National Highways is searching for six specialist professional and technical service providers to join its new, six-year, £495m framework.

Suppliers appointed to the Specialist Professional and Technical Service 3 Framework will provide road “transport-related technical consultancy, engineering advice, research and innovation services” and it is widely expected that the successful suppliers will us a diverse supply chain to provide specialist support in the required areas, according to National Highways.

According to the New Civil Engineer, the road operator said that work under the framework may be awarded following mini-competition, following a single response to a request for expressions of interest or through a direct award to a single supplier.

The work is primarily to be undertaken in England, but successful suppliers may be requested to work outside of England in support of DfT, which is also enabled to use this framework. National Highways explained that a six-year duration is required for this framework “due to the extensive mobilisation period and investment costs required by suppliers to meet all obligations and deliver projects effectively, making a four-year duration insufficient”.

The organisation added that the framework, which has an 11 October deadline for requests to participate, “supports economic, environmental goals, and the government’s objectives, including carbon net zero, during Roads Period 3 (RIS3)”.