Bidder Questions in Public Procurement

Definition: Bidder questions are written enquiries that bidders or candidates address to the contracting authority during a procurement procedure in order to clarify ambiguities in the procurement documents, the technical specifications or the contract terms; the contracting authority's answers must be communicated to all participants simultaneously and anonymously.

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

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What are bidder questions?

Bidder questions are the central means of communication between bidders and contracting authority during the tendering phase: they allow ambiguities in the procurement documents to be resolved before a tender is submitted. Careful study of the procurement documents and the timely raising of bidder questions are of major importance for bidders, since ambiguities that are not clarified before tender submission can lead to errors in the tender and ultimately to exclusion.

Significance in the procurement procedure

Bidder questions serve the principle of equal treatment: information that a bidder obtains through its question is automatically made available to all other participants in the procedure. The contracting authority must communicate the answers to bidder questions to all bidders simultaneously and through the same channel — typically via the procurement platform. The identity of the questioning bidder is not disclosed (anonymity principle), in order to prevent the questioning operator from being disadvantaged.

Bidder questions and the answers given to them become part of the procurement documents in law. If an answer contains a material clarification or amendment of the original documents, this may make it necessary to extend the tender deadline.

Deadlines for the submission of bidder questions and the contracting authority's response are set in the procurement documents. Bidders should observe these deadlines strictly, as questions received after they expire need no longer be answered.

Related terms

• Tender
• Time limit for tenders
• Bidder
• Contracting authority
• Procurement procedure
• Tender / call for tenders

FAQ

By when must bidder questions be submitted? The deadline for submitting bidder questions is set by the contracting authority in the procurement documents. As a rule it falls several days before the tender deadline. Questions raised after the deadline expires need no longer be answered by the contracting authority.

Must the contracting authority answer every question? The contracting authority is required to answer timely, objectively relevant questions and to make the answers available to all bidders simultaneously. Questions that merely express opinions or concern matters outside the subject matter of the procurement need not be answered.

What happens if the answer to a bidder question materially changes the content of the call for tenders? If an answer leads to a material change of the procurement documents, the contracting authority must extend the tender deadline appropriately. Bidders must be given sufficient time to prepare their tender on the basis of the amended documents.

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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.