Pagabo, procuring on behalf of YPO, has named the winners of its National Framework for Major Works 2026, covering construction and refurbishment projects worth £5m and above across the UK. Construction News and Construction Enquirer reported that 56 contractors secured places across the framework's five value bands, generating 114 appointments once repeat wins in different bands and regions are counted.

BAM and Morgan Sindall came out as the biggest winners, landing a place in every lot on offer. Alongside Wates, the two were named collaborative partners for England and Wales, the framework's top tier. Robertson takes the equivalent collaborative partner role in Scotland and Graham in Northern Ireland, a group of five firms Pagabo estimates will handle around £1bn of the framework's spend between them.

Below the collaborative partner tier, the £5m to £15m band is split across 12 geographic areas, while the £15m to £30m and £30m to £60m bands are each divided across eight areas. The £60m-plus tier runs separately across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The framework starts on 19 October 2026 and runs for four years, to 19 October 2030.

Why it matters

Four-year public and private sector frameworks like this one are how a large share of UK construction work actually gets allocated, and a framework of this size spreads appointments wide rather than concentrating them in two or three names. With 56 firms holding a place somewhere on it, from national contractors down to regional players competing in the smaller geographic lots, the practical effect over the next four years is a steady run of project announcements as individual jobs are called off against it.

For employers, a framework win is not a guarantee of work, but it is a licence to bid without going through full open tender each time, which tends to translate into more predictable project pipelines and more confidence to resource ahead of need. The collaborative partner tier in particular gives BAM, Morgan Sindall, Wates, Robertson and Graham a four-year platform across whichever regions and sectors the call-offs land in.

What it means for careers and hiring

If you sit inside one of the 56 appointed contractors, expect bid teams and pre-construction functions to be busy through the autumn as call-off opportunities start landing, with commercial managers and estimators the first roles typically stretched. Further out, as individual projects are called off, site-based quantity surveyors, project managers and site managers in the regions covered by each geographic lot should watch for mobilisation activity, particularly in the £15m to £60m bands where mid-sized regional contractors have a genuine route in.

For QSs and project managers weighing a move, a framework place is worth asking about directly in interview: which lots a firm won, and in which regions, says a good deal about where that employer's workload is heading over the next four years, and is a more reliable signal than a single contract announcement.