Direct procurement for customers (DPC) involves a water or wastewater company competitively tendering for services in relation to the delivery of certain major projects, resulting in the selection of a third-party competitively appointed provider (CAP). DPC will result in water companies competitively procuring more aspects of an infrastructure project, including financing for the project. We believe that by outsourcing the delivery of infrastructure projects using DPC, water companies can achieve significant benefits for customers. This includes both through innovation and lower whole life costs of the project.
DPC was introduced in our 2019 price review (PR19). In our 2024 price review (PR24) methodology, we stated that major new infrastructure should be delivered by competitive delivery models by default. For all major new infrastructure, water companies assess whether they can deliver the scheme by our Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) framework, or where appropriate the Water Industry (Specified Infrastructure Projects) (English Undertakers) Regulations 2013 (SIPR).
In March 2023 we published initial guidance setting out out our expectations for the commercial model applicable to DPC projects and our approval and assurance processes to support DPC projects as part of the 2024 price review.
In May 2026 we published Guidance for water companies delivering Direct Procurement for Customers projects – Version 2.0 expanding on positions and updating the guidance to reflect lessons learned.