NI Water Forensic Audit:
What Suppliers Should Know

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins announced a forensic audit of NI Water in September. She said the scale, volume and severity of concerns, and the time taken to complete some investigations and compliance matters, made it necessary. The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has now published the audit's Terms of Reference, which set out what prompted it and what it will examine.

Why the audit was ordered

DfI says it has "a number of serious concerns" about governance and control within NI Water. It wants further assurance over the company's risk management, governance and internal control systems. The Terms of Reference list the factors behind those concerns:

• insufficient assurance
• several "Raising a Concern" investigations
• legacy and current breaches of the rules on using and approving confidentiality clauses and agreements
• observations made by DfI's representative on the NI Water Board

What's in scope

The audit is being carried out by NICS Internal Audit Services. It will examine:

• the adequacy and effectiveness of risk management, governance and internal control
• compliance with Managing Public Money NI, especially delegations, procurement and contract management
• how actual or perceived conflicts of interest are identified and managed
• whether key decision-makers get clear, timely and sufficient information, and whether documentation, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined
• segregation of duties at executive director level
• compliance with NI Water's Partnership Agreement with DfI

It covers April 2024 to the present. The scope can be amended with the agreement of DfI's Accounting Officer. Auditors will review documents and interview NI Water staff and other stakeholders, with access to the records and information they consider necessary.

What suppliers should check

The Terms of Reference don't say procurement is paused, and NI Water's live opportunities remain open. These include the IF109 Integrated Partnerships Framework (requests to participate by 16 November 2026) and T164 Hydro Turbine Maintenance (closing 30 October). With procurement and contract management in scope, a few practical steps make sense for anyone working with NI Water:

• Keep your records tidy: tender clarifications, award correspondence, contract variations and approvals.
• Check your declarations of interest are complete and current for every live bid and contract.
• Make sure any confidentiality agreements with NI Water were properly approved, since their use is one of the concerns DfI raises.
• Keep bidding. Follow live opportunities on the tenders page and NI Water's company profile.

Source: Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland), Terms of Reference for the forensic audit of NI Water, as reported on 5 October 2026.