SPA lines up £900m RM4S framework and four more after building safety AGM

The Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) has set out five frameworks it is bringing forward, led by a £900m refurbishment and modernisation deal, after an annual general meeting focused on managing safety in Scotland's existing buildings.

SPA said about a third of its partners attended the AGM at its office, with representatives from housing, local authorities, blue light services and arm's-length organisations. It published its account of the event on 7 October 2026.

The meeting marked SPA's tenth year. Over the decade, SPA said, it has facilitated more than £2.7bn of procurement activity and returned £6.7m to partners through community benefit and rebate initiatives.

The frameworks

Refurbishment and Modernisation (RM4S) is valued at £900m on SPA's framework page. It succeeds RM3, which SPA said saw significant demand from the public sector, and the organisation said the new framework shifts from essential maintenance to a whole asset management strategy.

SPA said it is boosting the number of small businesses on RM4S by reserving 50% of places across the small value bands. Workstreams include multi-disciplinary reactive maintenance, damp and mould remediation, and aids and adaptations. The AGM article describes seven dedicated workstreams, while SPA's framework page lists nine, ending with Workstream 8, Reactive Repairs and Maintenance, and Workstream 9, Multi Disciplinary Works.

Separately, according to Scottish Government guidance, from 6 October 2026 social and private landlords in Scotland must investigate reports of damp or mould within set timescales. The government first published the guidance on 4 September 2026.

Housing, Regeneration and Demolition (H3) broadens the previous new build housing framework into what SPA called a full end-to-end housing delivery and regeneration solution. A tender notice from LHC Procurement Group on Find a Tender seeks a multi-supplier framework for housing, regeneration, demolition, remediation and enabling works across the UK, with appointed suppliers delivering works as Principal Contractor, including associated design responsibilities. The notice for the Welsh region was published on 29 April 2026.

Fire Doors (FD9) covers the supply, installation, inspection, repair and maintenance of fire doors, communal entrance doors and associated access control systems. Windows and Doors (WD3) will cover the design, supply and installation of windows, residential doors, communal doors and entrance doors for public sector refurbishment and new build.

Public Buildings, Construction and Infrastructure (PB4) is aimed at helping public bodies modernise, expand and maintain their estates while meeting funding deadlines, regulatory requirements and net zero ambitions, SPA said.

The AGM discussion

Speakers from SFHA, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Housing Regulator and Morton Fraser MacRoberts covered fire safety compliance, stonework, RAAC, large panel systems, brownfield regeneration and climate-related events.

Those listed as speaking were Michael Cameron of the Scottish Housing Regulator, Cassandra Dove of SFHA, Danny Henderson of the Scottish Government, Mike Heffron of Under One Roof, Scott Bradshaw of NBM Construction Cost Consultants and Tom Diamond of RCI Technical Services. The regulator describes itself as a non-ministerial department responsible for regulating social housing in Scotland.

Under One Roof, RCI Technical Services and NBM presented practical approaches to managing existing assets, including mixed-tenure repairs, fire safety and risk management.

The panel session raised a disconnect between regulatory expectations and the funding available, SPA said. Short funding windows make complex remediation hard to plan and deliver at scale, and speakers reflected on how a clearer, longer-term strategy informed by evidence and asset data could give organisations greater confidence.

Background

SPA was formed and launched in March 2016. It describes itself as a free-to-join procurement organisation representing more than 100 public sector organisations across Scotland, operating in association with LHC Procurement Group, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Any surplus generated in a financial year is redistributed to eligible partners.

SPA reached 100 partners in 2019, the year it appointed Laurie Carberry as Chair. Its 10-year review, published in March 2026, reported £2.6bn of projects procured as of that month and close to £6m distributed through its Community Benefit Fund and rebate combined. The fund alone reached £1.3m in direct grants in 2025.

The organisation's N9 Retrofit and Decarbonisation framework, launched in 2025, is its largest to date.