RM6213 Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Solutions (VCIS) Explained

What RM6213 is

RM6213, officially Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Solutions (VCIS), is a national agreement for EV charging procurement originally set up by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) — CCS became the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) on 1 April 2026, so the agreement is now administered under the GCA name, though the RM6213 reference number is unchanged. Unlike a closed framework with a fixed supplier panel, RM6213 is structured as a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which changes how both buyers and suppliers use it.

What it covers

RM6213 covers the full lifecycle of vehicle charging infrastructure delivery under a single lot: consultancy and feasibility studies, civil and electrical design and engineering, supply of charging hardware and accessories, installation, software and back-office systems, ongoing maintenance, and fully managed end-to-end delivery for buyers who want to hand over the whole project rather than procure each stage separately. Buyers can also access hardware on a lease or purchase basis depending on their preferred commercial model.

Why it's a DPS, not a closed framework

The DPS structure is the key difference from frameworks like ESPO's VCI or NEPO232: there is no fixed, capped supplier list. Any supplier meeting the selection criteria can apply to join RM6213 at any point during its life, there is no limit on how many suppliers can be on it, and there is no cost to a supplier applying. That openness is not new — since the agreement's original 2020 launch, CCS added suppliers to the panel on an ongoing basis rather than only at fixed re-procurement points, and that rolling-entry model is exactly what a DPS is designed to formalise. For a supplier that missed the window to join a closed framework, RM6213 is the more accessible route onto the UK public sector EV charging procurement market — but it also means the pool of eligible bidders for any given competition can be larger than on a closed panel.

Eligible buyers and how a call-off works

Central government departments and the wider UK public sector — including local authorities and NHS trusts — are eligible to buy through RM6213. Because it's a DPS rather than a framework, GCA's own current guidance does not offer a direct award route: buyers must run a further competition for every requirement. The process is to register as a buyer, use the DPS's supplier-filtering tool to identify qualifying suppliers for the specific requirement, export that filtered supplier list (valid for two working days), and then run a competitive process against it — with a minimum ten-working-day response period for suppliers to bid. Because every award goes through this further-competition step, buyers get a fresh, requirement-specific comparison of price and delivery approach each time, rather than relying on rates fixed years earlier at the original framework award.

Dates and how suppliers join

RM6213 started on 8 April 2020, following an OJEU contract notice published that April, and — following an extension confirmed in February 2026 — now runs to 23 February 2029. Because it's a DPS, new suppliers aren't restricted to a re-procurement window the way they would be on a closed framework — an EV charging supplier can apply to join RM6213 at any time during its remaining life, subject to meeting GCA's published selection criteria, and there is no maximum contract length once accepted. That is a meaningfully different proposition from the closed frameworks covered elsewhere on this site: a supplier turned down or too late for an ESPO VCI or NEPO232 re-procurement round doesn't have to wait years for the next window — it can apply to RM6213 immediately.

RM6213 vs. the closed frameworks

For suppliers deciding where to focus limited business-development time, the trade-off is straightforward: closed frameworks like ESPO's VCI and NEPO232 have a fixed, smaller panel and only reopen on a re-procurement cycle, so a panel place is durable but harder to get and only available at specific windows. RM6213's DPS structure has no such gate — a supplier can apply now — but every award still goes through a further competition against whichever other suppliers the buyer's filter surfaces, so being on the DPS is necessary but not sufficient to win individual contracts. Many suppliers active in this market maintain a presence on more than one of these routes for exactly this reason: RM6213 for reach and immediacy, closed regional frameworks for the buyers who prefer them.