Vehicle tenders come from councils, police and fire services, NHS bodies and housing providers that run fleets. They range from standard cars and vans to specialist vehicles such as welfare minibuses or refuse bodies. This page is for suppliers: dealers, converters, leasing firms and specialist builders. It explains whether a notice is for supply, maintenance or transport, what buyers ask about vehicle approval, and how frameworks, lots and thresholds shape fleet buying. The tender pack has the full specification, so check it before you price.
Supply, maintenance or transport?
Three kinds of vehicle work get tangled in search results. In our data, buying vehicles sits in CPV division 34, which the official CPV list names “Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation”. That is this page.
Fixing vehicles sits in division 50, “Repair and maintenance services” (group 50100000, “Repair, maintenance and associated services of vehicles and related equipment”): see vehicle repair and maintenance tenders. Running vehicles for passengers sits in division 60, “Transport services (excl. Waste transport)”: see transport services tenders. Plant and workshop equipment is a separate category: see plant and machinery tenders.
Decide which of the three you do before you set up alerts. Our CPV code finder helps with codes. If you supply vehicles you make yourself, note that manufacturers must apply for provisional GB type approval to sell or register vehicles in Great Britain.
Who publishes vehicle tenders
Councils, police, fire services, NHS bodies and housing providers all run fleets. In the week to 10 Oct 2026 there were 17 live vehicle notices in our data (as of 10 Oct 2026). The sample is small, so we don’t quote a typical contract value.
What buyers usually ask vehicle suppliers for
Most of the detail sits in the specification in the tender pack, not the notice. These are the areas to check.
Vehicle approval for GB roads
The gov.uk vehicle approval page separates two things. Type approval is approval for a type of vehicle, rather than each individual vehicle, and manufacturers apply for it. Individual vehicle approval (IVA) is for a single vehicle or a small number of unregistered vehicles. The page says you must apply for vehicle approval if you have built, rebuilt or radically altered a vehicle, reconstructed a classic vehicle, imported a vehicle, or modified a goods vehicle.
If you are a dealer, the question is whether the manufacturer’s approval covers what you are delivering. If you are a converter, it is whether your conversion needs its own approval route.
Conversions and bodywork
For converted or specially bodied vehicles, such as wheelchair-accessible minibuses or refuse bodies, the pack is likely to ask how your conversion is approved. We can’t give a rule for every vehicle type, so check the pack and the approval route for the vehicle you are supplying.
Whole-life cost, emissions and fuel type
The specification will set the fuel or power type, and may ask you to price whole-life cost: purchase, running, servicing and resale. Read the award criteria so you know how much weight goes to price and how much to those costs.
Insurance, turnover, warranty and aftersales
Buyers may ask how you’ll support the vehicle after delivery, including warranty terms and where servicing is available. They may also ask about turnover and insurance. We can’t state levels here, so check the pack. Our page on financial standing and turnover explains how those tests work.
How to win vehicle and fleet contracts
Frameworks
A framework is a contract that provides for future awards to the suppliers on it, and its term generally can’t exceed four years. Some fleet buying is by call-off, so if a notice names a framework, check how suppliers join it. Note each framework’s end date and watch for its replacement. See how fleet frameworks work.
Lots by vehicle type
Buyers must consider whether to split a requirement into lots and give reasons if they don’t. A fleet tender might split cars, vans and specialist vehicles. If you only supply one type, look for lots rather than whole-fleet tenders. If the notice is one lot, ask whether you can bid with a partner.
Thresholds from 1 January 2026
Under PPN 023, the threshold for supplies is £135,018 for central government authorities and £207,720 for other contracting authorities from 1 January 2026. Below those figures, the below-threshold rules apply. If a buyer advertises a contract worth £12,000 or more (central government, including NHS trusts) or £30,000 or more (others), including VAT, it must first publish a below-threshold tender notice. Buyers can also invite quotes from chosen suppliers without advertising, so a smaller local order may never be advertised. 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.
Schools and transferred Northern Ireland authorities are outside the below-threshold regime.
Answer the award criteria, not just the specification
A buyer may award to the supplier with the most advantageous tender: the one that satisfies its requirements and best meets the award criteria, using the weighting set out in the tender documents. In a vehicle tender, price, whole-life cost, delivery lead time and aftersales support might each carry marks. Find the weightings in the pack first, then put your effort where the marks are. A cheaper vehicle with a thin aftersales answer can lose to a dearer one with a strong plan if aftersales is weighted heavily.
Register on the central digital platform
Register your organisation on the central digital platform. The supplier guide says the platform is free to use, and that you must share your unique identifier with the contracting authority before being awarded a contract. Registering ahead of time means the paperwork won’t hold you up if you win.
Questions
Who buys vehicles in the public sector?
Councils, police and fire services, NHS bodies and housing providers all run fleets, so they all appear as buyers in this category. What they buy ranges from standard cars and vans to specialist vehicles such as welfare minibuses or refuse bodies. The buyer and the vehicle type are shown on each notice.
Are fleet vehicles usually bought through frameworks?
Some are. A framework is a contract that provides for future awards to its suppliers, and buyers can call off from it. A framework generally can't run for more than four years. If a notice names a framework, check how suppliers join it and when it is next reopened or replaced.
Can I bid to supply one type of vehicle in a larger tender?
Sometimes. Buyers must consider whether to split a requirement into lots and give reasons if they don't. If the notice is split by vehicle type, you can bid for the lots you can supply. If it is a single lot, you would need a partner or to bid for all of it.
Where do vehicle maintenance contracts appear?
Vehicle repair and maintenance sits in the repair and maintenance category (CPV division 50 in our data), not the vehicles category. Passenger transport services sit under transport services. Supply, maintenance and transport are separate searches, so check all three if you do more than one.