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Outdoor Educational Play Equipment (including installation)

Education Authority · Education

In brief

Education Authority has announced plans to buy this contract. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.

It is a framework worth up to £12,940,000 excluding VAT: the most the buyer expects to spend across all suppliers, not one contract.

The contract runs for 2 years, up to 4 years with extensions, starting 1 December 2026.

The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.

Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.

Can I win this?

Competition

Typical: a median of 5 bids per contract for this buyer (from 43 awards in the last 12 months).

Framework

Winning puts you on a list of suppliers the buyer can call on; it does not guarantee work. The £12,940,000 is the most the buyer expects to spend across all suppliers over the framework's life, not one contract.

What the notice says

The primary purpose of this preliminary market engagement exercise (“Exercise”) is for the Education Authority (EA) to outline and seek supplier views and feedback on potential approaches for the provision and installation of Outdoor Educational Play Equipment. This is not a tender exercise by the Education Authority. The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) wishes to engage with the market to gather views on the establishment of a robust, value‑for‑money Framework Agreement for the supply and installation of Outdoor Educational Play Equipment to individual education establishments across Northern Ireland. The anticipated framework period is from 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2028…Read the full description
The primary purpose of this preliminary market engagement exercise (“Exercise”) is for the Education Authority (EA) to outline and seek supplier views and feedback on potential approaches for the provision and installation of Outdoor Educational Play Equipment. This is not a tender exercise by the Education Authority. The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) wishes to engage with the market to gather views on the establishment of a robust, value‑for‑money Framework Agreement for the supply and installation of Outdoor Educational Play Equipment to individual education establishments across Northern Ireland. The anticipated framework period is from 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2028 (indicative), with options to extend for periods up to a further 24 months. Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will be used solely to inform internal business planning and any potential future procurement process. It will not be evaluated as part of any subsequent tender exercise. Participation—or non‑participation—in this preliminary market consultation will not preclude any supplier from taking part in any future procurement process, nor will any information submitted provide any supplier with an advantage or disadvantage. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase and not part of a formal procurement procedure. As part of this engagement, the Authority intends to meet with any respondents to discuss their submissions in more detail and to further inform the development of any future tender exercise. Suppliers who wish to participate in the market engagement exercise should complete the pre‑market engagement questionnaire available on eTendersNI under the unique reference EANI‑5173. Further information, including the questionnaire, can be downloaded from the CfT documents. Completed questionnaires must be submitted via the Messaging function of eTendersNI no later than 3:00pm on Wednesday 25 March 2026. No additional tender documents are required at this stage beyond the questionnaire.

How to bid

  1. Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
  2. Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
  3. Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.

Timeline

  1. Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 022249-2026

About the buyer

Education AuthorityLast 12 months

Procurements

130

Awards

56

Suppliers it has used most

From notice 022249-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 12 March 2026. We last checked for changes on 28 September 2026.