Tender Documentation in Public Procurement 2026

Definition: Tender documentation covers the full written record of all material decisions and procedural steps of a procurement procedure in the procurement report, together with the retention of all relevant procedural documents.

Last updated: January 2026 · Legal basis: Art. 84 Directive 2014/24/EU, § 8 VgV, § 20 UVgO, § 22 BVergG 2018

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What is tender documentation?

Complete documentation is one of the central obligations of contracting authorities in a procurement procedure and serves transparency, traceability and reviewability of all procurement decisions. The principle of documentation is directly linked to the procurement-law principle of transparency: what is not documented is, in case of doubt, deemed not to have happened. This principle has far-reaching consequences for review proceedings and damages claims.

The procurement report

The procurement report (Vergabevermerk) is the centrepiece of tender documentation and records, in chronological order, all material decisions and the reasons underlying them. Under Art. 84 of Directive 2014/24/EU, the procurement report must contain at least:

• The name and address of the contracting authority and the subject matter of the contract
• The names of candidates and tenderers and the reasons for their non-selection
• Exclusion grounds for excluded tenderers
• Reasons for the exclusion of abnormally low tenders
• The name of the successful tenderer and the reasons for award
• For negotiated procedures: the course and content of negotiations
• For competitive dialogue: the course and content of the dialogue

Continuous documentation

Documentation must take place alongside the procedure and in good time — retrospectively producing the procurement report after closure of the procedure is impermissible. Each decision must be documented immediately upon being taken in order to ensure the authenticity of the records. In review proceedings, the procurement file is submitted to the court or review body; documents produced after the event are critically scrutinised.

Contents of the procurement file

The complete procurement file goes far beyond the procurement report. It contains:

• All notices
• The procurement documents in their final version, including addenda
• All tenders and requests to participate received
• Tenderer communications (questions and answers)
• Documentation of the suitability assessment
• The evaluation matrix and the evaluation result
• Tenderer information and the award letter
• Contract documents

Retention periods

Procurement files must be retained for a statutorily defined period. Under § 8(4) VgV, procurement documents must be retained for at least three years from the award. For EU co-financed projects longer periods apply (up to ten years).

Electronic documentation

In e-procurement procedures, documentation is largely automated through the procurement platform. Timestamps, activity logs and encrypted storage of tenders document the course of the procedure at system level. Contracting authorities must ensure that this data remains accessible and exportable.

FAQ

What happens if the tender documentation has gaps? Gaps in the procurement report can cause decisions to be regarded as insufficiently reasoned in review proceedings. In extreme cases this can lead to the annulment of the award decision.

Does a cancelled procurement procedure also have to be fully documented? Yes. The reasons for cancellation must be documented and made public.

Do tenderers have a right to inspect the procurement file? Within review proceedings, the review body may grant access to the file. Outside such proceedings there is no general right of inspection; however, information rights under national freedom of information legislation may apply.

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