Procurement Acceleration Act (Vergabebeschleunigungsgesetz) 2026: what changes for bidders

Since 1 July 2026, the Act to Accelerate the Award of Public Contracts (Gesetz zur Beschleunigung der Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge) has been in force. It is an omnibus act with 15 articles and amends, among others, the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB), the Public Procurement Regulation (VgV), the Federal Budget Code (Bundeshaushaltsordnung), the Sector Regulation (Sektorenverordnung) and the Competition Register Act (Wettbewerbsregistergesetz). Almost everything written about it is aimed at contracting authorities. This text takes the other side's perspective: what changes for companies that bid for public contracts?

Self-declarations instead of a flood of evidence

The most important practical change for bidders is in Section 122(3) GWB: proof of suitability should in future be provided by self-declarations. The contracting authority may only request further documents from promising applicants and bidders.

In practice, this means that you no longer obtain credit reports, clearance certificates (Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung) and copies of certificates for every application, but only once you actually make the shortlist. For companies bidding in several procedures in parallel, this saves considerable time and fees.

Requests for documents have been extended

Section 56(2) sentence 1 VgV now expressly allows the contracting authority not only to request missing documents subsequently, but also to have them explained, completed and corrected. This defuses one of the most common reasons for exclusion.

Do not rely on it all the same. Requesting documents remains a discretionary provision, and narrow limits continue to apply to price information.

Young and small companies expressly taken into account

New in Section 42(2) VgV: the particular circumstances of young as well as small and medium-sized enterprises must be taken into account in the suitability requirements, without the contracting authority having to justify this.

For freelance services, Section 75(4) VgV is added: selection criteria must now also be proportionate to the contract value. If a contracting authority requires a minimum annual turnover of two million euros for a contract worth €80,000, this is harder to justify than before.

Direct awards up to €50,000

The value limit for direct awards has been raised uniformly nationwide to €50,000 net. Below this limit, a contracting authority can award a contract directly without a formal procedure.

For smaller suppliers this is a real opportunity, but it is often misunderstood: a direct award does not mean that you can apply. It means that the contracting authority chooses someone it knows. The lever is therefore not the application process, but being known to the contracting authorities in your region in the first place.

Construction works have their own value limits, which are also new

Independently of the Acceleration Act, the value limits in the first section of the Construction Contract Procedures (VOB/A) were raised on 1 January 2026 (notice of the Federal Ministry of Construction dated 24 November 2025). For construction companies, this is the more important change in practice:

All amounts net. Here too, the value limits concern the contracting authority's choice of procedure, not your opportunities to apply. In practice, it means that significantly more contracts are awarded in procedures where the contracting authority selects the companies itself.

Legal protection: why acting early now pays off

This change is skipped in most articles because it relieves contracting authorities and burdens bidders. You should know about it before you consider review proceedings.

Section 173 GWB has been reversed. Previously, if a bidder lodged an immediate appeal against a rejecting decision of the public procurement tribunal (Vergabekammer), this had suspensive effect, so the contract could not be awarded. This rule has been deleted. It now states: if the public procurement tribunal has rejected the application for review, the immediate appeal has no suspensive effect. The former application for extension has also been abolished, and Section 177 GWB has been deleted entirely.

Section 169(1) GWB works in the same direction. If the contracting authority prevails before the public procurement tribunal, the prohibition on awarding the contract already ends when the decision is notified. The contracting authority can therefore award the contract immediately while your deadline for appeal is still running.

The deadlines you need to know remain unchanged: identified infringements must be raised in a complaint within ten calendar days, after notice that the complaint will not be remedied you have 15 calendar days for the application for review, and the immediate appeal is subject to a non-extendable deadline of two weeks. The only new element is a fifth ground of inadmissibility: obvious abuse of the right to apply for review.

Payment within 30 days

New in Section 29(3) VgV: payments should generally be made within 30 days, and interim and advance payments are expressly provided for. For contractors with tight liquidity, this is perhaps the most valuable change in the entire act.

Division into lots: what changes

The principle of division into lots has moved from Section 97(4) GWB into a separate Section 97a GWB. In substance it remains in place, but subsection 3 now permits an overall award for reasons of time for infrastructure projects of twice the threshold value or more, provided they are financed from the Special Fund for Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality (Sondervermögen Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität) or belong to transport infrastructure.

This is the unwelcome news for small and medium-sized businesses: for precisely the large, publicly funded projects coming up in the next few years, contracts can more often be awarded to a general contractor. Anyone who has so far won work through trade lots should pursue a two-track approach and seek contact with potential general contractors.

Further changes at a glance

Do not confuse: the Procurement Law Transformation Act

Many articles from 2024 and 2025 refer to the “Vergaberechtstransformationsgesetz” (Procurement Law Transformation Act) or the “Vergabetransformationspaket” (procurement transformation package). This draft never entered into force. What counts is the Procurement Acceleration Act of 12 May 2026. If you come across older sources, check the date.

What you should do now

1. Keep a set of up-to-date self-declarations ready. They will be sufficient more often in future and can be adapted quickly.
2. For tenders, check whether the required evidence of suitability really matches the contract value. Excessive requirements are now easier to challenge.
3. Make yourself known to the contracting authorities in your region. With the €50,000 limit, the share of contracts awarded without a procedure is growing.
4. If your business relies mainly on trade lots, keep an eye on infrastructure projects and build contacts with potential general contractors.
5. If you want to challenge a procurement decision, file your complaint early and carefully. The public procurement tribunal has in practice become the decisive instance.