Six weeks, not three months:

The trust is a large multi-academy trust educating more than 13,500 learners across 21 schools in ten local authority areas. The estate spans primary, secondary and further education across multiple regions of England. Unlike maintained schools, where the local authority carries a share of statutory responsibility, a multi-academy trust holds full legal duty of care for every site it operates. That includes water hygiene. 

“When our incumbent decided to down tools, the Inprova framework gave us a supplier who could match our specification and mobilise really quickly. Running our own procurement would have taken about three months. Through the framework, Rock Compliance were on site within six weeks, and it’s been working really well ever since.” 

Gaminder Mahil, Procurement and Contracts Manager, Academy Transformation Trust 

The problem 

An incumbent that downed tools and a compliance clock that kept running 

Water hygiene is not a service a school can put on hold. The Trust’s programme follows the Health and Safety Executive’s Approved Code of Practice L8 and HSG274, covering temperature monitoring, legionella sampling and analysis, cleaning and disinfection of showers and outlets, and up-to-date water hygiene risk assessments for every site. 

Part-way through the contract, the incumbent contractor decided it could no longer deliver the water hygiene and legionella service. Work stopped, and the Trust was given around two to three weeks’ notice that the contract was being terminated. It needed a qualified replacement quickly, with audits back in place and no shortcuts on safeguarding or compliance. 

The risk went well beyond paperwork. If testing lapsed and a problem went undetected, water could be declared unfit for purpose. Kitchens might not be able to serve food, PE facilities could be affected and, in the worst case, pupils could be sent home. 

“In procurement, you’re not in control of third-party actions. We were technically in a contract, and when you award a contract there’s a commitment to it. But for one reason or another, they decided they couldn’t fulfil it, so we had to mobilise fairly quickly.” 

Gaminder Mahil, Procurement and Contracts Manager, Academy Transformation Trust 

The solution 

A direct award through our Compliance Solutions Framework, with our team coordinating the contract 

The Trust looked at a couple of different frameworks before choosing Inprova’s Compliance Solutions Framework, Lot 5: Legionella Testing and Treatment. It made a direct award to Rock Compliance, a national water hygiene specialist ranked highly on the lot, with no need for a new procurement exercise. Running its own competition would have taken around three months from start to finish. 

The framework met the Trust’s commercial and service requirements. Rock Compliance matched the specification and the commercial offer was competitive. Because the compliance risk was so clear, the award was approved quickly inside the Trust. Our procurement team then coordinated the contract and kept it moving, so very little of the Trust’s own time was needed. 

The £414,782 contract runs for 24 months. It covers routine and risk-based planned preventative maintenance, legionella sampling and laboratory analysis, risk assessments and management plans for every site, monthly performance reporting and a secure online platform with real-time access to compliance records. All operatives are DBS-cleared for work in schools. 

“We got in touch with a couple of different frameworks, and the Inprova framework ticked a lot of the boxes. Commercially it was competitive, and we’d found a supplier who could match our specification and mobilise quickly. The supplier was ranked highly on the framework, which is always reassuring, and the support in getting the contract over the line was great. It was very proactive.” 

Gaminder Mahil, Procurement and Contracts Manager, Academy Transformation Trust 

The results

The Trust maintained statutory compliance without interruption. A potential gap in a legally required service was closed without compromising safety, procurement integrity, or the Trust’s duty of care to its learners and staff. 

The £414,782 contract runs for 24 months, giving the trust stability and a predictable compliance programme across more than 5,000 water system assets, including a reporting platform that makes audit-readiness straightforward rather than time-consuming.