Highways maintenance tenders cover the work councils and other road authorities buy to keep roads safe and open: resurfacing programmes, patching and pothole repair, drainage and gully cleaning, road markings, signs and street furniture, and minor works. The big term contracts can be too large for a smaller firm, so a 10 to 50 person firm’s way in is a lot, a minor works framework or a subcontract to the term contractor. Our tender eligibility checker is coming soon. Until then, tell us your trade and postcode to join the free weekly list of live tenders, starting soon.
What buyers usually ask highways contractors for
Highways work happens on live roads, so some of what buyers ask for has a legal basis. The tender pack sets out anything on top.
Street works qualifications for supervisors and operatives
In England and Wales, an undertaker whose street works break up the street, or tunnel or bore under it, must have them supervised by a person with a prescribed supervisor qualification. Where works break up or open the street, at least one person with a prescribed trained-operative qualification must be on site at all times (save in prescribed cases). Failing to comply is an offence, punishable by a fine on summary conviction (New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, section 67).
The legal duty sits with the undertaker, not the contractor. If you work for a utility or a main contractor, expect to evidence your supervisors’ and operatives’ qualifications. The pack will say.
Traffic management to the buyer’s standard
Expect questions on temporary traffic management. The Traffic Signs Manual has a Chapter 8 on road works and temporary situations. Part 1 covers the design of temporary traffic management arrangements, and part 2 covers planning, managing and taking part in operations to put them in place and remove them. Expect to be asked who designs yours and who is trained to set it up. The pack names the standard the buyer applies.
CDM 2015 and SSIP/Constructionline
Where more than one contractor works on a project, or it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one will, the client must appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing. Anyone appointed must have the skills, knowledge and experience, and (for an organisation) the organisational capability for the role. Buyers test that with questions on safety management, supervision and past projects.
Some also ask about membership of a health and safety assessment scheme or pre-qualification register. We explain how SSIP and Constructionline work. Whether a scheme counts is the buyer’s call.
Insurance
Employers’ liability insurance is compulsory for employers in Great Britain, with limited exemptions (Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969), and gov.uk says the cover must be at least £5 million. Public liability is set contract by contract. The buyer sets this in the tender pack. See our page on public liability cover. Only 29 of the 470 live notices in our data (about 6%) stated insurance requirements in the week to 10 Oct 2026 (as of 10 Oct 2026).
Plant, depots and response times
Specifications can set a response time for emergency call-outs and ask where your depot is and what plant you own or hire. These come from the buyer, not the law. A four-hour response from a depot ninety minutes away is a promise you may not keep. Where a notice gives a delivery region or postcode, TenderWorthy checks the distance from your postcode to it. Where it gives neither, or only “UK”, we cannot judge distance, so check the delivery area yourself.
How to win highways work as a smaller contractor
Be realistic about scale. Whole-network term contracts are built for large contractors. Smaller firms win highways work in the ways below.
Read the lots
On above-threshold contracts, buyers must consider splitting a requirement into lots, or give reasons for not doing so. Highways requirements can be split by type of work (surfacing, lighting, drainage) or by area.
In the week to 10 Oct 2026 there were 119 live construction notices in our data, the parent sector that includes highways (as of 10 Oct 2026). Across all sectors, 62 of the 470 live notices were multi-lot (as of 10 Oct 2026). Bid for the lot you can staff and insure, not the whole contract.
Minor works frameworks and dynamic markets
A framework is a contract with suppliers for future call-offs, and call-offs can be awarded with or without competition between members. A framework’s term is limited to four years in most cases, with a longer term allowed only if the buyer gives its reasons in the notice. That gives you a predictable re-tender cycle.
Dynamic markets (formerly dynamic purchasing systems) must remain open to new suppliers to join at any time. In the same week, 72 of the 470 live notices mentioned frameworks or dynamic purchasing systems (DPS, now called dynamic markets) (as of 10 Oct 2026). Our guide covers frameworks and dynamic markets.
Subcontracting to the term contractor
If the term contract is out of reach, work for the firm that holds it. The 30-day payment term for valid, undisputed invoices that applies to public contracts is also implied into sub-contracts under an above-threshold public contract, though not where the main contract was awarded by a school, is a concession or is a private utility’s contract. Before you sign, ask who pays for traffic management and how often you will be paid.
Social value and carbon
Central government departments, their executive agencies and NDPBs must give social value at least a 10% weighting on above-threshold contracts where it is relevant and proportionate (PPN 002). On major central government contracts, bidders are also asked for a Carbon Reduction Plan (PPN 006). Councils and other buyers may take a different approach, so check the pack.
Pitfalls
Check these before you commit. They are not statistics.
- traffic management left out of your rates or priced too thinly
- night-working premiums missed in the pricing schedule
- response times you can’t meet from your depot
- a lot bigger than your gangs and plant can cover
- late clarification questions on the specification
The live list on this page picks up notices tagged with CPV code 45233, construction, foundation and surface works for highways and roads. Related work: for structures, drainage and pipelines see civil engineering tenders, and for the wider picture see construction tenders.
Questions
Can a small contractor win highways maintenance work?
Yes, but the whole-network term contract may be out of reach. Smaller firms win individual lots, places on minor works frameworks and subcontracts from the term contractor. On above-threshold contracts a buyer must consider splitting the work into lots, or give reasons for not doing so, so check each notice for a lot you can staff and insure.
What qualifications do street works operatives need?
Under section 67 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, an undertaker in England and Wales whose street works break up the street, or tunnel or bore under it, must have them supervised by a person with a prescribed supervisor qualification. Where works break up or open the street, at least one person with a prescribed trained-operative qualification must be on site at all times (save in prescribed cases). The duty is on the undertaker, so a contractor working for one is likely to be asked to evidence both.
What is a highways term maintenance contract?
A term contract is a long-running agreement for a contractor to maintain a highway authority's network over a set period, with work ordered as it is needed. The notice and tender pack set the term, the scope and how work is instructed. They can be too big for a small firm to win outright, which is why subcontracting and lots matter.
How do I get onto a council minor works framework?
Watch for the notice that opens the framework or dynamic market. A dynamic market must stay open to new suppliers at any time while it runs. Other frameworks only open when the buyer re-tenders, and four years is the usual maximum term, with longer allowed only if the buyer gives its reasons in the notice.
Where are National Highways and council road contracts published?
Notices go on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, and TenderWorthy covers both. Scottish public bodies must advertise regulated procurements on the Public Contracts Scotland website, which TenderWorthy doesn't cover.