How to bid for public tenders in Belgium

Belgium at a glance


Law	Law of 17 June 2016; award rules in the Royal Decree of 18 April 2017; performance rules in the Royal Decree of 14 January 2013; remedies in the Law of 17 June 2013
Platform	The federal e-Procurement platform (publicprocurement.be): free, one integrated system since September 2023
Official publication	The Bulletin des Adjudications / Bulletin der Aanbestedingen, plus TED above EU thresholds
Low-value limit	Below €30,000
Language	Dutch, French or German depending on the buyer; some notices accept English
Signature	One qualified e-signature on the submission report
Security	5% of the contract value; none below €50,000
Payment	One 30-day period for checking and payment
Challenges	15-day standstill; Council of State or ordinary courts

There’s no separate regional procurement code: the federal law applies to federal, regional, community and local buyers alike. Flanders and Wallonia publish practical guidance on applying it. Communication is electronic at every stage.

Thresholds and procedures

Value (excluding VAT)	Procedure
Below €30,000	Low-value contract: an accepted invoice is enough. The buyer consults several firms “if possible”
Below €140,000 (from 1 January 2026)	Negotiated procedure without prior publication possible on value grounds. It was €143,000 in 2024–2025
Supplies and services below the EU threshold; works below €750,000	Direct negotiated procedure with prior publication, at least 22 days to bid; or a competitive procedure with negotiation
Any value	Open or restricted procedure

EU thresholds from 1 January 2026:

Contract	Threshold
Works and concessions	€5,404,000
Supplies and services, federal authorities	€140,000
Supplies and services, other authorities	€216,000
Utilities	€432,000
Social and other specific services	€750,000

Minimum bid periods: 35 days for an open procedure (30 with electronic submission; 15 after a prior information notice or in urgency). A restricted procedure gets 30 days to request to participate, then 30 days for tenders.
Where notices appear:
- above the EU thresholds: TED and the Bulletin;
- below: the Bulletin alone, unless the contract is low-value or negotiated without publication.
Small lots. Within an above-threshold contract, lots below €1 million (works) or €80,000 (supplies, services) can be advertised only in Belgium, up to 20% of the total.
Pending reform. A draft simplification law approved in April 2026 would:
- raise the low-value limit to €75,000;
- allow direct award up to €3,000;
- relax the signature rule;
- exempt non-EEA contractors from e-invoicing;
- make best price-quality the default above EU thresholds.
It isn’t law yet, so the €30,000 limit still applies.

Who can bid

Legal form. A company entitled to perform the work under the law of the EU country where it’s established can’t be rejected because of its legal form. Consortia can’t be forced to take a specific form to bid.
Covered and non-covered countries.
- Covered: EU, EEA and WTO GPA or EU-agreement companies (for covered contracts) get equal treatment.
- Not covered: following the EU Court’s Kolin ruling, buyers may admit or exclude companies from countries without an agreement, and may treat them differently. See how companies from outside the EU can bid for EU tenders.
EU-wide rules also apply:
- Chinese suppliers are excluded from medical-device tenders above €5 million;
- bidders with large foreign subsidies must notify them for contracts of €250 million or more.
Works contractors need Belgian accreditation (agréation / erkenning) in the category and class stated in the notice. Alternatively, rely on a certificate or an entry on an official list of approved contractors in another EU country, with proof of equivalence. Accreditation class amounts are in flux after a December 2025 court ruling, so check the notice.

Language

The rule. The notice states the language or languages in which tenders may be submitted, subject to Belgium’s laws on the use of languages in administration. Where documents exist in several languages, the language of your tender governs.
In practice, that follows the buyer’s language area:

Buyer	Language
Flanders	Dutch
Wallonia	French
German-speaking area	German
Brussels and central federal services	French and/or Dutch

English is accepted in some notices, and technical specifications can sometimes be in English for complex specialised contracts.
Translations: the buyer can ask for translations of annexes and certificates.

The ESPD (European Single Procurement Document) is required only at or above the EU thresholds, and buyers may not ask for it below them.
- Below the thresholds, submitting your tender counts as an implied sworn statement that no exclusion grounds apply.
- Since October 2025, the ESPD is built into the e-Procurement platform.
Evidence the buyer can’t get free from databases must be submitted before the deadline.
Social-security and tax debts.
- The rule: a bidder is excluded if it owes more than €3,000 in social-security contributions or taxes, unless it has a payment plan it strictly respects.
- The check: the buyer uses Telemarc, which covers only Belgian sources, or an equivalent foreign e-service.
- Without an e-service, you provide recent certificates from the competent Belgian or home-country authorities.
- One chance to fix it: if debts exceed the threshold, you get 5 working days, once, to prove you’ve regularised. You can also offset the debt against certain claims you hold on public bodies.

Registering and bidding, step by step

Find the notice on publicprocurement.be (the Bulletin) and, for above-threshold contracts, on TED. Check which languages are accepted.
Create a personal account on the platform, link your company, and complete its “business card” (activities, CPV codes). Check with the platform how foreign representatives without a Belgian eID log in.
Download the documents (free) and ask questions through the platform. If requested information isn’t supplied at least 6 days before the deadline (4 in an accelerated procedure), the buyer must extend it.
Prepare your evidence:
- the ESPD, above EU thresholds;
- foreign tax and social-security certificates;
- for works, accreditation or proof of equivalence.
Upload your tender and annexes before the deadline. Late tenders aren’t accepted.
Sign the submission report (rapport de dépôt / indieningsrapport) with a qualified electronic signature, unless the documents allow another signature. One signature covers the tender, annexes and ESPD. Any change or withdrawal needs a new signed report, or it’s void.
Respond during evaluation:
- to price justifications, normally within 12 days;
- to any tax or social regularisation, within 5 working days.
Award and standstill. You get a reasoned award decision. Above the EU thresholds, the contract can’t be signed for 15 days.
After award:
- lodge any security within 30 days;
- invoice electronically through Peppol and the Mercurius hub, which is mandatory.

Security and payment

Performance security (cautionnement / borgtocht):
- 5% of the contract value, though the buyer can lower or waive it in the documents;
- no security can be required for contracts below €50,000;
- accepted forms are cash, public funds, collective security, or a guarantee from a regulated bank or a surety insurer;
- it’s lodged within 30 days of the contract.
Payment (for notices from 1 January 2025):
- checking and payment must happen within one 30-day processing period;
- it can be longer only if expressly stated, justified and at most 60 days;
- late interest is automatic, at the ECB rate plus 8 points, plus recovery costs;
- if you’re still unpaid 30 days after the period, you can slow or suspend work.
Advances for SMEs. Federal and other public authorities must pay an advance to SME winners: 20% for micro, 10% for small and 5% for medium enterprises, outside certain negotiated procedures.

How bids are evaluated

The standard: contracts go to the most economically advantageous tender. That’s price only, cost (for example life-cycle cost), or best price-quality ratio with qualitative, environmental or social criteria.
Unusual prices. Buyers must verify prices. Abnormally low (or high) prices trigger a request for written justification within 12 days.
The 15% rule. For works and fraud-sensitive services awarded mainly on price with at least four tenders, any tender 15% or more below the average must be examined.
No national or local price preference. Bidders and subcontractors must respect EU, national and international environmental, social and labour law.
Lots. For contracts of €140,000 or more, buyers must consider splitting into lots and explain if they don’t.

Challenging a decision

Standstill: above the EU thresholds, the contract can’t be signed until 15 days after the reasoned award decision is sent.
- Filing a suspension request within that window makes the buyer wait for the ruling.
- Below the thresholds, the standstill is mandatory for works over €2,702,000 (half the EU works threshold), and optional otherwise.
Where to go:
- the Council of State for administrative authorities;
- the ordinary courts for other buyers, such as public undertakings;
- ineffectiveness claims always go to the ordinary courts. Belgium has no specialised procurement review board.
Suspension needs only a serious plea, not proof of urgency. At the Council of State it’s sought only by extreme-urgency procedure; in the ordinary courts, by summary proceedings.
Deadlines:

Remedy	Deadline
Suspension	15 days
Annulment	60 days (only after the reasons are communicated, and longer if the award letter didn’t mention remedies)
Ineffectiveness	30 days from an award or transparency notice, otherwise 6 months
Damages	5 years

Penalties: alternative financial penalties can reach 10% of the contract value. Compensation for vexatious claims is capped at 5%.

What changed in 2025–2026

1 January 2025: a single 30-day period for checking and payment.
30 June 2025: the EU excluded Chinese suppliers from medical-device tenders above €5 million.
31 October 2025: the ESPD was integrated into the e-Procurement platform.
12 December 2025: the Council of State reportedly annulled the 2024 increase in works-accreditation class amounts, so check the notice.
1 January 2026: new EU thresholds, and the negotiated-without-publication ceiling fell to €140,000. Remedies thresholds were aligned to €140,000 / €432,000.
30 April 2026: a draft simplification law was approved by the government (€75,000 low-value limit, €3,000 direct award, signature flexibility). It’s not yet law.

Live Belgian tenders

Questions

Can a company from outside the EU bid for Belgian public tenders?

In practice, often yes. But the legal right to equal treatment belongs to EU and EEA firms and to firms from WTO GPA or EU-agreement countries, for covered contracts. Under the EU Court’s Kolin ruling, Belgian buyers may exclude companies from countries with no agreement, or treat them differently. Chinese medical-device suppliers are barred from tenders above €5 million under the EU’s International Procurement Instrument.

Do I need a Belgian company or VAT number to bid in Belgium?

No. A company entitled to perform the work in its home EU country can’t be rejected because of its legal form, and consortia need no particular legal form to bid. For works, you need Belgian contractor accreditation in the right category and class, or proof of equivalent registration on an official list in another EU country.

Which language do I bid in for Belgian tenders?

In the language or languages the notice allows. Usually that follows the buyer’s language area: Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, German in the German-speaking area, and French and/or Dutch in Brussels and for federal services. Some notices also accept English, and the buyer can ask for translations of annexes and certificates.

What signature do I need to submit a tender in Belgium?

A qualified electronic signature (eIDAS) on the platform’s submission report, unless the documents allow another signature. That one signature covers the tender, its annexes and the ESPD. Any later change or withdrawal needs a new signed report, or it’s void.

How do Belgian buyers check a foreign company’s tax and social security?

Belgian buyers use the Telemarc service, which only covers Belgian sources. For a foreign firm they use an equivalent foreign e-service where one exists, or ask you for recent certificates from your home authorities. Debts above €3,000 lead to exclusion unless you have a payment plan, and you get one chance, within 5 working days, to regularise.

How fast are suppliers paid in Belgium, and how do I challenge an award?

For notices published from 1 January 2025, checking and payment must both happen within one 30-day period (at most 60 days if justified), with late interest at the ECB rate plus 8 points. To challenge an award, file a suspension request within 15 days, at the Council of State by extreme-urgency procedure or in summary proceedings in the ordinary courts, and seek annulment within 60 days.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.