Submission in Procurement Law

The submission is the public appointment for opening submitted tenders in the procurement procedure under equal treatment of all bidders.

Definition: The submission is the formal appointment for opening the tenders received by the expiry of the tender deadline, which is conducted in compliance with strict equal-treatment and transparency requirements and must be documented in an opening record.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal status: § 117 BVergG 2018, § 14 VOB/A

What is the submission?

The submission is the central procedural step in which the tenders submitted on time are opened by the contracting authority – it marks the transition from the tendering phase to the examination and evaluation phase. The term "submission" is established in procurement law and denotes both the act of tender opening and the appointment scheduled for it. In Austria, § 117 BVergG 2018 refers to "tender opening", in Germany § 14 VOB/A governs the opening of tenders for works contracts.

The submission usually takes place immediately after the expiry of the tender deadline. Tenders received after expiry of the tender deadline may not be opened and must be excluded.

Significance and function

The submission safeguards the equal treatment of all bidders: the joint, recorded opening of all tenders prevents individual bidders from being favoured or disadvantaged.

Participation of bidders

In Austria, bidders have the right to be present at the submission (§ 117 para. 2 BVergG 2018). In Germany, pursuant to § 14 VOB/A, the presence of bidders at the opening is in principle permitted in the case of public tenders. In the case of electronic tender submission, physical attendance may be dispensed with; the opening then takes place digitally.

Opening record

At the submission, an opening record (submission record) is drawn up, which sets out all essential information on the opened tenders. The record typically contains:

Names and addresses of the bidders
Total tender prices
Any reservations or deviations
Number of submitted documents

The opening record serves the transparency and traceability of the procurement procedure. Bidders who were present at the submission must generally be granted access to the record – at least as regards the tender totals.

Principle of equal treatment

The principle of equal treatment must be strictly observed at the submission: all tenders must be opened at the same time and under the same conditions. It is not permissible to open individual tenders in advance, to pass on information from tenders before the submission or to provide different information to bidders. Violations of the principle of equal treatment can render the entire procurement procedure unlawful.

Electronic submission

In the case of electronic tender submission (e-procurement), the tenders are stored encrypted until the submission date and are only decrypted and opened at that point. The technical requirements for procurement platforms ensure that, even in the case of electronic submission, the integrity and confidentiality of the tenders is guaranteed until the submission.

Legal basis

The submission is regulated at national level.

Austria: § 117 BVergG 2018 (tender opening, opening record, bidders' right of attendance)
Germany: § 14 VOB/A (opening of tenders for works); § 55 VgV (opening of tenders for supplies and services in the EU above-threshold area)
EU: Art. 22, 53 Directive 2014/24/EU (electronic communication, opening of tenders)

Related terms

FAQ

What happens if, at the submission, a tender is missing even though a bidder has confirmed its submission? If a tender has not been received by the contracting authority by the submission date, it must be excluded – even if the bidder has confirmed its submission. The risk of timely transmission lies with the bidder. With electronic procurement platforms, bidders should carefully retain the confirmation of receipt.

May tender totals be read aloud publicly at the submission? At public submissions (e.g. under VOB/A for works contracts), the total tender prices are read out and recorded in the opening record. Details of the tenders (unit prices, technical documents), on the other hand, are not made public. The scope of information set out in the record depends on the respective national rules.

Can the submission be challenged subsequently? Formal defects at the submission – such as unequal treatment through advance information to individual bidders – can be the subject of a notice of objection and asserted by way of review. However, the affected bidder must raise the violation without delay after becoming aware of it. If they fail to do so, they generally lose the right of review.

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