NACE T – Activities of Households as Employers | Public Tenders

NACE T: Private households with domestic staff and for own use. Relevance in public procurement, delineation from other NACE sections.

Definition: NACE T covers the activity of private households as employers of domestic staff (Division 97) and the production of goods and services by private households for own use (Division 98). This section is of secondary importance in public procurement, since it concerns non-commercial activities of private actors.

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

What does NACE T cover?

NACE T (Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use) is a statistical residual section with no notable significance in public procurement.

Section T is broken down into two divisions:

Division	Title	Content
97	Activities of households as employers of domestic personnel	Employment of household cooks, nannies, gardeners, drivers and similar personnel in private households
98	Undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of private households for own use	Subsistence farming, own production without market relevance

Activities under NACE T are not market-related — private households appear neither as contracting authorities nor as regular bidders in procurement procedures. The statistical record serves primarily national accounting purposes.

Relevance for Public Procurement

NACE T has no independent relevance in public procurement law as a service area – but it does serve indirectly as a delineation criterion.

Nonetheless, points of contact with public procurement arise:

Household-related services in public institutions: Care and support services structurally similar to household services (e.g. in care homes for older people) are recorded under other NACE codes (Q 87/88) and subject to regular tendering obligations.
Voucher and entitlement models: Publicly funded home-help services (e.g. under SGB XI in Germany) are procured through accreditation procedures or framework agreements – this concerns NACE Q, not T.
Statistical delineation: Companies that offer household services commercially (cleaning services, care services, catering services) are not recorded under NACE T but under the relevant service sections (N, Q, I).

Delineation from Relevant NACE Codes

Activity	Correct NACE class	Procurement relevance
Commercial building cleaning	N 81.2	High – regularly tendered
Outpatient care services	Q 88.1	High – framework agreements, accreditation
Catering in public institutions	I 56.2	Medium – canteens, school catering
Childcare	Q 88.9	High – municipal childcare procurement
Garden maintenance of public grounds	N 81.3	Medium – municipal green-space maintenance

Relevant CPV Codes in Adjacent Areas

Since NACE T itself covers no procurement-relevant activities, the following CPV codes are relevant for functionally similar but commercially provided services.

CPV Code	Title	Scope
85312000	Social work services without accommodation	Home care services, support
90910000	Cleaning services	Household-related cleaning in public buildings
85311000	Social work services with accommodation	Full inpatient care, residential care for people with disabilities
55520000	Catering services	Catering in schools, authorities

Current tenders with these CPV codes can be found on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on national procurement platforms.

For Contracting Authorities and Bidders

Public Contracting Authorities

In the context of services close to NACE T, public contracting authorities act primarily as buyers of household-related and social services in public institutions. Procurement, however, always uses the relevant NACE codes from Section N (building services) or Q (social work). Direct procurement under NACE T is systematically excluded.

Companies and Bidders

Commercial providers of household-related services – such as care services, cleaning companies or catering operators – are correctly recorded in the NACE system under the relevant service sections. For participation in public tenders, the company's own NACE classification in the statistical register is not decisive; what matters is the tendered service requirement and the eligibility evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions on NACE T

Why are there hardly any public tenders under NACE T?
NACE T records exclusively non-market activities of private households. Since contracting authorities are not private households and do not procure domestic staff, no overlap with procurement law arises.

Which NACE code applies to commercial household-service providers?
Commercial undertakings providing household-related services are recorded statistically in the relevant sections: cleaning under N (81.2), care under Q (88.1), childcare under Q (88.9), catering under I (56.2).

Does NACE T affect social-security obligations for domestic staff?
This is a question of social-security law, not procurement law. In Germany, marginal-employment rules apply to domestic staff; Austria has its own household-employment regulations. Public procurement law is not affected.

Are there funding programmes for household-related services that are tendered?
Yes – regions and municipalities regularly tender framework agreements for household-related support services under long-term care insurance or family support. These, however, fall under NACE Q or N, not under NACE T.

NACE S – Other Service Activities: Previous section with repair and personal services
NACE U – Extraterritorial Organisations: International section with UN, NATO, EU institutions
NACE Q – Human Health and Social Work: Care, support and social services
NACE N – Administrative and Support Service Activities: Building cleaning, green-space maintenance

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