T0661 Technical Standards Implementation, Governance improvements and benefit realisation

National Highways (the Client) is looking to set up a contract for the provision of a range of technical engineering consultancy services to support the Technical Standards Group (TSG) with the implementation of new technical standards, mainly the Manual Contract Highways Works (MCHW) and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), which are used for the assessment, design and construction of all works on the strategic road network and required to deliver the Road Investment Strategy (RIS) as per obligations under the technical regulation protocol.

The support enables TSG to manage and deliver improvements to the standards governance process and the drafting rules set out on the Manual for Development of Documents (MDD), it ensures the embedment, evaluation, realisation of benefits and ensure the valuation of the impact the new DMRB and MCHW on user groups. The new technical standard MCHW and DMRB will be published in late summer 2025.

The overall objective of the service commission is to provide to the Client specialist engineering consultancy and technical services covering the activities specified in work packages in S205.1. This commission will be managed and governed by the Technical Standards Group (TSG) based in the Safety, Engineering, Standards (SES) Directorate.