Procurement Documents in Procurement Law

Procurement documents are all documents that the contracting authority provides for the procurement procedure, including the specifications, suitability requirements and contract terms.

Definition: Procurement documents are the entirety of all documents that the contracting authority makes available to bidders for participation in a procurement procedure, including the contract notice, the specifications, the suitability and award criteria, the contract terms, as well as all further information and forms required for the preparation of the tender.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal status: Art. 53 Directive 2014/24/EU; AT: §§ 83 et seq. BVergG 2018; DE: § 29 VgV

What are procurement documents?

Procurement documents form the informational basis for every bidder: on their basis, companies decide whether to participate in the procedure and prepare their tender. The term covers all documents that the contracting authority makes available in the context of a procurement procedure – from the contract notice, through the technical specifications, to model contracts and forms.

European procurement law obliges contracting authorities to formulate the procurement documents completely, clearly and free of contradictions, so that all interested companies understand the requirements in the same way and can submit comparable tenders.

Significance and function

The quality of the procurement documents largely determines the success of a procurement procedure: unclear, contradictory or incomplete documents lead to bidder queries, notices of objection, defects in tenders and, in the worst case, to cancellation of the procedure.

Components of the procurement documents

Procurement documents typically comprise the following elements:

1. Contract notice The contract notice (published on TED in the above-threshold area) is the first and public part of the procurement documents. It contains the essential key data of the procedure.

2. Specifications (bill of requirements) The specifications define the subject matter of the contract – i.e. what is being procured. They may take the form of a construction description, requirements specification, bill of quantities (BoQ) or functional specifications. Technical specifications must not be formulated in a discriminatory manner (Art. 42 Directive 2014/24/EU).

3. Suitability criteria and evidence The requirements for the technical, economic and financial capacity of the bidders, as well as the required evidence of suitability (e.g. references, certificates, evidence of turnover), are defined in the procurement documents.

4. Award criteria and evaluation matrix The criteria used for evaluating the tenders and how they are weighted must be clearly apparent from the procurement documents. Subsequent changes to the criteria or to their weighting are not permitted.

5. Contract terms Model contracts, general terms and conditions (e.g. ÖNORM B 2110, VOB/B) and special contract terms set out the legal conditions under which the service is to be performed.

6. Forms and declarations Tender forms, self-declaration forms, the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), as well as forms for subcontracting relationships and bidding consortia.

Free access

Art. 53 of Directive 2014/24/EU stipulates that, in the above-threshold area, contracting authorities must make the procurement documents available free of charge, without restriction, fully and directly on the internet. A restriction on access or the charging of a fee is in principle not permitted.

Austria: § 83 BVergG 2018 (electronic provision of the procurement documents)
Germany: § 41 VgV (free provision)

Correction of procurement documents

If, after publication of the procurement documents, contracting authorities discover errors or ambiguities, they can and must correct these through a corrigendum. The corrigendum must be made known to all bidders, and the tender deadlines must be extended, if appropriate, in order to give bidders sufficient time to adapt their tenders.

Bidders may also draw attention to defects in the procurement documents through questions and notices of objection. Contracting authorities are obliged to make clarifying answers available to all bidders (principle of transparency).

Legal basis

Procurement documents are comprehensively regulated at EU level and in national law.

EU: Art. 53 Directive 2014/24/EU (provision of the procurement documents); Art. 42 (technical specifications); Art. 44 (evidence of suitability)
Austria: §§ 83 et seq. BVergG 2018 (content and provision); §§ 97 et seq. (specifications); ÖNORM A 2050
Germany: § 29 VgV (provision); § 31 VgV (specifications); § 122 GWB (suitability)

Related terms

FAQ

May a contracting authority specify particular brands or products in the specifications? As a rule, no. Art. 42 Directive 2014/24/EU prohibits references to specific makes, origins or processes that would distort competition. By way of exception, a reference to a brand is permitted with the addition "or equivalent" if the subject matter of the contract cannot be described with sufficient precision.

What happens if the procurement documents are contradictory? Contradictions in the procurement documents may lead to different interpretations and thus to non-comparable tenders. Bidders should raise such contradictions in good time before the tender deadline through a bidder query or notice of objection. Contracting authorities are obliged to clarify contradictions and to make the clarification available to all bidders.

Must procurement documents also be made available electronically in the below-threshold area? In the below-threshold area, this depends on national law. In Austria and Germany, there is also a trend towards electronic provision below the EU thresholds; however, a complete obligation to provide them online free of charge, as in the above-threshold area, is not mandated in all cases.

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