Department of Finance and Districts

Procurement procedures and acquisitions - information on implementation

Prerequisites

• Economic efficiency and proportionality are taken into account when awarding the contract.
• All participants in a procurement procedure are treated equally, unless legal requirements permit or require unequal treatment.
• Aspects of quality and innovation are taken into account when awarding contracts.
• Social and environmental aspects are taken into account in accordance with the requirements of the law.
• The interests of small and medium-sized businesses are given priority.
• Services are awarded divided according to quantity (partial lots) and according to type or field of expertise (specialist lots), unless economic or technical reasons speak against it.
• Contracting authorities and companies generally use electronic means for the procurement procedure.
• Companies have the right to ensure that the rules of the procurement procedure are complied with.

Documents required

Please note

Deadlines

The tendering period is the period within which you can submit your tender. For EU-wide calls for tenders, the minimum period is usually 35 days from the publication of the contract notice. This period can be shortened under certain conditions, for example to 15 days if a prior information notice has been published or in urgent cases.




The award period is the period within which the public authority must select the best tender and award the contract. The length of this period may vary and is specified in the tender documents. During this period, tenderers are bound by their tenders.




During the binding period, you are bound to your offer and the public body must decide within this period whether to accept the offer. The binding period is specified in the tender documents and is usually several weeks.




In certain cases, such as when tender documents are amended or complex tenders are required, the deadlines may be extended. Compliance with these deadlines is intended to ensure that tendering procedures are efficient, transparent and fair.




The following applies to all deadlines described: You will find out the specific deadlines in the respective tender.




Procurement tribunals must process applications for review promptly. Although there is no set deadline, the decision should normally be made within five weeks in order not to unnecessarily delay the procedure

Procedure

Public procurement procedures consist of several steps:

1. Needs analysis and planning:

• The public authority determines the need for goods, services or works and plans the procurement procedure.
• A decision is made as to which type of procurement procedure (e.g. open, restricted, negotiated) will be used.

2. Public tender:

• The public authority draws up the procurement documents containing the requirements, specifications and conditions for the award of the contract.
• The tender documents are published to inform potential bidders. This usually happens via official platforms or procurement portals.

3rd offer phase:

• Questions from bidders are clarified in this phase; there is often a deadline for submitting follow-up queries.
• Companies submit their offers on time, taking into account the requirements of the tender.

4. Review of offers:

• The offers received are checked for formal correctness, for example whether all required documents are present.
• This is followed by a content review in which criteria such as price, quality, degree of innovation, social and environmental aspects are evaluated.

5. Award of contract:

• The most economical tender or the tender that best meets the specified criteria will be awarded the contract.
• All bidders will be informed of the decision, and unsuccessful bidders will usually also receive a reason for their decision.

6. Conclusion of contract:

• A contract will be concluded with the successful bidder on the basis of the tender documents and the submitted offer.

7. Order execution and control:

• The order will be carried out in accordance with the contractual agreements.
• The beneficiary monitors the implementation to ensure that the services are provided properly.

8. Conclusion and settlement:

• It is checked whether all contractual obligations have been fulfilled and payment is initiated.

In some cases, review procedures may also arise if a bidder files a request for review in EU-wide procedures.

Processing time

The duration of a tendering procedure from publication to award can vary depending on the type and scope of the procedure and the applicable legal requirements.


The duration of the individual steps in EU-wide procurement procedures is typically as follows:


Offer period: 15 to 35 days


Review of offers: 1 to 4 weeks


Award period: 2 to 4 weeks


Award of contract and conclusion of contract: a few days to a few weeks

Fees

no

Legal remedies

If a public contracting authority does not carry out an EU-wide procurement procedure for a contract although this is required by law, or otherwise violates procurement law, the companies concerned can submit an application for review to the competent procurement board.


Here is an overview of the process and legal remedies:


Obligation to give notice:

• First, as the company concerned, you must immediately notify the public authority of the alleged violation of law. This means that you must inform the public authority of the violation of the obligation to advertise and demand that the allegedly unlawful behavior be corrected.

Request for review:

• If the complaint is not taken into account by the contracting authority or is not dealt with sufficiently, you can submit an application for review to the competent public procurement board.


• The procurement tribunal examines whether the procurement procedure was carried out lawfully and can issue orders to counteract any conduct found to be unlawful.

Legal remedies against decisions of the Public Procurement Chamber:


Both you and the public authority can appeal against the decision of the procurement board to the competent higher regional court.


Interim legal protection:

• During the review procedure, you can apply for interim legal protection to prevent the contract from being awarded before the legality has been clarified.

The application for review is the central legal remedy to ensure that procurement procedures are carried out properly and in accordance with legal requirements.

Legal basis

§§ 97ff Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB)


https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gwb/BJNR252110998.html#BJNR252110998BJNG018200118




Public Procurement Ordinance (VgV)


https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/vgv_2016/index.html




Sub-threshold Public Procurement Ordinance (UVgO)


https://www.verwaltungsgesetze-im-internet.de/bsvwvbund_02022017_IB6261902.htm




German Construction Contract Procedures (VOB/A)


https://www.verwaltungsgesetze-im-internet.de/bsvwvbund_31012019_BWI781063060120180001604634.htm




Hamburg Public Procurement Act (HmbVgG)


https://www.landesrecht-hamburg.de/bsha/document/jlr-VergabeGHA2006 frame




Hamburg Public Procurement Directive (HmbVgRL)


https://www.hamburg.de/resource/blob/930976/7d54fc02b9094c746e67939f331c9efa/hmbvgrl-stand-07-2024-lesefassung-inkl-aller-anlagen-data.pdf