Scope
Reference
T120
Description
NI Water is responsible for the supply and distribution of drinking water and the provision of sewage services for approximately 818,000 domestic, agricultural and business customers throughout Northern Ireland. Our water infrastructure extends to 27,200km of mains which is supplied by 24 WTWs.
Since 2012, NI Water has reported leakage utilising a recognised Leakage Management Software (LMS) system whose calculations meet OFWAT regulatory and the UK water industry best practice requirements.
NI Water are approaching the market to identify providers of LMS systems that can assist us in delivering robust leakage calculations, data analytics, leakage targeting and reporting.
Due to the approaching expiration of NI Water's current LMS system in March 2028, NI Water requires a provider to supply, embed, support, maintain & develop the software, its component applications and its internal/external data system integrations.
A condition of the new LMS contract is to ensure a seamless transition of calculating and reporting company reconciled leakage from financial year April-2027 / March-2028 into financial year April-2028 / March-2029 and onward.
To meet this condition:
• the provider must supply, embed & support their LMS system which will require robust integrations with various internal NI Water data systems and other external data suppliers.
• the provider's LMS system must be embedded to allow for the parallel running of business-as-usual data inputs, data analysis and reporting alongside NI Water's current LMS system for the financial period April-2027 / March-2028.
A second condition of the new LMS contract is that the calculations and reporting within LMS meets regulatory OFWAT reporting requirements, adheres to UK water industry best practice guidance and will develop to meet new and evolving UK water industry best practice guidance and innovations.
It is envisaged that the contract award expiry could extend to March 2040.
Although our current LMS system is on-premises, it is envisaged that the new LMS contract will be provisioned as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Data-as-a-Service (Daas) solution.
The provider will be required to support and maintain all LMS databases, to provide specialist application support with the vision to develop & enhance NI Water's leakage reporting and targeting capability.
NI Water intends to undertake Pre Market Engagement on 23rd and 24th July. We would welcome confirmation from suppliers that they would like to be involved in this exercise. We would like suppliers to attend these sessions and present on your proposed solution. To this end could you please advise Marie Bradley (marie.bradley@niwater.com) by Friday 4th July if you wish to attend . We will then arrange individual sessions with suppliers for the above dates. These sessions can be via Teams or face to face. Please indicate if you have a preference.
Total value (estimated)
- £5,000,000 excluding VAT
- £6,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 June 2026 to 31 March 2034
- Possible extension to 31 March 2040
- 13 years, 10 months
Description of possible extension:
Proposed term will extend to 2040. We anticipate an initial term of 4 years post implementation and parallel running with 8 x 1 year extensions to 2040.
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
This is to facilitate the possibility of additional software options becoming available during the contract term.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Contract locations
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Participation
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
12 January 2026
Enquiry deadline
27 February 2026, 11:59pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Tender submission deadline
28 February 2026, 11:59pm
Submission address and any special instructions
NI Water, 40 Old Westland Road Belfast BT14 6TE
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
31 May 2026
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Utilities
Competitive flexible procedure description
Provision of Leakage Management Software, related system maintenance, support, development as Software as a Service (SaaS) and Data as a Service (DaaS
Contracting authority
Northern Ireland Water Ltd
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PCZH-7295-JJTZ
40 Old Westland Road
Belfast
BT14 6TE
United Kingdom
Region: UKN06 - Belfast
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government
Devolved regulations that apply: Northern Ireland