Anglian Water has gone out to tender with an AMP8 framework contract for Client Side Commercial Assurance services with an estimated value of £7.2 million (inc VAT).

The water company is looking to award the contract for Client Side Commercial Assurance Services to strengthen governance, cost control, and compliance across its capital and operational programmes.

Anglian Water said the services will ensure transparency, regulatory readiness, and defensible commercial decision-making.Scope of services to be provided under the wide-ranging framework contract include:

• Cost Verification - Validate incurred and forecast costs for accuracy and compliance.
• Risk Management - Identify and mitigate commercial risks affecting cost, programme, or compliance.
• Contract Compliance - Ensure adherence to contractual terms and governance.
• Value-for-Money Assessment - Confirm expenditure delivers optimal outcomes.
• Change Control - Assure structured management of scope, cost, and programme changes.
• Programme Control - Monitor alignment with milestones.
• Market Intelligence & Benchmarking - Compare costs and supplier performance using internal/external data.
• Regulatory & Business Plan Support - Assist with cost structures and regulatory submissions.
• Supply Chain Oversight - Ensure Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers comply with obligations.

Expected outcomes include:

• Increased confidence in cost management and governance.
• Improved risk identification and mitigation.
• Transparent assurance reporting for executive and regulatory stakeholders.
• Verified value-for-money across diverse projects.
• Consistent, defensible cost forecasting and benchmarking.

Suppliers must be able to meet the following essential requirements:

• Proven experience in commercial assurance within regulated infrastructure sectors.
• Knowledge of NEC and similar contract forms.
• Ability to work across multiple programmes and stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, reporting, and commercial skills.
• Experience in CAPEX, OPEX, carbon modelling, and regulatory business planning.

Key activities covered under the contract are:

• Review contractor proposals, payment applications, and variations.
• Independent risk reviews and mitigation strategies.
• Develop KPIs, benchmarking tools, and cost databases.
• Support audits, dispute resolution, and change management.
• Analyse market trends, inflation indices, and regional cost variations.
• Provide whole-life cost modelling and business plan support.
• Enhance capability through continuous improvement of tools and processes.

Each project will require a structured report including:

• Introduction & Purpose
• Request Summary
• Stakeholders
• Methodology
• Findings
• Actions & Recommendations
• Next Steps

Current estimated start and end contract dates are 30 April 2026 to 30 April 2031, with a further possible extension option to 30 April 2034.

The Agreement covers broader commercial assurance services, including:

1. Cost verification - the process of validating that incurred and forecast costs are accurate, justified and compliant with contractual requirements.
2. Risk management - the identification, assessment and mitigation of commercial risks that could impact cost, programme, compliance, or value delivery across the capital programme.
3. Contract compliance - ensuring that commercial activities adhere to the terms, conditions and governance requirements set out within the contract and related policies.
4. Value-for-money assessment - evaluating whether expenditure delivers optimal outcomes relative to cost, quality, and time.
5. Change control - the structured management and assurance of changes to scope, cost, programme, whilst ensuring that change has been properly authorised and managed in line with contractual obligations.
6. Programme control - monitoring and assuring the alignment of commercial activities with programme milestones
7. Market intelligence and benchmarking - using internal, external data and industry benchmarks to assess the competitiveness of costs and rates and, potentially, supplier performance.
8. Regulatory and Business Plan support - including assessing investments and evaluating cost structures in line with regulatory standards for efficiency and transparency; and providing support for addressing cost-related challenges.
9. Supply chain oversight - assuring the Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers operate in compliance with policies, contractual obligations and industry standards.

Contracts will be awarded on a Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) basis, considering both price and quality. Contracts awarded to suppliers appointed to the framework will be made either with or without competition.

Deadline for submission of enquiri about the tender is 11:00pm on 9 January 2026, while the tender submission deadline is 11:00pm on 23 January 2026. Estimated award decision date is 15 April 2026.

For more information visit: https://esourcing.scanmarket.com/SupplierRegistration/NewSupplier?eventId=844307&ccsum=cabe229e81f5081a83689282fc1334c7