Contractors have been invited to bid for work on a bumper government offsite-construction framework worth £10bn.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS), which is procuring the scheme for the government, notified firms to the Offsite Construction Solutions (OCS) framework this week.

It will be open for use by all government departments and arm’s-length bodies.

The framework covers the design, fabrication, physical delivery, construction or installation and maintenance of prefabricated buildings, and provides direct access to manufacturers for a complete range of offsite construction solutions.

The OCS replaces a previous £500m modular-building-solutions agreement that was launched four years ago. Major suppliers on that deal included Caledonian, Elliott, McAvoy, Portakabin and Wernick, bolstered by 18 smaller firms.

Interested bidders have until 7 October to summit their cases, with the four-year contract becoming active from January next year. There is an option to extend for three years.

The CCS is expected to host a bidders' day on 1 September to provide details of the framework's new multi-lot structure.

This is the latest framework to come to market that addresses the offsite sector. Ilke Homes, Impact Modular and TopHat were named on a £600m offsite housing framework in July last year.

That came weeks after firms were invited to bid for a new £1.1bn offsite housing agreement focusing on offsite solutions that could be delivered with net-zero carbon emissions.

In January 2020, Laing O’Rourke and Wates were among the contractors appointed to a £3bn modular-schools framework covering England.

Modular housing received significant investment from major backers last year, with L&G pumping £6m into its modular business in November to drive the “next growth phase”.

Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion.