Time Stamp in Procurement Law
The time stamp is the electronic confirmation of date and time and serves in procurement law as proof of timely offer submission.
Definition: A time stamp in the procurement-law sense is an electronically generated, tamper-proof confirmation of the date and time of a digital file or action, which serves in particular as proof of the timely submission of an offer; the qualified electronic time stamp under Art. 41 of the eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 enjoys legal effect in all EU Member States.
Last updated: January 2026 · Legal status: eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014, BVergG 2018, VgV, Signature Act
What is a time stamp?
A time stamp is a cryptographically secured, electronic certification that immutably attaches a defined point in time – date and time – to a document or transaction. In the electronic procurement procedure, the time stamp is of central importance: it documents the precise moment at which an offer was received on the procurement platform and thereby enables a clearly traceable check of whether the offer deadline was observed.
A distinction is to be made between simple time stamps, which merely record the date and time, and qualified electronic time stamps under Art. 41 of the eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014. The latter are issued by a qualified trust service provider, are tamper-proof and have legal effect in all EU Member States. For security-critical actions in the procurement procedure – in particular the sealed storage of offers until the opening of bids – certified procurement platforms use qualified time stamps.
Significance in the procurement procedure
The time stamp is the technical instrument that fully documents compliance with procurement-law deadlines and secures the integrity of the electronic procurement procedure. In Austria, the BVergG 2018 prescribes that electronically submitted offers must be stored in a sealed manner and made accessible only at the time of the opening of bids; the time stamp documents both the receipt and the time of opening. In Germany, the procurement platforms certified under the VgV provide qualified time stamps, which serve as evidence in case of dispute.
For bidders, the time stamp is particularly relevant when submitting offers shortly before the deadline expires: an offer is deemed to have been submitted on time if it has been received on the server of the procurement platform before the expiry of the offer period documented by the time stamp – irrespective of any transmission delays on the bidder's side. A late submission leads to the mandatory exclusion from the procurement procedure.
Related terms
Last updated: January 2026 All information without guarantee. For legally binding advice, please contact a law firm specialising in procurement law.
Book a demo.
See what BOND finds for your company — tenders, suppliers, and partners you'd never discover on your own. Cancel any month, anytime.