Offer Submission Deadline in Public Procurement Law 2026
Offer submission deadline in procurement law: minimum periods under EU law, national rules, extensions, and consequences of late offers.
Definition: The offer submission deadline is the period set by the contracting authority in the contract notice within which bidders must submit their offer; offers received after expiry of this deadline must mandatorily be excluded.
Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Art. 27–29 Directive 2014/24/EU, § 15 VgV, § 85 et seq. BVergG 2018, § 10 VOB/A
What is the offer submission deadline?
The offer deadline is one of the most important formal requirements in procurement law: it secures equal treatment of all bidders and gives them sufficient time to prepare a competitive offer. EU procurement law sets minimum periods that may not be undercut. Shorter periods are only permissible in statutorily regulated exceptional cases.
The offer period begins at the time of publication (in the above-threshold area: publication on TED) and ends at the date set in the notice. The contracting authority sets both the date and the time at which the deadline expires.
Minimum periods in the EU above-threshold area
EU procurement law prescribes a minimum offer period of 35 days for the open procedure, which can be shortened in certain circumstances.
| Situation | Minimum period (open procedure) |
|---|---|
| Standard case | 35 days |
| Prior information notice published | 15 days |
| Fully electronic submission | 30 days |
| Urgency (justified) | 15 days |
| Restricted procedure (offer phase) | 30 days (10 days under urgency) |
These periods derive from Art. 27–29 of Directive 2014/24/EU and are implemented in § 15 VgV (Germany) and § 85 et seq. BVergG 2018 (Austria).
Extension of deadlines
Contracting authorities may extend the offer deadline where significant changes are made to the procurement documents or where bidder queries require extensive clarifications.
An extension must be communicated to all bidders in the same manner. Where contracting authorities provide supplementary information late (less than six days before the expiry of the deadline in the open procedure), they are required, pursuant to Art. 53 Directive 2014/24/EU, to extend the offer deadline accordingly.
Consequences of missing the deadline
Offers received late must mandatorily be excluded – without exception and without any discretion on the part of the contracting authority.
This applies even where an offer is received only a few minutes after the deadline. Timeliness is a mandatory formal ground for exclusion. Exception: with electronic submission systems, the contracting authority may, in practice, exercise leniency where a technical failure in its own system caused the late submission.
Sub-threshold area
In the national sub-threshold area, shorter minimum periods apply, or no specified minimum periods.
In Germany, the UVgO does not contain strict minimum periods; contracting authorities must, however, set reasonable periods. The VOB/A (§ 10(1)) recommends a processing time of at least ten working days for construction contracts.
In Austria, the BVergG 2018 provides for simplified rules in the sub-threshold area.
Related terms
- Deadline for requests to participate
- Deadline extension
- Setting deadlines
- Offer period
- Formal defects and errors in offers
FAQ
What minimum offer period applies in the open procedure? 35 days as a rule; 30 days for fully electronic submission; 15 days where a prior information notice has been published or in cases of justified urgency.
Can a bidder request an extension of the offer deadline? Yes, indirectly. Where a bidder raises a query that requires a significant change to the procurement documents and the contracting authority makes the response available less than six days before the deadline expires, the deadline must be extended.
What happens if an offer is submitted late for technical reasons? Where the technical failure is on the bidder's side, the offer must be excluded. Where the failure lies in the contracting authority's system, the deadline must be extended.
Last updated: January 2026 All information without warranty. For legally binding advice, please consult a law firm specialising in public procurement law.
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