NACE 16.1 – Sawmilling and Planing of Wood | Public Tenders

Definition: NACE 16.1 covers the processing of roundwood in sawmills and planing mills into sawnwood, profiled wood, construction timber, planed goods and wood chips. This group forms the primary stage of the wood-processing industry and is significant as a supplier to public construction projects and timber-construction measures.

Legal basis: NACE Rev. 2 (Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006) · Last updated: January 2026

What does NACE 16.1 cover?

NACE 16.1 (Sawmilling and planing of wood) classifies businesses that process logs into usable sawnwood and profiles — a key supplier role for public building construction and the timber-construction sector.

Group 16.1 within Section C (Manufacturing) and Division 16 (Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials) contains one class:

Sawmills and planing mills supply the public sector primarily as sub-suppliers under building, civil-engineering and timber-construction tenders. Direct procurement of sawnwood by public contracting authorities is comparatively rare but occurs with municipal works yards and forestry administrations.

Public tenders: scope of NACE 16.1

Sawnwood and construction timber from sawmills flow into public construction projects via carpenters, timber-construction businesses and builders' merchants — direct public procurement is for works yards, forestry administrations and municipal estate.

Typical contract types

• Construction timber for public building projects: Roof-truss timber, solid structural timber (KVH) and glulam beams for schools, nurseries, administrative buildings and sports facilities in timber construction
• Noise barriers and bridge timber: Wood for noise barriers along public roads; wooden bridges for cycle and footpaths
• Wooden pegs and fence posts: Procurement by road-construction administrations, forestry administrations and municipalities for boundary markings
• Wood chippings for biomass heating plants: Municipal heating plants and public buildings with chip-fired heating procure firewood directly from sawmills
• Direct procurement for municipal works yards: Construction timber for maintenance work, in-house works and minor repairs to public property
• Forestry processing products: Forestry administrations market timber from public forests — tenders for logging and primary processing

Thresholds and procedure types

Direct sawnwood procurement is typically below the EU thresholds and is tendered nationally. On larger timber-construction projects (e.g. modular timber construction for schools), carpentry and timber-construction works are tendered as a trade lot, with sawnwood procured as the bidder's input.

Relevant CPV codes for NACE 16.1

Sawnwood and wood products from sawmills are captured under wood and wood products in the CPV; biomass fuels have their own codes.

Current tenders with these CPV codes are published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on national procurement platforms.

For whom is NACE 16.1 relevant under procurement law?

Public contracting authorities

State and municipal forestry administrations (Bundesforst, state forests of the federal states, municipal forestry operations) are important actors at the interface of NACE 16.1 and public procurement — both as suppliers (timber sales) and as buyers (processing services). Road-construction offices procure timber for noise barriers and bridge construction. Municipal works yards purchase sawnwood for ongoing maintenance work. Municipal heating plants and public estate managers procure wood chips. Building-construction offices are relevant for timber-construction projects for education and administration buildings.

Companies and bidders

Sawmills and planing mills seeking public contracts should consider the following:

• Timber certifications: PEFC and FSC as frequently required evidence of sustainable forest management; increasingly required in public tenders as a suitability or award criterion
• Dimensional accuracy evidence: DIN EN 336 (softwood sawnwood), DIN EN 1995 (Eurocode 5) for structural timber
• Drying and grading classes: Public building tenders often require technically dried sawnwood (KVH, BSH) of defined strength classes
• Supply capacity and quantity stability: For heating chips and works-yard supplies, framework agreements with call-off quantities are common
• Regional anchoring: Short transport distances are positively assessed in sustainability evaluations

NACE 16.1 in context: Section C and Division 16

NACE 16.1 is the first group of wood-products Division 16 and stands at the beginning of the wood-processing value chain — it supplies all downstream wood-processing stages with intermediates.

• NACE C – Manufacturing: Parent section
• NACE 16 – Wood and wood products, cork, straw and plaiting articles: Parent division
• NACE 16.2 – Manufacture of wood, cork and plaiting articles: Downstream processing stage
• NACE 02 – Forestry and logging: Upstream raw-material source

Frequently asked questions about NACE 16.1 and public tenders

Are sawmill products procured directly by public bodies?
Direct sawnwood procurement by public contracting authorities is possible but not the most frequent case. Sawnwood typically flows into public projects via construction firms and carpentry businesses. Direct procurement takes place for municipal works yards, forestry administrations and municipal heating plants.

Which timber certifications are required in public tenders?
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) are the most widespread certification systems in Germany and Austria. The Federal Ministry for the Environment recommends in its GPP criteria that FSC or PEFC be accepted as evidence of sustainable timber procurement.

How does the procurement of wood chippings differ from that of construction timber?
Wood chippings are procured as energy carriers under energy supply or heat supply contracts — often as service contracts (heat contracting) rather than as pure supply contracts. Construction timber is a classic supply contract with technical specifications following building plans.

Are there EU-wide tenders for sawnwood?
Rarely, since the volumes of individual contracting authorities usually fall below the EU thresholds. For larger framework agreements for federal authorities or for forestry administrations operating supra-regionally, EU-wide tenders can arise.

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