There were three framework agreements on offer in each of the two categories. Medium-sized firms Llewellyns and Warings have both won general building and fit-out contracts; Mace has won a fit-out contract; and Mansell has won a general building contract.
The preferred fit-out contracts will each be worth £12m-15m a year, and the general building contracts will guarantee £10m-12m of work a year.
Most of the work will be smaller projects worth upwards of £100 000, to be carried out at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.
The fit-out and general building contractors will be used for projects considered too small for the multidisciplinary teams set up by BAA for its larger shell-and-core and fit-out projects.
General building work might include one-off alterations and extensions; the fit-out contractors might be asked to help BAA create standard products for offices, toilets and terminals.
Asked why it had picked preferred contractors rather than continuing to tender, a BAA spokesperson said the company wanted to improve the efficiency of its supply chain.
He said this could only be done by forming close relationships with BAA's suppliers, which would be expected, in turn, to form good relationships with their own supply chain. He said: "Had we continued with a larger number of suppliers, then our efforts would have been diluted.
"If we cannot provide a reasonable workload because we are spreading the work too thinly, it is difficult for companies, because of the overhead cost of operation at airports, to make a reasonable return." In the past, BAA has been criticised for requiring companies to do too much work to get onto preferred lists. The fit-out and general building framework winners also had to get through an extremely tough selection process.
Eighty-five companies made it to the prequalification stage. These firms were then sent a questionnaire to test their technical skills. The 16 survivors from this test were interviewed by BAA, which also visited their offices.
Eight companies were selected for final evaluation. This involved visits to current sites to review their approach to "soft" issues such as health and safety and people management. Finally the three suppliers in each category were selected.
