IN Brief:
- The Met Police framework covers nine lots and could run for five years from February 2027.
- Works include refurbishments, fit-outs, M&E upgrades, estate security, demolition, asbestos removal, and new-build schemes.
- The procurement reflects growing demand for structured delivery routes across complex operational public estates.
Metropolitan Police Service has launched procurement for a £560m building works framework covering capital projects across its estate.
The nine-lot framework will be used for refurbishment, maintenance, estate security, demolition, asbestos removal, M&E, fabric works, dangerous structures, forensic laboratory services, uninterruptible power systems, and new-build schemes.
From February 2027, the agreement is expected to become the force’s main capital works route. Extension options could take the framework to a total term of five years.
The largest allocation is the minor works lot, valued at around £202m, for projects typically worth between £500,000 and £1m. A further £167m is assigned to major works, with other lots covering M&E, estate security design and build, FM M&E and fabric work, HVAC, operational support, forensic laboratory services, and UPS provision.
Up to 26 suppliers are expected to be appointed. Contracts will be awarded either through direct call-offs or further competition, with requests to participate due by mid-July and appointments expected in January 2027.
The framework will also be available to other public bodies, including the City of London Police, the National Crime Agency, the Counter Terrorism Policing network, Transport for London, and the London Fire Commissioner. That wider access gives the procurement relevance beyond a single-client estate programme.
Police estates sit among the more controlled parts of the public-sector construction market. Operational continuity, security restrictions, custody environments, evidence handling, public access, staff welfare, specialist laboratories, communications infrastructure, and emergency response all affect how work can be planned and delivered.
Those conditions explain the breadth of the lot structure. A police estate cannot be treated as a generic property portfolio, particularly where works involve live operational buildings, sensitive areas, counter-terrorism requirements, or security-critical systems.
Framework suppliers will need to demonstrate construction capability alongside disciplined access control, programme coordination, information handling, and stakeholder management. In many cases, the limiting factor will not be the technical package alone, but the ability to complete it without disrupting frontline operations.
Public-sector frameworks are also becoming more targeted around compliance-heavy work. Portsmouth’s £120m tower remediation framework showed how clients are increasingly specifying higher-risk building and Gateway 2 competence at procurement stage, rather than leaving regulatory capability to be resolved after award.
The Met Police procurement comes as public estates face sustained pressure from ageing assets, higher energy costs, decarbonisation requirements, safety upgrades, and the need to modernise buildings without interrupting essential services. Refurbishment and maintenance packages may not have the profile of major new-build schemes, but they are central to keeping operational estates viable.
For contractors, the opportunity sits in a market where workload can be steady but highly controlled. Successful delivery will depend on security-aware site management, careful sequencing, and the ability to coordinate mechanical, electrical, security, fabric, and specialist packages inside occupied or sensitive environments.
The framework gives the client a managed route to tested suppliers across several categories of work. Its real value will be measured in the reliability of call-off delivery across a complex public estate where disruption, poor coordination, and weak access control can quickly outweigh savings made at tender stage.
