What is Lot Award?
Lot award (German: Losvergabe) is a fundamental principle of German procurement law requiring public contracts to be divided into partial and trade lots to enable SME access.
Legal Basis
- § 97(4) GWB: SME interests must be primarily considered; services must be divided by quantity (partial lots) and by type (trade lots)
- § 5 VOB/A: Lot formation for construction works
- § 22 UVgO: Lot formation below thresholds
Types of Lot Formation
Partial lots divide by quantity of the same service. Trade lots divide by specialty or trade.
SME Protection
The lot award principle serves SME protection by enabling smaller companies to bid on individual lots, strengthening competition, and avoiding market concentration.
Exceptions
Combination into a single contract is only permissible when economic or technical reasons require it, documented in the procurement report. Mere administrative simplification is insufficient.
Cross-Lot Evaluation
The authority may evaluate across lots if announced in the notice and more economical overall.
Case Law
Courts set high standards for justifying deviations from the lot division requirement. Administrative simplification alone does not suffice (OLG Düsseldorf, Verg 28/17).
Practical Tip
Patterno automatically detects lot division and filters relevant lots for your business profile.