Contractor in Public Procurement Law

The contractor is the economic operator to whom the contract has been awarded and who provides the tendered service on the basis of the procurement contract.

Definition: A contractor is any natural or legal person, or association of such persons, to whom the contract has been awarded following a procurement procedure and who is required to provide the contractually agreed works, supply or service to the public contracting authority.

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

What is a contractor?

The contractor is the contractual party that performs the tendered service after the successful conclusion of a procurement procedure. Only with the award of contract does a bidder become a contractor – until then, the company is merely a participant in the procurement competition without any contractual link to the contracting authority.

The term "contractor" denotes a clearly delimited procedural role in procurement law. It must be strictly distinguished from the bidder (who has submitted a tender but not yet received the award) and the candidate (who has only submitted a request to participate).

Significance in the Procurement Procedure

The status of contractor gives rise to rights and obligations directly derived from the procurement contract, which may go beyond general contract law.

The terms denote the same economic actor in different phases of the procurement procedure:

Candidate: the company has submitted a request to participate (in restricted procedures or negotiated procedures with a call for participation) but has not yet submitted a tender.
Bidder: the company has submitted a tender and is in the examination and evaluation phase.
Contractor: the company has received the award and is the contractual partner of the contracting authority.

This delineation is not only terminologically significant but has practical consequences: information obligations (bidder notification) apply to bidders, while contractual warranty claims exclusively concern the contractor.

Natural or Legal Persons and Bidding Consortia

Contractors can be: individuals (e.g. self-employed professionals), capital companies (GmbH, AG), partnerships (OG, KG) or public undertakings. Several companies may jointly apply as a bidding consortium and, upon award, jointly acquire the status of contractor. All members of the bidding consortium are jointly and severally liable to the contracting authority for proper performance of the contract.

Subcontractors

The contractor is in principle entitled to pass on parts of the service to subcontractors, provided this is not excluded or restricted by the procurement documents. However, it remains fully responsible to the contracting authority for the proper performance of the overall service. In Austria, §§ 83 ff. BVergG 2018 set out the obligations relating to subcontractors; in Germany, §§ 36, 36a VgV govern corresponding requirements.

Liability

The contractor is liable to the contracting authority for all damages arising from non-performance or improper performance of the procurement contract – both under general civil law (§§ 918 ff. ABGB; §§ 280 ff. BGB) and under special contractual provisions such as contractual penalty clauses. In a bidding consortium, liability extends to all members as joint and several debtors.

Related Terms

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