Water utility launches tender for rainwater solutions framework
Framework seeks partners to deliver sustainable rainwater management and shape future procurement strategies across the wider water sector.
Framework seeks partners to deliver sustainable rainwater management and shape future procurement strategies across the wider water sector.
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United Utilities Water Limited has launched a framework tender for partners to deliver sustainable rainwater management solutions. Published on 2nd November 2026, the Rainwater Solutions Framework is intended both to manage rainwater more effectively and to generate insight that will inform the company's future procurement strategies as the sector moves into AMP8.
The contract notice is concise but clear about its intent. United Utilities wants to appoint partners for the delivery of Rainwater Management solutions, with a specific emphasis on sustainable practices and effective rainwater control. Framing the opportunity as a framework rather than a single project suggests a programme of work that can cover multiple schemes over time.
From the wording of the notice, three core aims stand out:
In practice, sustainable rainwater management can range from upgrading traditional drainage assets to introducing more nature-based or decentralised measures that store, slow or redirect rainfall. While the notice does not list specific interventions, the focus on “sustainable practices” places this framework in line with wider efforts to modernise water infrastructure and cut the long-term impacts of heavy rainfall on networks and communities.
The explicit link to future procurement strategies is also notable. Rather than commissioning isolated works, the buyer signals that learning from delivery, supplier performance and solution effectiveness will shape how similar activity is procured in future cycles, including AMP8. For the supply chain, that makes this framework both a delivery opportunity and a chance to influence how the utility buys rainwater and drainage solutions in the longer term.
The notice speaks of appointing “partners” rather than simply contractors or suppliers. That language mirrors a broader trend in the sector towards collaborative frameworks where clients and supply chains share data, risks and lessons across multiple projects.
Other recent notices point in the same direction. In September 2026, Northern Ireland Water set out plans for an Integrated Partnerships Framework to support a capital investment programme for water and wastewater projects across multiple lots. That prior information notice emphasises integrated working across a range of works and services rather than one-off contracts.
Similarly, in August 2026 the Waste & Resources Action Programme launched the Great Ouse Collective Action Project, aiming to tackle shared water challenges by collaborating with local organisations, growers and land managers to improve catchment health and resilience. Its language of “collective action” and shared responsibility closely aligns with the partnership model that utilities are increasingly adopting.
United Utilities’ framework appears to sit within this shift. By emphasising partnership and future procurement learning, the company is inviting bidders who can bring not only technical capability in rainwater management but also the data, innovation and organisational capacity needed to help redesign how schemes are planned and delivered over the AMP8 period.
Across other notices, clients are also looking for expertise in planning and project management, not just in construction. In June 2026, EPAFRANCE sought project management support for the design and monitoring of primary hydraulic and hydro-ecological infrastructure for rainwater regulation across multiple basins in Val d'Europe. A few months later, in October 2026, Toulouse Métropole published a framework for project management services covering sanitation, drinking water and fire protection works.
These examples underline that the rainwater and stormwater market now demands a blend of design, advisory and delivery skills. For United Utilities’ partners under the Rainwater Solutions Framework, being able to demonstrate that full spectrum of capability is likely to be important, especially where projects will inform how the utility procures and manages risk in AMP8.
The framework tender also sits alongside a growing body of rainwater-focused procurement by councils, utilities and specialist agencies. Taken together, they show how rainwater is moving from a narrow engineering concern to a cross-cutting element of asset management, housing and catchment policy.
At local level, housing and streets are coming to the fore. In July 2026, Bristol City Council began soft market testing for an end-to-end service to install Sustainable Drainage Systems and other rainwater management measures in public and private housing, explicitly to reduce surface water flooding. Two months earlier, in May 2026, Birmingham City Council signalled plans for a drainage works framework, building a pipeline approach to local drainage improvements.
Utilities are also using procurement to explore a wider mix of water resource solutions. In June 2026, Thames Water Utilities Ltd invited proposals from third parties for water resource, demand management and leakage services to support its Water Resources Management Plan process. While not limited to rainwater, that notice, like United Utilities’ framework, opens the door to a broader set of technical and behavioural interventions to balance water supply and demand.
Maintenance-focused frameworks are another prominent thread. In August 2026, Stichting Watermaatschappij Amsterdam went to market for a framework covering repair and installation of rainwater and wastewater sewers, with the contractor expected to act as a support arm for its Waste and Rainwater Management Team. Later, in October 2026, Cork City Council sought a single-supplier framework for stormwater remediation and associated drainage infrastructure works.
Further downstream, some buyers are concentrating squarely on the upkeep of existing stormwater networks. In August 2026, the Communauté d'agglomération ACCM launched a framework for maintenance and upkeep of its stormwater network and buried drainage structures, managed by its Urban Stormwater Management service. In June 2026, Ugecam Ile-de-France issued a framework for maintenance of roofs, gutters, channels and rainwater downpipes across its estate.
Across these varied notices, several themes emerge:
United Utilities’ Rainwater Solutions Framework reflects each of these trends. It packages rainwater interventions into a structured framework, ties them to learning and future procurement strategy, and places sustainability at the centre of the specification, even if detailed technical requirements are still to be worked through with the market.
The contract notice released on 2nd November 2026 offers only a high-level view of the framework. Suppliers and stakeholders will now be looking for detail on the types of schemes to be delivered under the Rainwater Management banner, how work will be grouped or phased, and how performance on sustainability will be specified and measured.
How United Utilities chooses to structure and run this framework will matter beyond the individual projects it delivers. If, as the notice suggests, the framework is used to inform future procurement strategies for AMP8, it could influence how a significant slice of future rainwater and drainage investment is packaged, competed and managed.
For now, the signal is clear: rainwater management is moving up the agenda, frameworks and partnerships are the preferred delivery route, and sustainable practices are no longer optional extras but core requirements. The Rainwater Solutions Framework will be one of the early tests of how that agenda is translated into procurement and, ultimately, into assets on the ground.
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