Objection Period in Public Procurement

Objection period in public procurement: time limit for review application and duty to notify. Preclusion deadlines. AT: § 160 BVergG 2018; DE: § 160(3) GWB.

Definition: The objection period refers to the statutorily fixed time limits within which a passed-over bidder or candidate must take action against decisions of a public contracting authority that breach procurement law in order not to lose their right to a review.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: § 160(3) BVergG 2018 (AT), § 160(3) GWB (DE), Directive 89/665/EEC

What is an objection period?

The objection period – also referred to in Austria as the contestation period – is the procurement-law-mandated preclusive time limit within which an undertaking must lodge a legal remedy against a decision by the public contracting authority if it considers the decision to breach procurement law. If the deadline is missed, the right to review is irretrievably lost (preclusion). This serves legal certainty and procedural efficiency but also protects the other parties to the procedure and the public contracting authority from unlimited contestability of their decisions over time.

Objection period and duty to notify

In Germany, the application for review before the procurement chamber is preceded by a duty to notify: the bidder must promptly notify the contracting authority of a recognised procurement law breach before submitting a review application. This notification is a condition for the admissibility of the review application (§ 160(3) No. 1 GWB). In Austria, there is no comparable preliminary duty to notify; the application to the procurement review authority can be submitted directly.

Significance and function

The objection periods serve to balance the legal protection interests of passed-over bidders with the interest of the contracting authority and other bidders in a swift conclusion of the procurement procedure.

Austria – periods under BVergG 2018

In Austria, the contestation periods are governed by § 160(3) BVergG 2018 (Federal Law Gazette I No. 65/2018).

The most important periods at a glance:

Subject matter	Period
Notice of a tender	14 days from publication
Transmission of the procurement documents	14 days from transmission
Other separately contestable decisions	14 days from knowledge
Notification of award (standstill period)	Before expiry of the standstill period

The contestation is filed with the competent procurement review authority (Federal Procurement Office or Provincial Procurement Office, depending on the contracting authority). The standstill period between notification of award and conclusion of the contract is at least 15 days above the EU thresholds (§ 171(1) BVergG 2018).

Germany – notification and review application under GWB

In Germany, the two-stage legal protection system is characterised by the duty to notify (§ 160(3) GWB) and the application for review before the procurement chamber (§ 160(1) GWB).

Periods at a glance:

Subject matter	Period
Notification of recognised procurement law breaches	Promptly (without culpable delay)
Notification of procurement law breaches in the contract notice	At the latest by expiry of the bid submission deadline
Notification of procurement law breaches in the procurement documents	At the latest by expiry of the bid submission deadline
Review application following rejection of the notification	15 calendar days after notice of rejection (§ 160(3) No. 4 GWB)

The standstill period in Germany is at least 15 days (§ 134(2) GWB) or 10 days in the case of electronic transmission of the award notice.

Preclusion

Preclusion occurs when a bidder knew or should have known of a procurement law breach and did not file the notification or review application in time. The consequence is that the breach can no longer be invoked in the review procedure. Preclusion protects procedural integrity but presupposes that the time limits were clearly identifiable for bidders.

Legal basis

The objection periods in procurement law are based on the European Remedies Directive and its national transposition.

Directive 89/665/EEC as amended by Directive 2007/66/EC – Remedies in procurement law
Art. 2c Directive 89/665/EEC – Minimum periods for review applications
§ 160(3) BVergG 2018 – Austria
§ 160(3) GWB – Germany

Related terms

FAQ

What happens if a bidder misses the objection period? The right to review is lost (preclusion). The bidder can no longer successfully invoke the procurement law breach in question in the review procedure. Claims for damages may, under certain circumstances, still be pursued through civil court proceedings.

In Austria, must a notification be filed before the review application? No. In Austria, there is no requirement comparable to the German duty to notify. A passed-over bidder may directly submit a review application to the competent procurement review authority, provided they meet the contestation period.

Does the standstill period also apply to contracts below the EU thresholds? The standstill period prescribed by EU law only applies above the thresholds. Below the thresholds, national rules may provide for a shorter or no standstill period.

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