The cost of operating the UVDB is shared amongst both buyers and suppliers. The supplier subscription fee is £510 + VAT per annum.
Once your application has been received (see Join this service) you will be sent all the details you need to access and complete our online questionnaire.
Once you have successfully completed the process a certificate confirming your registration will be dispatched to you and the information you provide will be made available to the Utilities via the UVDB. The site is secure, and only dedicated users from your organisation and the Utilities will be able to view the information you provide.
When Utilities have a requirement for a contract or other purchase, the UVDB allows them to search for potential suppliers or contractors in a fair and consistent manner, by applying objective criteria against the information registered by each supplier.
This will result in a list of suppliers or contractors that meet the criteria applied, which can then either be used as the final tender list or as the 'first pass' for further information to be asked, depending on the nature of the contract being sourced.
The UVDB is delivered to Utilities as an online service, updated with new supplier information on an hourly basis.
Utilities remain companies with their own policies and therefore there can be differences in the contract sizes and products or services the UVDB is used to source. The majority of utilities typically use the UVDB for contracts both above and below the EU thresholds, from multi-million pound contracts down to contracts of just several thousand pounds, depending on the particular nature of the goods, services or works being procured.