Partial Cancellation of a Tender 2026 – Procurement Law Explained

Definition: The partial cancellation of a tender refers to the partial termination of a procurement procedure in which only certain lots, items or parts of the tendered contract are cancelled, while the procedure continues for the remaining parts.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal status: § 63 VgV, § 17 VOB/A, § 141 BVergG 2018

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What is the partial cancellation of a tender?

Partial cancellation is the limited counterpart to the full cancellation of a procurement procedure and allows the contracting authority to terminate only certain separable parts of a procedure. The condition is always that the cancelled parts are separable from the remaining parts of the procurement procedure without fundamentally changing the overall structure of the contract.

Typical use cases are procedures tendered by lots in which no economic bid has been received for certain lots, where the specifications for certain items have to be revised, or the need for parts of the tendered service has ceased.

Conditions and legal basis

Like full cancellation, partial cancellation requires an objective reason. Under § 63 VgV (Germany) or § 141 BVergG 2018 (Austria), a procurement procedure may be cancelled if:

• no bid was received that meets the tender requirements
• the basis of the procurement procedure has materially changed
• no economic result was achieved
• other serious reasons exist

These reasons apply accordingly to partial cancellation, in respect of the part to be cancelled. The contracting authority must notify bidders of the partial cancellation and its reason without delay.

Legal consequences of partial cancellation

With the partial cancellation, all binding effect ceases for the cancelled part; bidders are released from the bid commitment for this part. The procedure for the remaining parts, on the other hand, continues regularly. Bidders who submitted a bid exclusively for the cancelled part drop out of the procedure entirely.

Bidders' claims for damages relating to the cancelled part are in principle limited to the negative interest (reliance damages), unless the contracting authority is at fault.

FAQ

Can a contracting authority cancel individual lots in a targeted manner and then award them via direct award? No. Partial cancellation does not entitle the contracting authority to award the cancelled part without a renewed procurement procedure if the procurement obligation continues.

Must all bidders be informed of the partial cancellation? Yes, the contracting authority is obliged to inform all participants in the procedure without delay.

Are bidders entitled to reimbursement of their bid costs in the event of an unlawful partial cancellation? In the case of a partial cancellation that is not objectively justified, bidders may assert claims for damages, generally limited to reliance damages (bid preparation costs).

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