Develop an Inland Rock and Scree GIS layer

Natural England is seeking a UK-based contractor, with a particular suitability for small and medium-sized enterprises, to develop England-wide inland rock and scree habitat maps. This entirely desk-based project requires extensive expertise in GIS, Earth Observation, habitat mapping, and biodiversity analysis to process aerial imagery and geological, topographical, and botanical datasets. The contract is a fixed-price engagement starting October 2, 2026, and ending no later than February 27, 2027. Key deliverables include GIS datasets in ESRI Shapefile or geodatabase format, completed metadata templates, a rolling data tracker, and any supporting code used for analysis. All outputs must be compatible with the Open Government Licence for public release. The contract will be awarded based on the most advantageous tender, weighted 60 percent on technical score and 40 percent on commercial score. Payment is structured via BACS transfer, with invoices due in December 2026 and February 2027, and 50 percent of the total contract value payable upon the final wash-up meeting. Under the selected intellectual property terms, the customer retains ownership of all new intellectual property. The contractor is responsible for proposing an accuracy-assessment method and ensuring data quality through specific attribute standards, including the use of FeatCode for calcareous and siliceous differentiation and the INRSC HabCode.