A guide to writing the PROSPER Building Safety Framework. A £600 million framework across four lots.

By Jason Cooney, Director, TSAKS Consulting UK

PROSPER has recently launched a £600 million building safety framework for its members and it is an excellent opportunity for fire industry businesses to bid for a large building safety framework. Here at TSAKS Consulting UK, our expert team of bid writers is ready to help contractors across the UK bid for this opportunity. In this guide, we’ll break down the different lots, the due date of the tender, as well as some strategies on what you need to do to submit a complying response and win.

The tender closes at 10:00 on the 4th of September 2026. In addition to having four service lots, there are also six regional sub-lots. This means that it’s important, firstly, for potential bidders to decide which sub-lots they will be going for and which lots. They should assess their strengths in the different geographical regions as well as their expertise in terms of the different lots, be it fire risk assessments or active fire protection. Then you can make a suitable assessment about how to proceed.

The four building safety lots. This tender framework comprises four lots:

1. Lot one: consultants. These are for consultants that conduct risk assessments, destructive and non-destructive work, and compartment surveys, as well as fire door assessments. Lot one is generally focused on expertise from a consulting perspective such as the writing of reports and not actual fire protection works. It’s a great opportunity for consultants across the UK and particularly in the six sub-geographic areas to get on a panel that can provide consistent work. This is especially true where they can show that they specialize and are experts in the area and also local to the different regional sub-areas.
2. Lot two: passive fire protection works. These are any type of works that involve passive fire protection, such as: fire door replacement, compartmentalization, even the installation of smoke dampers. This lot is for people or businesses, including small and medium organizations, as well as large organizations, who are experiencing the installation of passive fire protection measures and specialize in this. It’s also important to understand that there are six different lots and geographic sub-lots. Therefore, businesses that have the capability, for example, to conduct works in Manchester or the Manchester region but not in the London region should only bid for the areas that they can really excel at and will score well in.
3. Lot three: active fire protection works. This lot entails emergency lighting, alarms and detection, sprinkler suppression systems, smoke control and rising fire mains. Many contractors who are bidding for lot 3 will also bid for lot 2, as they can provide both passive and active fire protection. It’s important to focus on your expertise. For example, if you are an electrical company that is bidding for active fire protection, focus on your ability to install emergency lighting. If you’re a plumbing contractor, then you’ll also need to focus on your capabilities in terms of sprinklers. Many of the contractors will be specialist fire contractors operating in the fire industry, which provide both active and passive fire protection services.
4. Lot 4: Principal-contractor end-to-end. This is perfect for one-stop-shop full-service fire maintenance and protection businesses. By bidding for Lot 4 as a principal contractor, you are stating that you can complete all stages:
   1. consulting, which is in Lot 1
   2. passive fire protection, which is in Lot 2
   3. active fire protection, which is in Lot 3
5. This gives you a chance to explain the depth of your resources in expectation. You can also highlight the benefits of engaging you to undertake the principal contractor role. It gives you the chance to bid for multiple lots as well. One large fire contracting firm may bid for all lots as well as all six regional sub lots or you may be a specialist in your local region and only bid for one regional sub lot but across all four lots (i.e. as a principal contract after).

What are the six regional sub-lots?

Each individual lot, i.e. lot 1, 2, 3 and 4, is further divided into 6 regional sub-lots. These regional sub lots include:

• North East
• Yorkshire and North West
• Central
• South East
• South West and Wales

PROSPER will be appointing up to six qualified providers per regional sub-lots. It is absolutely critical that you bid for the regional sub lots where you have the expertise, case studies, and local capabilities to deliver. It is very difficult to win a framework where you don’t have the regional capability that your competitors will have. It can sometimes cannibalize your bid for the framework in areas where you do have a strong capability. Therefore, we recommend you bid for regions where you have a strong presence and if you are a national provider of course bid for all six regional sub-lots. However, if you are a fire protection or fire maintenance services provider, for example in Yorkshire and North West, then focus your bid on that specific region.

Strategies our writers here at Tsaks Consulting UK will employ (and you can too) to help you win

Some of the strategies we will employ to help you win and you can employ these as well include:

1. Being strategic from a bid/no-bid perspective to ensure you go for the lots and sub-lots which you can actually win.
2. Focusing on your prior public sector experience and explaining and linking your previous experience to the works that are required or requested in this bid and/or tender or framework

3. Demonstrating that you have a strong presence in the local region which you are bidding and linking this to your social value response.
4. Using examples and case studies to take a deep dive into your professional expertise and technical expertise and showcase this expertise to the reader

The decision about whether to bid for lot four

The decision about whether to bid for lot four is a critical decision. The reason is that if you are bidding for lot four then you are not permitted to bid or at least you will not be considered for any individual specialist slot. then we still recommend you bid for lot 2 and 3 only and not lot 4. Many businesses are strong in lots 2 and 3 and not as strong in lot 1, Consulting. They then bid for lot 4 and if they do that, they could be in danger of missing out on lots 2 and 3 and may have been better off bidding for lots 2 and 3.

Bidding for the different regional sub-lots is not a problem. Although it does decrease your chance of success, it doesn’t exclusively restrict you from being successful in a regional sub-lot which you’re stronger in. However, in terms of bidding for lot 4, it is a risk and you need to be careful when making that decision and also be strategic.

Strategic pricing and accounting for the framework fee

It is important to incorporate the 2% framework fee into your pricing and cost estimates, which, if successful, you will need to pay when winning a call-off work. This is because it will directly impact your pricing and your profits. There is no point in winning the framework if you aren’t going to be profitable. Make sure you incorporate this fee as well as the administration costs of being on a Prosper framework and the additional reporting and invoicing that’s involved, especially when you compare it to private sector clients, which may not have the same reporting and administration requirements.

Tailoring your bid to the evaluation criteria

The evaluation criteria are interesting as pricing is 40%. Social value is only 5%, which is substantially lower than what we have seen in other frameworks over the past three to six months. There is a strong focus on quality, which represents 55% of the evaluation criteria. This means that you need a detailed, comprehensive response to all of the quality questions.

It’s also important not to underestimate social value. Sometimes the 5% social value can be the difference between winning or losing when all your competitors also have competitive pricing and detailed responses to the evaluation criteria with similar experience to you. Ensure there is evidence throughout your bid for all the claims you make, be it in your previous experience or the realistic delivery of your social value objectives.

The evidence you should include in order to win and score well

Including evidence in your bid is absolutely critical if you want to successfully be appointed to this framework. We recommend our clients tailor their evidence to the specific question, the lot, and also of course the sub region. Examples of evidence you may wish to include and themes which you should cover in your bid include:

1. Any certifications from third parties or licenses or even certifications and accreditations of your individual expert personnel.
2. Any and all of your previous experience that focuses on housing and public sector buildings because it’s going to be NHS Fire Department and other public sector buildings that need fire maintenance works as part of this framework. Therefore, public sector work is critical.
3. Any experience, processes, and procedures that you may have that cover client, resident, and stakeholder communication. You want to show that you have a strong track record in stakeholder communications and have processes in place to ensure you communicate both clearly and methodically and professionally with all stakeholders.
4. Your ability to keep records and traceable records, particularly given the highly regulated nature of the fire industry evidence. For example, previous records that you have kept and templates of where and how you will keep records are critical to include in the tender in order to submit a winning tender response.
5. Subcontractor management is also critical and can be evidenced. First of all, you have policies and procedures that you may look at providing as evidence as well as testimonials from subcontractors which you’ve managed, attesting to your capabilities and professionalism.
6. Your history and track record of implementing robust quality assurance procedures can be evidenced. You can do this through testimonies from previous personnel, reports, or even examples of the documentation you propose to use to ensure quality and implement risk safety controls.

A strategic point for businesses that are bidding for Lot 4. If you are bidding for Lot 4, you not only need to show evidence of all your different capabilities as described above but you also need to show how you can provide all three lots consistently and to a high-quality standard together (how you integrate your service and deliver it).

Key dates for this Prosper Framework

The tender is due on the 4th of September 2026 and you need to ensure you submit any inquiries by the 28th of August.

For assistance with writing your bid or tender for this specific framework, please contact our team here at TSAKS Consulting. We will work with you to understand your needs and how our strategic bid writing service can help you win.