The Environment Agency has launched a major procurement exercise worth an estimated £6.6bn including VAT to deliver engineering and environmental asset work across England over the next decade.
The Collaborative Delivery Framework 2 (CDF2) will cover a wide range of asset management activities – from flood and coastal risk management to navigation, water, land and biodiversity. The framework is intended to provide appraisal, design, technical support and construction services to support the Environment Agency’s maintenance, refurbishment and construction programmes.
Work under CDF2 is expected to include both nature‑based solutions and traditional hard engineering projects. Contracts will be awarded through a multi‑lot structure and could be worth up to £150M each.
The framework is divided into three principal Lots, each split into geographic sub‑lots aligned with three regional hubs (North; Midlands and South West; East and South East). The three Lots are:
- Lot 1: Strategy, appraisal and design services. Each sub‑lot is separately valued, with figures in the tender pack ranging from about £163M to £179M excluding VAT.
- Lot 2: Detailed design and construction where individual design-and-build contracts are typically under £5M. Sub‑lot valuations in the notice run from roughly £131M to £286M excluding VAT.
- Lot 3: Detailed design services and construction where individual contracts are typically between about £5M and £150M. Sub‑lots are substantially larger, with valuations of more than £1.2bn to nearly £1.4bn excluding VAT.
Taken together, the estimated total value across all lots is around £5.5bn excluding VAT (£6.6bn including VAT). The tender notice also states a maximum of 16 suppliers may be selected to the framework.
The CDF2 framework is scheduled to run from 18 February 2027 to 19 February 2035. The procurement will be carried out under the Competitive Flexible Procedure, beginning with a Conditions of Participation stage on 16 March 2026. Organisations wishing to request to participate must do so by 10am on 27 April 2026.
Successful bidders to any sub‑lot will also be automatically included in a National Pool sub‑lot for each Lot. The tender pack, the Agency says, contains further details on how the National Pool will operate.
The Environment Agency indicates the framework may be used to provide services and works on the same terms to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and associated bodies, including non‑departmental public bodies in England. That could broaden the range of projects delivered under the framework beyond those managed directly by the Environment Agency.
The scale of CDF2 reflects continued government attention and investment in flood risk management and the maintenance of critical water and land assets at a time of increasing pressure from climate change. The inclusion of nature‑based solutions alongside hard engineering signals an ongoing shift in the sector towards more integrated approaches to resilience and biodiversity.
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