Information Deadline in Public Procurement Law 2026

Definition: The information deadline is the period stipulated by law or in the procurement documents within which the contracting authority must respond to bidder enquiries regarding the procurement documents and make those responses available to all parties involved in the procedure.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Directive 2014/24/EU Art. 53, BVergG 2018 § 97, VgV § 20

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What is the information deadline?

The information deadline safeguards bidders' right to equal access to information and is closely linked to the principles of transparency and equal treatment in procurement law. If bidders submit questions about the procurement documents (bidder questions) during the tender period, the contracting authority is required to answer those questions on time and to make the answers available to all parties involved in the procedure simultaneously – regardless of which bidder posed the question.

Statutory Deadlines

EU procurement law stipulates that additional information must be provided no later than six days before the deadline for the submission of tenders, provided the request was made in good time.

In detail:

• Bidders must submit questions at the latest six days (in accelerated procedures: four days) before the expiry of the deadline for tenders.
• Enquiries received later need no longer be answered if responding by the deadline is no longer possible.
• If the information is so extensive that the tender deadline is no longer sufficient, the contracting authority is required to extend the tender deadline.

Anonymity of Bidder Questions

In practice, answers to bidder questions are forwarded to all bidders in anonymised form to protect the identity of the bidder asking the question and to avoid competitive disadvantages. The responses are usually published on the procurement platform or in the buyer profile and then form part of the procurement documents.

FAQ

Does the contracting authority have to answer all bidder questions? In principle yes, provided the questions are objectively justified and submitted in good time. Questions that would result in an inadmissible amendment of the procurement documents do not need to be answered.

What happens if the contracting authority misses the information deadline? If the contracting authority fails to respond on time, this may give bidders the right to demand an extension of the tender deadline or to challenge the error in a review procedure.

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