Framework Agreements & Dynamic Markets

What Is a Framework Agreement?

A framework agreement is an umbrella arrangement between one or more public buyers and one or more suppliers that fixes the terms (specification, pricing, conditions) under which future contracts, known as call-offs, can be awarded without running a full procurement each time. Winning a place on a framework does not guarantee any work; it puts you on an approved list from which buyers purchase for the life of the agreement.

Frameworks dominate UK public buying. Crown Commercial Service, the largest central buying organisation, channels billions of pounds a year through agreements such as G-Cloud (cloud services) and its professional services, construction, and technology frameworks. Many of the highest-value notices you will see on Find a Tender are framework notices rather than single contracts.

How Work Is Awarded: Call-Offs

Once a framework is in place, buyers award call-off contracts in one of two ways, depending on what the framework's terms allow:

• Direct award — the buyer selects a supplier without further competition, where the framework sets an objective mechanism for doing so (for example a price ranking or a catalogue).
• Mini-competition — the buyer invites all capable suppliers on the framework (or the relevant lot) to bid against each other for the specific requirement. Faster and cheaper than a full procurement, but still competitive.

Call-offs under an existing framework are often not advertised publicly, which is why being on the framework in the first place matters so much: if you are not on it, you usually cannot see or bid for the work that flows through it.

What the Procurement Act 2023 Changed

For procurements started since 24 February 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 introduced two structures designed to stop suppliers being locked out for years:

• Open frameworks — a scheme of successive frameworks on substantially the same terms lasting up to 8 years in total. The framework must reopen to new suppliers at least once in its first 3 years and at least every 5 years after that, so missing the original deadline no longer means waiting the better part of a decade. Standard (closed) frameworks remain limited to 4 years.
• Dynamic markets — the successor to dynamic purchasing systems (DPS). A dynamic market is a list of pre-qualified suppliers that stays open to new joiners for its entire life, with no maximum duration. Contracts are awarded through competitions among members of the market.

Pros and Cons for Suppliers

• Pro: repeat revenue — one successful bid opens years of call-off opportunities across many buyers.
• Pro: lighter bidding — mini-competitions reuse the framework terms, so tender responses are shorter than full procurements.
• Con: no guaranteed work — a framework place is a hunting licence, not an order book. Many framework suppliers never win a call-off.
• Con: timing — closed frameworks only admit suppliers when they are procured or re-procured, so you need to spot the notice when it appears.

How to Find Framework Opportunities

New frameworks and dynamic markets are advertised like any other above-threshold procurement, on Find a Tender, and appear in TenderTracker as they are published. Searching for terms like framework, DPS, or dynamic market alongside your sector keywords, or setting an email alert on your CPV codes, is the most reliable way to catch the application window before it closes.

Frequently Asked Questions