Finding tenders: where to search and how to choose the right one

You can find public tenders free of charge in the EU's Official Journal (TED), in the German public procurement data service (Datenservice Öffentlicher Einkauf), on service.bund.de and on the procurement platforms of the federal states and municipalities. Choosing is harder than finding: the right tender is one whose requirements you meet and which you can realistically win.

How many tenders there really are

In the last twelve months, the EU's Official Journal alone published 87,725 calls for competition with Germany as the place of performance. On top of these come the national procedures below the EU thresholds, which only appear on German portals. Anyone who searches in several places will almost always find suitable tenders.

The official sources, all free of charge

Contracting authorities are required to publish their contracts. That is why the most important sources are freely accessible:

Commercial databases bundle these sources for a fee and in some cases add private sector contracts. This saves search time, but it does not change the fact that the data itself is public.

Setting up your search: keywords, CPV codes and filters

A good search combines three things:

1. Keywords with synonyms. Contracting authorities use different wording: “temporary agency work”, “staff secondment”, “temporary work” and “personnel services” often mean the same thing. Create a list of terms and spellings for each service. More on this under Filtering and refining your search.
2. CPV codes. The Common Procurement Vocabulary assigns every tender to a category, e.g. 79620000 for the supply of personnel or 72000000 for IT services. Search at the higher level and then filter. More on this under Searching by CPV code.
3. Filters for region, deadline and size. What matters is the place of performance, not the location of the authority. Filter by deadlines you can realistically meet and by contract sizes that match your references.

Save the search as a search profile with notifications. TED and many state platforms offer this free of charge, but each requires its own registration.

Finding the right tender: five steps

Many results are not the goal. The goal is the tenders on which a bid is worthwhile.

1. Match service and region. Does the subject of the contract fit your core business? Is the place of performance within your area of operation? If not, discard it.
2. Check suitability. What minimum turnover, references, certificates and qualifications are required? A single missing piece of evidence leads to exclusion. More on this under Selection criteria and evidence.
3. Read the award criteria. Does only price count, or also concept and quality? The more weight quality carries, the more your strengths count.
4. Assess the competition. Contract award notices from earlier procedures show who held the contract so far and how many bids were received. If the specification appears tailored to a particular supplier, caution is advised. More on this under When the tender is tailored to someone else.
5. Weigh effort against return. Is there enough time until the submission deadline? Do contract value, term and risks add up? Then the answer is go. How to make this decision in a structured way is explained in the guide Go/No-Go for tenders.

Which tender platform is the best?

No single platform contains everything. The federal government, the federal states, municipalities and public companies use different procurement marketplaces. When choosing, the following applies:

The contract notices themselves are public. Paid services sell bundling, filters and time savings, not exclusive access. Check which portals a service actually covers.

The procurement procedures in brief

How a tender proceeds depends on the contract value:

• Above the EU thresholds (EU-wide): open procedure, restricted procedure, negotiated procedure, competitive dialogue and innovation partnership.
• Below the EU thresholds (national): public tender (öffentliche Ausschreibung), restricted tender (beschränkte Ausschreibung), negotiated award (Verhandlungsvergabe) or, for construction works, direct negotiated award (freihändige Vergabe), plus direct awards up to certain value limits.

The most accessible are open procedures and public tenders, because any company can submit a bid. In restricted procedures, the contracting authority decides who may take part. The current values are listed under Thresholds, the procedures under Procurement procedures.

Finding and assessing tenders with validait

validait searches 54 procurement portals in a single search, including TED, the German public procurement data service, state and municipal platforms as well as portals in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands and France. Saved search profiles report new results every morning by email. For each tender, validait checks the documents against your profile and gives a go/no-go recommendation with the source reference. View the portal overview · Calculate your time savings

Frequently asked questions