Bidder in Public Procurement

Definition: A bidder is any economic operator that has submitted a tender to the contracting authority within a procurement procedure and is thereby actively participating in the competition for the advertised contract.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Directive 2014/24/EU, BVergG 2018, GWB

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What is a bidder?

The bidder is the active market participant in the procurement procedure: by submitting a tender they commit themselves to performing the advertised service on the stated terms. The term "bidder" denotes a clearly defined procedural role that must be strictly distinguished from the related terms "candidate" and "contractor". An operator only becomes a bidder once it has submitted a tender — not by merely requesting procurement documents or attending an information event.

Significance in the procurement procedure

The bidder role is associated with specific rights and obligations that run through the whole of procurement law and identify the bidder as the central party in the contract competition. As a bidder, an operator is entitled to non-discriminatory treatment, to access to information on the state of the procedure, and to a standstill notification before the contract is concluded. At the same time, the bidder is bound by its tender during the binding period.

The precise demarcation of the procedural roles is important in procurement law:

• Candidate: Has submitted a request to participate but no tender. The candidate role only exists in multi-stage procedures (restricted procedure, negotiated procedure with prior call for competition).
• Bidder: Has submitted a tender and is at the tender examination and evaluation stage.
• Contractor: Has been awarded the contract and is the contracting authority's contractual counterparty.

Bidders may be natural persons, legal entities or — via a bidding consortium — groupings of several operators.

Related terms

• Candidate
• Contractor
• Bidding consortium
• Tender
• Standstill notification
• Bidder questions
• Tender examination
• Procurement procedure

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Last updated: January 2026 Information provided without warranty. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement.