Missing Bidder Information in Public Procurement Law 2026

Missing bidder information: when information is absent from the offer. Subsequent request, exclusion, or remedy – the legal framework in Austria and Germany.

Definition: Missing bidder information refers to information, declarations, or evidence that a bidder has not submitted, or has submitted incompletely, in its offer or request to participate, even though the contracting authority required this in the procurement documents.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: § 56 VgV, § 51 UVgO, § 129 BVergG 2018, Art. 56 Directive 2014/24/EU

What is missing bidder information?

Missing bidder information is a common point of dispute in procurement procedures: on the one hand, premature exclusion can restrict competition; on the other hand, overly generous subsequent requests result in unequal treatment. Procurement law has developed a differentiated approach to this conflict of objectives, distinguishing between information that can be subsequently requested and information that cannot.

Missing bidder information can arise from:

Incomplete completion of suitability forms
References or certificates not submitted
Missing signatures or stamps
Unfilled price items in the bill of quantities
Missing declarations on the absence of grounds for exclusion

Right and obligation to request subsequent information

EU procurement law clearly distinguishes between information that the contracting authority may (or must) request subsequently and information that it may not request subsequently.

Information that can be requested subsequently

Pursuant to § 56(2) VgV (Germany) and § 129 BVergG 2018 (Austria), the contracting authority may subsequently request missing, incomplete, or erroneous company-related documents. This applies in particular to:

Suitability evidence (references, certificates, turnover evidence)
Declarations on the absence of grounds for exclusion
Formal documents such as commercial register extracts

Information that cannot be requested subsequently

Pursuant to § 56(3) VgV, the following may not be requested subsequently:

Missing prices or price components (which mandatorily lead to exclusion)
Information the subsequent request of which would change the bidder ranking
Information on essential performance characteristics of the offer

Deadlines for subsequent requests

The subsequent request must be made within reasonable deadlines, while ensuring equal treatment of all bidders.

The contracting authority may not grant individual bidders more time to submit documents subsequently than others. The deadline for subsequent submission must be such that the requested documents can actually be obtained, while not unnecessarily delaying the procurement procedure.

Distinction from missing declarations and missing documents

The terms "missing bidder information", "missing declarations", and "missing documents" are often used interchangeably in procurement law, but not always with clear distinctions.

In practice, the terms denote:

Missing bidder information: Information of any kind (prices, technical data, company details)
Missing declarations: Formal declarations (e.g. on reliability, on conflicts of interest)
Missing documents: Documents and evidence (certificates, reference letters, balance sheets)

Related terms

FAQ

Must the contracting authority always request missing bidder information subsequently? No. The contracting authority may request information subsequently but is only required to do so for company-related documents. Where prices are missing, immediate exclusion is permissible and often required.

Can an offer be excluded for missing bidder information without a subsequent request being made? This depends on which information is missing. Missing prices lead directly to exclusion. For other information, the contracting authority should first make a subsequent request, where the exercise of discretion does not clearly weigh against this.

Can the bidder submit missing information without being asked? Only within the offer deadline. After expiry of the deadline, unprompted submissions are generally not admissible; missing documents can only be submitted upon express request of the contracting authority.

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