What is a Consultancy Contract?
A consultancy contract (German: Beratervertrag) in public procurement is a service contract for the provision of consulting services to public authorities. It is treated as a service contract under procurement law.
Legal Basis
- § 103(4) GWB: Consulting services are service contracts
- VgV: Above-threshold procedure
- UVgO: Below-threshold procedure
- EVB-IT: Supplementary contract terms for IT consulting
Typical Consulting Fields
Strategy, IT consulting, legal advice, management consulting, auditing, environmental consulting, and HR consulting.
Contract Forms
Service contract (§ 611 BGB): Owes the activity, not the result. Typical for ongoing consulting. Work contract (§ 631 BGB): Owes a specific result (e.g., study, concept). Typical for defined projects.
Procurement Procedures
Negotiated procedure with participation competition (§ 17 VgV) is common because the service cannot be fully described in advance and qualifications are decisive.
Framework agreements are widespread for consulting services, allowing call-off as needed with multiple consultants in a pool.
Award Criteria
Team qualification (25–35%), methodology/concept (20–30%), references (15–25%), and price/daily rate (20–30%).
Practical Tip
Patterno filters consulting tenders by field and helps you identify them early for high-quality applications.