Highways

Stronger bids for highways work.

CrowMark for Suppliers helps UK highways and infrastructure firms find road and maintenance tenders and build stronger NEC bids, from social value to KPI evidence. Every figure and delivery claim in your bid traces back to your own data and the rules that apply.

Request access Explore CrowMark
The pressure on highways bidders

Long contracts, collaborative forms, hard evidence.

Highways and infrastructure work is procured by a mix of buyers. National Highways runs the strategic road network for the Department for Transport, while local authorities and combined authorities let term maintenance, surfacing, drainage, lighting and improvement schemes across the local network. Much of this flows through regional frameworks and alliances that pool demand across councils, and almost all of it is advertised on Contracts Finder and Find a Tender and run through e-sourcing portals.

Highways tenders are demanding for three reasons. First, the contract forms. Many schemes are let under NEC forms, such as NEC4, which are collaborative and put a premium on programme, early warning, risk and performance management, so buyers expect a delivery-led bid rather than a price sheet. Second, the evidence bar. Term contracts run for years on published KPIs, and under the Procurement Act 2023, live from 24 February 2025, those KPIs and the promises behind them follow you into delivery. Third, social value. In-scope central government highways contracts carry a minimum 10% social value weighting under PPN 002, mandatory from 1 October 2025, with buyers asking for local employment, apprenticeships and carbon reduction on scheme.

For a bid team that is also mobilising live works, keeping all of that accurate and consistent across multiple schemes is the real workload.

How CrowMark helps

From scheme notice to evidenced delivery.

Find the right schemes, daily.

CrowMark tracks Contracts Finder and Find a Tender and refreshes at 06:00 each day. Filter by CPV code, region and value so only the highways and infrastructure schemes you can deliver reach your list.

Build a delivery-led bid.

CrowMark drafts answers grounded in bids your firm has already submitted, so your approach to programme, risk and performance reads consistently across NEC schemes. A person reviews and approves every draft.

Score social value in code.

CrowMark computes social value on the PPN 002 model at the 10% minimum weighting, over a curated catalogue of TOMs-aligned measures. Every pound and percentage has to exist in your own data before the draft is released, so figures on scheme are defensible.

Disclose AI and evidence KPIs.

Every AI-assisted draft carries a PPN 017 transparency disclosure. After award, CrowMark checks the Procurement Act 2023 KPI duties, section 52 and section 71, as an advisory step and gives you a place to evidence performance over the life of a term contract. These checks are advisory and are not legal advice.

CrowMark covers finding, drafting and evidencing highways tenders in one place.

The CrowMark delivery oversight screen on the buying-authority side, for Northgate Borough Council, described on screen as commitments made at award, tracked to the evidence that proves them. Four figures head the page: 12 contracts in delivery across 4 categories, 58 measures committed by 12 suppliers, 74% evidence received this reporting month, and 3 s.71 assessments due within 90 days. A table lists each supplier and contract with an evidence percentage, a status chip and the next s.71 date, running from Meridian Care Group at 92% on track, through Pennine Support Partnership at 54% at risk, to Calder Health and Care Ltd at 31% behind. A statutory strip closes the page: s.52, KPIs published for 9 of 12, with contracts above £5m required to carry at least three published KPIs; s.71, 3 assessments due, with performance assessed and published every 12 months; and PPN 002, a 20% weighting applied, above the 10% minimum on this requirement. Buttons to export an s.71 pack and to request evidence sit at the top right.
Post-award KPI and evidence oversight in CrowMark, shown as a drawn representation. The section 52 and section 71 lines on screen restate the Procurement Act 2023 duties; the counts and percentages are part of the drawing.
Questions

Highways bidding, answered.

Which highways buyers and frameworks does CrowMark cover?
CrowMark tracks the highways and infrastructure tenders published on Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, including work from National Highways, local authority highways teams and the frameworks and alliances used to let term maintenance, surfacing and improvement schemes. You filter by CPV code, region and value to see only the schemes you can deliver.
Do highways contracts use NEC forms?
Many public highways contracts are let under NEC forms, such as NEC4, which are collaborative and heavy on programme, risk and performance management. CrowMark helps you assemble the bid around the buyer's requirements and award criteria, and drafts answers grounded in bids you have already submitted, so your delivery approach is consistent across schemes.
How does social value work on road and maintenance tenders?
In-scope central government highways contracts carry a minimum 10% social value weighting under PPN 002, mandatory from 1 October 2025, and highways buyers often ask for local employment, apprenticeships and carbon reduction on scheme. CrowMark computes the social value figures in code on the PPN 002 model and drafts the narrative from your own data.
Can CrowMark help evidence KPIs on term maintenance contracts?
Yes. Term maintenance and network contracts run on published KPIs. CrowMark checks the Procurement Act 2023 KPI duties, section 52 for contracts above £5m and section 71 on assessing and publishing performance, as an advisory step, and gives you a place to evidence delivery after award. These checks are advisory and are not legal advice.
Ready when you are

Find the work. Win it. Prove you delivered.

Start with the highways schemes your team should be bidding this month.

Request access Book a demo
See pricing All sectors Built by UK procurement and ML engineers