Framework agreement
A framework agreement sets the terms for a UK buyer's orders over several years, filled by direct award or mini-competition. Terms, limits and SME advice.
Updated on September 5, 2026
A framework agreement is a contract by which a public buyer settles in advance, with one or more suppliers, the terms on which it will place orders over a set period: prices or a pricing mechanism, specification, delivery arrangements. It does not itself buy anything. The purchases follow, as call-offs made directly or after a competition among the appointed suppliers, with no fresh advertisement.
How it works
The Procurement Act 2023, in force across England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 24 February 2025, makes the framework the standard tool for recurring needs whose volume or timing is uncertain: office supplies, maintenance, professional services, minor works. A framework is awarded like any other contract, through the open procedure, a competitive flexible procedure or, where a ground applies, direct award, and the estimated value used to decide whether the thresholds bite is the value of everything that could be bought under it.
Section 47 caps a framework at four years, or eight years for defence and security frameworks, unless the nature of what is being bought means a longer term is genuinely required (verified 2026-09-05). Section 49 adds the open framework: a scheme of successive frameworks running for a maximum of eight years, reopened to new suppliers at least once in the first three years and then at least every five years. Open frameworks cannot be set up by direct award.
Call-offs work in one of two ways. Where the framework fixes all the terms and a mechanism for choosing between suppliers, the buyer awards directly. Where it does not, it runs a mini-competition among the appointed suppliers. Many public frameworks are run centrally by central purchasing bodies such as Crown Commercial Service, ESPO or YPO. Ireland uses frameworks under the 2016 regulations, generally capped at four years, with the Office of Government Procurement running the national ones.
What it means for a bidder
Winning a place on a framework is a licence to sell, not guaranteed revenue. Read the estimated and maximum values, the term and any extension options, the number of suppliers to be appointed and exactly how work will be allocated between them.
Price with care: rates committed for four years must carry a workable indexation clause. In a multi-supplier framework, budget internal resource for repeated mini-competitions, which are where the actual work is won.
Note the expiry date. That is when the requirement comes back to the market, and it is one of the most valuable pieces of information a small supplier can hold.
Example
A combined authority sets up a four-year framework for spare parts for its vehicle fleet, with a ceiling of £950,000 including VAT, well above the sub-central threshold. Three suppliers are appointed. Routine small orders go directly to the highest-ranked supplier on its catalogue prices; larger seasonal orders are put to mini-competition between all three.
Frequently asked questions
Does a framework guarantee turnover?
Only if it states a minimum, which is rare. Most frameworks publish a maximum and an estimate, and neither is a commitment to buy.
What is the difference between a framework and a call-off contract?
The framework sets the terms. The call-off contract is the actual purchase made under it, either by direct award or after a mini-competition.
Can I join a framework that has already started?
Not a standard one; the suppliers are fixed at award. An open framework is different by design, and reopens to new entrants at set intervals.
Scoutee can alert you when a framework in your sector is advertised, and when an existing one approaches expiry.