The national deal, which will go live in 2013, is one of four frameworks being set up by the Ministry of Justice to handle all new build and refurbishment work.

It’s most prized is the national framework, which will cover all jobs worth more than £10m.

Spending over the six-year period will range from £300m to £600m, according to the official bid documents.

The three other regional deals will be for jobs valued from £150,000 to £10m and have attracted a large number of national and regional builders.

The framework will cover major construction and maintenance work packages across mainly the prison estate, but also national offender institutions and the courts.

The Ministry of Justice decided to put all its work through a framework to save time and cash around the red tape of having to carry out clearance checks on contractors’ staff and escort arrangements.

Under the agreement firms and staff will be vetted once to avoid duplicate checking on every job.

Framework contractors will also be available for use by other central government departments that have secure accommodation requirements or where high levels of security exist on site.

MoJ has already selected 47 firms to share in a £200m framework for minor works across the country.

The framework contractors will undertake building and civil engineering projects up to a value of £500,000.