How frameworks and call-offs work

A large share of public sector spending never appears as an open tender. It flows through frameworks: standing agreements that let buyers purchase from pre-approved suppliers without running a full procurement each time. If you sell something the public sector buys repeatedly, understanding frameworks is not optional.

The two-stage shape

A framework separates procurement into two stages.

Stage one: getting on. A contracting authority (often a central buying organisation such as the Government Commercial Agency, formerly Crown Commercial Service, or a consortium buying for councils, universities or NHS bodies) advertises a framework competition on Find a Tender. Suppliers bid to be appointed. The competition looks like a normal tender: qualification questions, quality responses, pricing. The difference is the prize. Winning appoints you to the framework, usually alongside several other suppliers, often organised into lots by specialism or region.

Stage two: getting work. For the life of the framework, buyers award call-off contracts under it. The framework sets the terms, maximum rates and the rules for choosing among the appointed suppliers; each call-off is a real contract with its own scope, value and duration. Call-offs are where the money is. Appointment to a framework guarantees you nothing except the right to compete for them, and a framework place that produces no call-offs is just a certificate.

How call-offs are awarded

The framework agreement specifies one or both of these routes:

• Direct award. The buyer picks a supplier from the list without further competition, following the selection rules the framework sets (for example, a ranked order, a rate-card comparison, or defined criteria). Fast for the buyer, and largely invisible to everyone else until the award is published.
• Further competition (widely called a mini-competition). The buyer invites some or all suppliers on the relevant lot to bid on the specific requirement. Shorter and lighter than an open tender: the qualification stage is already done, so it is typically a focused quality response and a price.

As a supplier, read a framework's call-off rules before bidding for a place. A framework that awards mainly by direct award to the highest-ranked supplier is worth much less to the supplier ranked eighth than one that runs further competitions for everything.

What the Procurement Act 2023 changed

Under the Procurement Act 2023, ordinary (closed) frameworks still run for a maximum of four years. The Act added the open framework: a scheme of successive frameworks that can run for up to eight years in total, but must reopen to new joiners at set points (at least once in the first three years, and again at least every five years). Missing the original competition no longer necessarily locks you out for the duration, so track reopening windows for the frameworks that matter to you.

The Act also replaced the old dynamic purchasing system (DPS) with the dynamic market. The idea is similar and better: an open list, for any kind of procurement rather than just off-the-shelf purchases, that suppliers can apply to join at any time. Joining is a qualification check rather than a full tender, and buyers then run competitions among the members. If dynamic markets exist for what you sell, join them early; membership is the ticket to seeing the work at all.

The traps

• Framework places are not revenue. Budget the cost of winning a place as marketing, not as a contract win, and plan the stage-two effort: monitoring call-off invitations, responding fast, building relationships with the buyers who actually use the framework.
• Fees and rate ceilings. Many frameworks charge a levy (typically a percentage of call-off revenue) and cap your rates for years. Model whether the likely volume justifies the pricing commitment before you sign.
• The wrong lot. Bid for the lot you can genuinely serve. A national lot won by a regional firm produces call-offs it cannot staff, and non-delivery on one call-off can affect your standing across the framework.
• Compliance drift. Call-off invitations often arrive with short deadlines through the framework's own portal. Keep your contacts, certificates and insurance details current on every framework you sit on, or the invitations quietly stop.

Deciding whether a framework is worth it

Apply the same discipline as any bid or no-bid decision, with two extra questions. First, is there evidence of real spend through this framework or its predecessor? Award notices for previous call-offs are public and tell you the volume and the winners. Second, who else is on it? A framework with forty suppliers on your lot and modest spend is a lottery ticket; a framework with six suppliers and steady call-off flow is a sales channel. Chase the second kind.