2023 introduced new requirements around the entire contract lifecycle, from planning through to contract management and close-out; Scotland’s own procurement legislation carries equivalent expectations. For compliance services, the most significant changes include the requirement to publish contract performance information, set and report against KPIs for contracts above certain thresholds, and maintain a golden thread of procurement documentation from the initial assessment of need through to contract completion. Using an evaluated framework helps organisations meet these obligations, wherever in the UK you’re based, because the procurement route itself is already compliant and documented. The tender process, evaluation methodology, supplier scores, and award decisions are all recorded. At the call-off level, Inprova provides the documentation for both direct awards and mini-competitions, creating a consistent, auditable trail for every contract. The Act also introduces a new debarment regime, which means suppliers who have been involved in certain types of misconduct can be excluded from public procurement, with Scotland’s legislation carrying equivalent supplier exclusion powers. For compliance services where contractor competence directly affects building safety, this provides an additional layer of assurance. For procurement teams navigating the transition to changing procurement legislation, using established frameworks reduces the risk of procedural error during a period when the rules are changing and case law is still developing.

Yes. A multi-academy trust can use direct award to appoint the highest-ranked supplier for its region across any of the five compliance categories. This is particularly useful for MATs that need to move quickly. If the trust has asbestos surveys due before a summer refurbishment programme, or electrical testing coming up across a batch of schools, direct award means the appointment can happen in days rather than the weeks that a competitive process requires. For MATs managing sites across multiple regions, the regional rankings mean the top-ranked supplier may differ by area. In practice, this is straightforward to manage because Inprova’s team handles the call-off process and can coordinate appointments across regions. If the MAT prefers to test the market, perhaps because the programme is large enough to warrant competitive pricing or the trust wants to evaluate contractors on their approach to working in occupied school buildings, a mini-competition across all suppliers on the relevant lot provides that option. The framework covers the compliance categories most commonly needed in school buildings: asbestos surveying and removal ahead of building works, electrical testing, legionella management for water systems, and lift servicing for buildings with passenger lifts or platform lifts. Damp and mould surveying and treatment is also available for school buildings experiencing moisture issues.

Damp and mould has moved from a maintenance issue to a compliance priority across the public sector. Any organisation managing occupied buildings where damp and mould is present has a duty of care to the occupants under health and safety legislation, whether that’s the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in Great Britain or the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 in Northern Ireland, both of which place clear obligations on employers and building managers to maintain a safe environment. In education settings, persistent damp and mould in school buildings affects air quality and pupil health, and school inspectorates take the physical environment seriously, Ofsted in England, Estyn in Wales, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in Scotland, and the Education and Training Inspectorate in Northern Ireland. In healthcare, mould in clinical or patient-facing areas creates infection control risks that regulators scrutinise closely, the CQC in England, Healthcare Improvement Scotland in Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales for NHS and independent healthcare in Wales, Care Inspectorate Wales for social care there, and the RQIA in Northern Ireland.

In government and blue light buildings, occupational health obligations mean damp conditions must be investigated and addressed. The framework provides separate lots for mould treatment, damp treatment, diagnostic surveying, and a fully managed solution that combines all three. The fully managed route is designed for organisations dealing with high volumes of cases, because it gives you a single contractor responsible for diagnosing the problem, delivering the treatment, and confirming the issue is resolved. For organisations that need the diagnostic work done first before committing to remediation, the surveying lot provides specialist damp and mould surveyors who can identify root causes, distinguish between condensation, rising damp, and penetrating damp, and produce remediation plans that contractors can price against. Direct award gives you quick access to these specialists when case volumes spike or inspection findings require action.

Local government reorganisation is happening across several parts of England, merging district and county councils into new unitary authorities. For compliance teams, reorganisation creates practical challenges: property portfolios are being combined, supply chains need to cover a larger geographical area, existing contracts may not transfer cleanly, and procurement teams are stretched during the transition. This framework is available to any UK contracting authority, which means both the existing councils and the new successor authority can use it. Compliance testing and servicing cannot pause during reorganisation, so having a procurement route that carries over without re-procurement provides continuity. Asbestos registers, electrical testing programmes, legionella assessments, and lift servicing contracts all need to keep running regardless of which council structure is delivering them. For the new unitary authority, the framework also provides a route to rationalise the compliance supply chain. Where two or three predecessor councils each had their own electrical testing contractors on separate arrangements, the new authority can use the framework to consolidate into a single compliant contract. Inprova’s team can support the transition by reviewing the predecessor councils’ existing compliance programmes and advising on how to structure the procurement through the framework to maintain coverage during the handover period.

Yes. The framework is available to any UK public sector organisation, including the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service in England and Wales, the Scottish Prison Service, the Northern Ireland Prison Service, and the other bodies responsible for managing the prison and court estate in each nation. Prisons and secure environments present specific compliance challenges. Buildings are occupied 24 hours a day by people who cannot leave, which means every compliance failure has direct safety consequences. Electrical systems in prison wings are subject to high levels of wear and interference. Water systems in large institutional buildings with complex pipework are high-risk environments for legionella. Many prison buildings were constructed in periods when asbestos was widely used, and any maintenance or refurbishment work requires asbestos assessment before it can proceed. The framework covers all of these categories. For secure environments, the direct award route provides speed when compliance testing identifies issues that need urgent remediation. The mini-competition route allows you to evaluate contractors on their experience working in secure settings, their approach to managing work in occupied institutional buildings, and their ability to coordinate with facility management teams around operational schedules. Inprova’s contract management support provides an additional layer of oversight for compliance contracts in environments where contractor performance has a direct bearing on the safety of people in custody.

The duty to manage asbestos applies across the UK, under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 in England, Scotland, and Wales, or the Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. Both require the dutyholder for any non-domestic building to manage the risk from asbestos. In practice, this means maintaining an asbestos register that records the location, type, and condition of all known or presumed asbestos-containing materials, carrying out regular re-inspections to check that materials have not deteriorated, ensuring that anyone working on the building is informed about the asbestos before work begins, and commissioning refurbishment and demolition surveys before any construction work that might disturb asbestos.

The framework covers the full asbestos lifecycle. Surveying contractors on the framework carry out management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys, bulk sampling, and air monitoring. Removal contractors hold the licences required for licensed asbestos work, issued by the HSE in Great Britain or the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. And the fully managed lot provides a single contractor who handles the complete process from survey through to removal and clearance testing. For organisations managing large property portfolios, maintaining an up-to-date asbestos register across hundreds of buildings is a continuous obligation. The framework provides a standing procurement route for the specialist surveyors and removal contractors you need, so the asbestos management plan can be delivered on schedule without the delay of running a separate procurement each time a survey or removal is required.

NHS trusts and health boards manage some of the most complex water systems in the public sector. Hospital buildings have extensive hot and cold water distribution networks, multiple storage tanks, deadlegs in pipework that has been modified over decades, and clinical areas where water quality directly affects patient safety. In England, Health Technical Memorandum 04-01 sets out the requirements for water safety in healthcare premises, going beyond the baseline ACOP L8 requirements that apply to all buildings; Scotland’s equivalent guidance sits in its own Scottish Health Technical Memoranda series.

The framework’s legionella testing and treatment lot covers risk assessments, water sampling, temperature monitoring, and specialist treatment across all water system types. For NHS and health bodies, the key benefit is that the suppliers on this lot have been evaluated for competence and accreditation, which provides the assurance that boards and the relevant regulator, the CQC in England, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, or the RQIA in Northern Ireland, expect when scrutinising water safety governance. Direct award gives trusts and health boards the speed to respond when monitoring identifies elevated bacteria counts or temperature excursions that require immediate investigation and treatment. For larger water safety programmes, a mini-competition allows the organisation to build estates-guidance-specific requirements into the specification and evaluate contractors on their healthcare experience, their approach to working around clinical operations, and their reporting standards.

The framework is structured by lot, with each lot covering a specific compliance category. This means you typically procure each category separately, appointing the most appropriate specialist contractor for each discipline. This approach ensures you are getting contractors with the specific accreditations and experience that each compliance area demands, rather than a generalist who covers everything but specialises in nothing. That said, the fully managed lots within asbestos, damp and mould, and electrical compliance are designed to combine related services within each discipline. The fully managed asbestos lot covers surveying, testing, and removal. The fully managed damp and mould lot covers surveying, treatment, and remediation. The fully managed electrical lot covers testing and security systems. If you need to combine categories across lots, for example appointing a single contractor for both electrical testing and legionella management, the framework can support this where a contractor appears on multiple lots. Inprova’s team can check the supply chain overlap and advise whether a multi-category appointment is feasible. For organisations that want to consolidate multiple compliance categories into a single large contract with bespoke terms, Inprova’s Compliance Services DPS may be a better fit because it allows fully tailored specifications across 17 categories through further competition.

Fire and rescue authorities manage a diverse estate including fire stations, training centres, control rooms, workshops, and administrative buildings. Fire stations present specific compliance challenges because they house heavy vehicles, have appliance bay doors and associated electrical systems, contain breathing apparatus charging facilities, and in many cases provide residential accommodation for on-call firefighters. Electrical testing needs to account for the specialist equipment and wiring configurations found in appliance bays and equipment rooms. Legionella management must cover the water systems in residential accommodation as well as the operational areas. Many fire station buildings date from the 1960s and 1970s and are likely to contain asbestos-containing materials that need to be surveyed and managed before any refurbishment work can proceed. The framework covers all of these categories. For fire and rescue authorities, the direct award route provides a quick appointment when compliance testing identifies issues in an operational building that cannot be taken out of service for extended periods. Training centres, which often include simulated environments, specialist water systems, and high-wear electrical installations, have their own compliance profile that specialist contractors on this framework are equipped to address. Inprova’s contract management support helps fire and rescue authorities maintain oversight of contractor performance across a geographically dispersed estate.

Universities manage some of the most diverse building portfolios in the public sector. A single campus might include teaching buildings, research laboratories, student accommodation, sports facilities, libraries, catering buildings, and administrative offices, each with its own compliance profile. Student accommodation has the same gas safety, electrical testing, and legionella obligations as any other residential property. Laboratories involve specialist electrical systems and additional hazardous substance management. Sports buildings with swimming pools or hydrotherapy facilities have heightened legionella risk. Older campus buildings, many dating from the 1960s and 1970s expansion of higher education, are likely to contain asbestos. The framework covers the compliance categories most relevant to university estates: asbestos surveying and removal for refurbishment and demolition projects, electrical testing across all building types, legionella management for the complex water systems that large campus buildings require, and lift servicing for multi-storey teaching and accommodation buildings. For universities planning major estate development or refurbishment programmes, having the asbestos surveying supply chain already in place through the framework means R&D surveys can be commissioned quickly as project timelines are confirmed. Direct award provides the speed, and the quality-led evaluation provides the assurance that the surveying will be thorough and the results defensible.

The fully managed asbestos solution (Lot 1c) provides a single contractor who handles the complete asbestos process: surveying and testing to identify what is present, risk assessment to determine whether management in situ or removal is appropriate, licensed removal where needed, disposal, air clearance testing, and updated documentation for the asbestos register. This lot is designed for organisations that want to avoid managing the handoff between a separate surveying firm and a separate removal contractor. The advantage is simplicity and accountability. One contractor, one contract, one point of responsibility for the whole process. This matters when you are managing asbestos across a large programme of refurbishment works and need a consistent approach and reporting standard across all sites. The alternative is to use Lot 1a (surveying and testing) and Lot 1b (removal) separately. This gives you more flexibility to appoint specialist surveyors and specialist removal contractors independently, which some organisations prefer because it provides an additional check: the contractor recommending removal is not the same contractor being paid to carry it out. The right choice depends on the scale and nature of the programme, and Inprova’s team can advise on which route best fits your requirements.

Yes. Custody suites are among the most compliance-intensive buildings in the police estate. They hold detained persons who cannot self-evacuate, operate around the clock, and must meet specific environmental and safety requirements, set out in PACE Code C in England and Wales, Police Scotland’s own detention standards under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, and the PACE (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 codes of practice in Northern Ireland. Electrical systems are subject to high levels of wear from continuous use and need to be anti-ligature in cells and detention areas. Water systems require legionella management, particularly where hot water storage and distribution serve multiple cells, interview rooms, and staff areas. Many custody suites are located in buildings that were constructed or refurbished during periods when asbestos was widely used, and any modification or maintenance work requires asbestos assessment before it can proceed.

The framework covers all of these categories with ranked regional suppliers who can be appointed through direct award when compliance testing identifies issues that need addressing. For police forces, the ability to appoint quickly is operationally important because a custody suite that fails a compliance check may need to restrict or suspend operations until the issue is resolved, which has a direct impact on policing capability. Inprova’s contract management support provides oversight of contractor performance in these sensitive environments, where the quality of compliance work directly affects the safety of both detained persons and police staff

Social value is embedded in the framework evaluation, and suppliers were assessed against social value criteria as part of the tendering process. In practice, this means suppliers on the framework have committed to delivering positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes alongside the compliance works they are contracted to provide.

Typical social value commitments from compliance contractors include employing local labour and subcontractors, offering apprenticeships and training places in trades such as electrical testing, asbestos surveying, and lift engineering, engaging with local community organisations, reducing environmental impact through waste minimisation, for example in the safe disposal of asbestos and other hazardous materials, and supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion in their workforce.

For organisations that need to report on the social value outcomes of their procurement activity, the right audience depends on your sector: this might be the Regulator of Social Housing or the Scottish Housing Regulator for housing providers, trust or health board members for NHS and health bodies, elected members and scrutiny committees for local authorities, or HMICFRS and equivalent inspectorates for blue light services. Having suppliers whose social value commitments were evaluated at the point of tender and can be tracked through the contract provides the evidence base that any of these audiences would expect. Inprova tracks social value delivery across its frameworks. If social value is a priority for your organisation, Inprova’s team can help you build social value requirements into your call-off specification and monitor delivery throughout the contract.