Last Updated on September 23, 2026
“Appointed to a £495m framework” does not mean £495m of work. A framework is a place in the queue. Here is what the official guidance says it is, and what it is not.
The mistake
Reading a framework’s value as the value of a firm’s contracts.
Framework headlines usually quote the maximum the whole framework could spend. That figure is a ceiling, often shared between several suppliers, and none of it has to be spent.
A framework is a licence to compete, not a contract.
What a framework is
Under the Procurement Act 2023, a framework is “a contract between a contracting authority and one or more suppliers that provides for the future award of contracts”. Those later contracts are called call-off contracts.
It guarantees no work
The government’s guidance says: “In most cases a framework will not commit a contracting authority to enter into a call-off contract.”
So a framework place tells you a firm passed a selection process. It does not tell you the firm has won any work under it.
How long a framework lasts
The guidance gives a maximum term of four years for most frameworks, and eight years for defence and security frameworks and utilities frameworks. Longer terms are allowed only where they can be justified, and the reasons must be published.
Open frameworks
An open framework is a scheme of frameworks on substantially the same terms. The guidance says it must be reopened at least once within three years and then at least every five years, and it can last eight years in total. New suppliers can join when it reopens.
Utilities are covered too
The Act applies to utilities as well as to public bodies. The guidance on utilities contracts says private utilities, meaning private companies carrying out a utility activity, are covered. That is why energy network and water company opportunities can appear on the same public notice services as council and government ones.
A real example, read properly
AECOM announced on 25 August 2025 that it had been appointed, with Arup, to National Highways’ SPaTS3 framework. The release gives an “estimated maximum value of up to £495 million for six suppliers over its six-year term”.
Read carefully, that is a shared ceiling across six suppliers over six years. It is not a sum any one firm has won. See AECOM’s listing.
What to ask a firm that quotes a framework
- Which call-off contracts has it won under that framework, and when?
- Can it point to a contract award notice? Since 24 February 2025, new public procurements publish their notices on Find a Tender. See how a UK firm gets onto public infrastructure work.
- When does the framework end, and is it open to new suppliers?
What Whito does not do
We do not broker framework places, write bids or sell introductions to any public body. Every route above is public and free.
Takeaway: count the call-offs, not the ceiling.
Method. GOV.UK guidance on the Procurement Act 2023 and the firm’s own release. Each read on 23 September 2026.
Limits. This is a plain-English summary of official guidance, not legal advice. Frameworks set up under the older rules before 24 February 2025 may follow those rules. We have not checked which rules applied to the SPaTS3 framework.
Sources, each read on 23 September 2026: GOV.UK, Procurement Act 2023 guidance: frameworks, updated 13 July 2026 · GOV.UK, guidance: utilities contracts, updated 15 April 2026 · AECOM, 25 August 2025 · Find a Tender
If a fact here is wrong, tell us and we will check it against the source. Corrections, right of reply and removals: whito.co.uk/corrections/.
All infrastructure guides · Infrastructure directory · Infrastructure hub
