NHS SBS Public Sector Construction Works 2
Lot 3: Major Works above £15m
Lot 3 covers major works above £15 million and is appointed nationally rather than regionally, on a restricted panel. It is the smallest field on the framework and the hardest place to win, and it is where regional contractors most often spend a bid budget they should have spent on Lot 2.
The facts that decide it
- Value band: projects above £15 million
- National appointment, restricted panel, no regional split
- The outgoing framework ran two national bands above £15m with single-figure supplier numbers on each
- Evaluated 60% quality, 30% commercial, 10% social value and sustainability
The outgoing framework split this territory into £15m to £35m and £35m plus, with eight and seven contractors appointed respectively. PS-Works 2 consolidates them into one national lot. Whatever the final number, it is a national panel in single or low double figures, competed for by contractors whose healthcare portfolios are the reason they exist.
That is the honest bid or no bid test. If your NHS major projects portfolio would not stand next to a national healthcare contractor's, Lot 3 is not a stretch target, it is a lost submission and a diverted bid team during the only six weeks that matter for the lots you could actually win.
Where Lot 3 is right, the response is a different document. It is read by people assessing whether you can carry a multi-year capital scheme on a live acute site, and it turns on governance, supply chain resilience, design management interface and the depth of your healthcare leadership team, not on the breadth of your project list.
What scores
Completed NHS capital schemes above £15 million with client references at director level; governance and reporting structures for multi-year programmes; design management and interface control where the contract carries design responsibility; supply chain resilience evidenced through actual events rather than policy; and a named healthcare leadership team with the portfolio to match.
The mistake that costs places
Bidding Lot 3 for positioning. It is the most expensive mistake available on this framework, because the submission cost is highest, the odds are lowest, and it consumes the same six weeks your Lot 1 and Lot 2 responses need. Bid the lot your delivered values evidence, not the one your ambition points at.
Common questions
Can we bid Lot 3 and Lot 2 together?
You can, and it is worth being honest about capacity before you do. Each is a full response and the window between notice and submission is about six weeks. Two strong submissions beat three thin ones, and evaluators read thin.
How many suppliers will be appointed to Lot 3?
It will be set by the tender notice. For scale, the outgoing framework appointed eight contractors to £15m to £35m and seven to £35m plus. A consolidated national lot is unlikely to be generous.
On regions: Lots 1 and 2 are let regionally across twelve geographical areas, with a supplier panel appointed per area. NHS SBS publishes the per-region supplier lists on its Customer Framework Agreement Portal rather than on the open web, and the definitive area list for PS-Works 2 will be fixed by the tender notice. On the current framework the cap is ten contractors per region per lot, which is the number that should drive your bid or no bid decision.
Reviewed 22 August 2026. The tender notice had not published when this was written, so dates described as expected are exactly that. The published notice on Find a Tender and the Ariba pack are the only authority. Nothing here is legal advice.
The rest of this framework
Or start with the framework overview, the NHS tender pipeline or an independent bid review.
3 lots and 3 situations covered.
Bidding PS-Works 2?
Tell us which lots and which regions you are considering, and where you are up to. A director replies, and will tell you if we think you should not bid.
PS-Works 2: Lot 3 Major Works
Which lots and regions, and how far along are you?