National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) Data Transformation and Ingestion Service

Ordnance Survey Ltd (OS) is Great Britain’s mapping agency and is responsible for the surveying, production, maintenance and marketing of a wide range of geographic information, relied on by government, business and individuals. Further information can be found on our website http://www.os.uk.

OS is a private limited company (company registration number 09121572), and the entire share capital is owned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

OS is appointing an organisation “the Supplier” to deliver the Data Transformation and Ingestion (DT&I) Service component of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) Data Lifecycle. The NUAR Programme is a Government Digital Service (GDS) initiative to build a digital map of underground pipes and cables that will revolutionise the way the different sectors of the economy install, maintain, operate, and repair Great Britain’s buried infrastructure. Once operational, NUAR is envisaged to deliver £490 million per year of economic growth through increased efficiency, reduced asset strikes (when underground pipes and cables are accidentally damaged) and reduced disruptions for the public and businesses.

The NUAR Programme delivers underground asset data to thousands of utility users through the Safe-Dig User Interface. This improves the efficiency and safety of underground works by providing secure access to privately and publicly owned location data about the pipes and cables beneath our feet. The digital map, available through the Safe-Dig Interface, gives planners and excavators standardised access to the data they need, when they need it, to carry out their work effectively and safely. It also includes features to keep data secure and improve its quality over time.

Data processed, stored and published under NUAR represents assets critical to the functioning of the nation and therefore security is critical to the delivery of the NUAR Programme. The programme takes a security first approach to every aspect of delivery. This is particularly important for organisation handling the data as the successful DT&I Supplier will be responsible for providing an access point through the Data Supply Portal for the Asset Owner (AO) and then transforming the data to the NHDM. The NPSA and NPSC are key partners and NUAR has been identified by the former as an exemplar of how to implement security into a major programme of national significance.

The DT&I Service is the interface for all Asset Owner (AO) data entering NUAR. The service receives AO data, transforms it into the NHDM and makes it available for ingestion into the NUAR Holding DB. The Authority will then pull the data to the NUAR Holding DB.

OS is appointing a Supplier to deliver the Data Transformation and Ingestion (DT&I) Services which forms part of the NUAR Data Lifecycle. The Supplier will be required to transition all AOs (with a scheduled refresh date before 30 June 2026) by 1 April 2026. The Supplier will develop a plan, in consultation with the Authority, for transitioning the remaining AOs prior to their next scheduled refresh date. The Supplier will be provided with a DIS and a Transformation Pack for each AO to enable the transition.

The services carried out by the Supplier must be delivered from within the UK. This includes any transfer or access of data and systems.

It is anticipated that this contract shall commence on 8 December 2025 (the Commencement Date) which shall be the commencement of the Service Implementation and which shall complete on 31 March 2026. Following the Service Implementation, the remaining Services shall commence on 1 April 2026 and without prejudice to the early termination rights set out in the Conditions, shall continue for an initial period of two (2) years (the Term)

The initial term of the contract will be for two years with the option for the Authority to extend the contract annually for a further three years meaning the contract would run until at least 31 March 2028, but potentially up to 31 March 2031 if all extensions were taken. Therefore, if all extensions are taken, the total length of the contract will be for five years (2+1+1+1).