Parliament’s strategic estates team has alerted contractors to a £1.2bn maintenance framework due to open for tenders next month.
The Parliamentary Construction Partnership Framework, set to run into the 2030s, will see companies work to stop the Grade I-listed Houses of Parliament from deteriorating.
A prior information notice, released on Friday, stated that work will include mechanical, electrical, public health, fire and life safety systems, building fabric, roofing, stonework, and other associated activities to “maintain a safe and secure environment in and around the Palace of Westminster”.
Last year, a report from the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee warned that there is a real risk the buildings could be destroyed by fire before a programme to fully refurbish them has been designed.
Parliament spends up to £2m a week on maintenance work and there are more than 4,000 pieces of maintenance work generated by the historic buildings every month, according to the report.
It later emerged that proposals for the full refurbishment will not be put to MPs until at least 2025.
The contract opportunity notice reveals: “Over the summer and early autumn, specialists spent 4,850 hours examining 160 rooms and drilling boreholes up to 70 metres deep to assess ground conditions around the Palace of Westminster.”
The forthcoming framework is separate from any future refurbishment plans, and it will replace the current Mechanical, Electrical, Public Health, and Fabric Safety Framework, which is due to expire in March 2025.
A full contract notice is scheduled to be published in March.
Companies interested in taking part can download and review the prior information notice here.
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