Contract Notice

A procurement notice (Bekanntmachung) is the formal, public publication of a tender procedure by a contracting authority. It informs the market that a contract is being awarded, or that a procurement has just been completed. The notice is the central transparency instrument of German and European public procurement law and a binding component of nearly every tender.

Without a proper notice, a procurement procedure cannot be legally valid. If the notice is missing or incomplete, the procedure may be terminated or successfully challenged in a review procedure.

Main types of procurement notices

German and European procurement law distinguishes four main forms, each assigned to a different phase of the procedure:

• Prior Information Notice (PIN): Optional at the beginning of the fiscal year, announces planned procurements. See prior information.
• Contract Notice: Starts the actual procedure and invites bidders to submit offers or requests to participate. Mandatory for all open and restricted procedures.
• Contract Award Notice (Ex-Post): Publishes the outcome of the procedure after award, including the winning bidder and the final contract value.
• Corrigendum: Corrections to an already published notice, such as deadline extensions or revisions to the specifications.

Where are procurement notices published?

The publication obligation depends on the contract value. Above the EU thresholds, the notice must be published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU, i.e. on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). Below the threshold, publication on bund.de, a state procurement marketplace or a relevant procurement platform is sufficient.

Since 25 October 2023, the eForms-DE format has been mandatory in Germany. eForms replaces the legacy standard forms (F01 to F25) and is more structured, machine-readable and granular. The transition will improve data exchange between platforms, statistics and AI-driven search systems. Patterno captures all eForms and legacy notices from over 180 portals daily and makes them searchable.

Mandatory fields of a procurement notice

Under Section 37 VgV and Annex V of EU Directive 2014/24, contract notices must include, among other things: name and address of the contracting authority, type and scope of the contract, CPV code, procedure type, threshold category, eligibility and award criteria, deadlines, access to the tender documents and a legal remedies notice referencing the competent procurement chamber.

German procurement law splits the publication obligation along the threshold logic.

Above EU thresholds

For contracts above the EU thresholds, the following applies:

• Section 37 VgV governs the contract notice for supply and service contracts. Publication first on the EU Official Journal, then on bund.de and national portals.
• Section 38 VgV governs the ex-post award notice: no later than 30 days after award, the contracting authority must publish the outcome.
• Section 39 VgV covers the voluntary PIN, which can shorten the minimum tender deadline to 15 days.
• Section 12 EU VOB/A is the parallel regulation for works contracts above threshold.
• Section 35 SektVO and Section 19 KonzVgV govern notices for utilities and concession contracts.

The European legal basis is Articles 48 to 52 of EU Directive 2014/24/EU. The obligation for electronic transmission stems from Implementing Regulation 2019/1780, which introduces eForms-DE.

Below EU thresholds (national)

Below the threshold, the rules are:

• Section 28 UVgO for supplies and services: public tenders must be published on at least one online portal that is freely and unrestrictedly accessible to bidders.
• Section 12 VOB/A Part 1 for works contracts below threshold.

The publication obligation derives from the transparency principle of Section 97 (1) GWB. For violations, such as a so-called de-facto award without publication, the contract above threshold may be declared invalid under Section 135 GWB.

eForms-DE since 25 October 2023

The eForms format has been mandatory for all EU-wide notices since 25 October 2023. It replaces the legacy F-forms and contains around 270 data fields, many optional. For contracting authorities this means higher data quality obligations; for bidders, significantly better discoverability and filterability via e-procurement platforms.

A municipal housing company plans an energy-efficient renovation of 80 residential units with an estimated contract value of 7.8 million euros gross. Since the value exceeds the EU threshold for works contracts (5.404 million euros), an EU-wide notice is mandatory.

In November 2025, the procurement office prepares a contract notice in the eForms-DE format. The notice contains, among others:

• CPV code 45261410 (roof insulation work) and 45321000 (thermal insulation work)
• Procedure type: Open Procedure under VOB/A EU
• Division into four specialist lots: scaffolding, insulation, heating, ventilation
• Eligibility criteria: three reference projects of comparable size, minimum turnover per lot
• Award criteria: 60 percent price, 25 percent construction time, 15 percent energy performance
• Tender deadline: 35 days, shortened to 30 days due to electronic submission
• Review body: state procurement chamber with address and legal remedies notice

The notice is first published on TED, then mirrored via the eSenderEU data exchange service on bund.de and the state procurement marketplace. Patterno captures the notice on the same day and qualifies it automatically for all construction companies whose search profile matches.

After the contract is awarded in February 2026, the procurement office publishes the ex-post contract award notice within 30 days. It states the awarded contractor per lot, the final contract value and the number of received bids. This information is valuable to the market: it reveals competition density, price levels and forms the basis for future cost calculations.

The creation and publication of procurement notices regularly suffer from the same flaws, which can lead to bidder questions, formal challenges or even cancellation of the procedure:

• Incomplete mandatory information: Omitting essential content such as CPV code, eligibility criteria or legal remedies information risks a successful challenge and delays in the procedure. The mandatory content list in Annex V of the EU Directive is non-negotiable.
• De-facto award without notice: If an EU-level contract is awarded directly without publication, the contract is invalid under Section 135 GWB. This applies even if the contracting authority mistakenly assumes a direct award is permissible.
• Wrong procedure type in the notice: A notice declared as "open procedure" that actually contains negotiation elements is contradictory and vulnerable to challenge.
• Missing corrigendum: If deadlines, eligibility criteria or specifications change during the procedure, a corrigendum is mandatory. A mere email to already registered bidders is insufficient, since new interested parties must be informed equally.
• Late ex-post notice: The contract award notice must be published no later than 30 days after award. Missing this deadline violates the procurement statistics regulation and impairs EU-wide transparency.
• Unclear access to tender documents: The notice must grant full and free electronic access to the tender documents. Requiring registration just to download the documents is not permitted.

To publish procurement notices in a legally sound and bidder-friendly way, follow these principles:

• Fill eForms-DE consistently: Even optional fields improve discoverability. The more complete a notice, the more likely it will find qualified bidders through automated search systems like Patterno.
• Choose CPV codes precisely: The code determines which bidders are automatically notified. Always use the most specific 8-digit code rather than broad categories, and add secondary CPV codes for overlapping services.
• Plan realistic deadlines: The minimum tender deadline in open procedures is 35 days, reducible to 30 or 25 days. Reasonable deadlines improve bid quality and reduce questions.
• Issue corrigenda early rather than late: For every substantial change, issue a corrigendum immediately and extend the deadline if necessary, instead of waiting for a complaint.
• Use ex-post notices for market transparency: Even though the obligation may feel burdensome, ex-post data is valuable for future market research. Bidders can analyse price levels and competition density.
• Use procurement intelligence software: With an AI-powered platform like Patterno, bidders can search all eForms data by industry instead of manually checking 180+ portals. Contracting authorities benefit from more qualified bidder feedback.