Procedures (modalidades)
| Term |
Meaning |
| Licitação |
A public tender: the competitive procedure for choosing a supplier. |
| Modalidade |
Procedure type. Lei 14.133 has five: pregão, concorrência, concurso, leilão and diálogo competitivo. |
| Pregão (eletrônico) |
A reverse auction, usually electronic. Mandatory for goods and services describable by usual market specifications, and Brazil’s most common procedure. |
| Concorrência |
Used for special services, works and engineering, and contracts judged on more than price. |
| Concurso |
A contest for technical, scientific or artistic work, with a prize or payment. |
| Leilão |
An auction to sell public assets. |
| Diálogo competitivo |
Competitive dialogue, for innovative or complex contracts where the solution isn’t defined in advance. |
| Contratação direta |
Direct contracting without a tender, either by dispensa or inexigibilidade. |
| Dispensa de licitação |
The law allows skipping the tender, for example for small values or emergencies. In 2026: up to R$130,984.20 (works and engineering) and R$65,492.11 (other goods and services). |
| Inexigibilidade |
Competition is impossible, for example a sole supplier or a unique artist. |
| Credenciamento |
Accreditation: every qualified supplier is accepted at set conditions, and work is distributed among them. |
| Sistema de registro de preços (SRP) |
Price registration: a framework-like system for repeated purchases. |
| Ata de registro de preços |
The price-registration record, valid one year and extendable once. Other agencies can join it (“carona”), up to set limits. |
| Licitação internacional |
An international tender, open to foreign bidders, who may quote in foreign currency if the notice allows. |
The tender documents
| Term |
Meaning |
| Edital |
The tender notice and its full documents: the rules of the tender. |
| Termo de referência |
Terms of reference: the specification for goods and services. |
| Projeto básico / executivo |
Basic and detailed designs, for works. |
| Estudo técnico preliminar (ETP) |
The preliminary study that justifies the purchase. |
| Valor estimado |
The buyer’s estimated value. |
| Critério de julgamento |
Award criterion: menor preço (lowest price), maior desconto (highest discount), melhor técnica ou conteúdo artístico, técnica e preço (technique and price), maior lance (highest bid, for sales) or maior retorno econômico (greatest economic return). |
| Impugnação |
A formal challenge to the edital, up to 3 working days before the opening. |
| Pedido de esclarecimento |
A request for clarification of the edital. |
Bidding and qualification
| Term |
Meaning |
| Proposta |
Your bid: price and declarations. |
| Lance |
A bid in the auction phase of a pregão. |
| Modo aberto / aberto-fechado |
Auction modes. Open: 10 minutes plus 2-minute extensions. Open-closed: 15 minutes plus a random close, then a final sealed bid. |
| Pregoeiro / agente de contratação |
The official who runs the session. |
| Habilitação |
Qualification: legal, technical, tax and labour, and economic-financial documents. Usually checked only for the winner. |
| Inexequível |
Unfeasibly low. For works, a bid below 75% of the estimate. |
| SICAF |
The federal supplier register. Foreign companies can register without a Brazilian tax number. |
| PNCP |
Portal Nacional de Contratações Públicas: the mandatory national portal where every tender is published. |
| Compras.gov.br |
The federal government’s bidding platform. |
| CNPJ / CPF |
Brazilian company and individual tax numbers. A foreign supplier needs neither to register in SICAF. |
| Consórcio |
A consortium. Members are jointly liable, and buyers can require 10–30% more financial capacity. |
| Tradução juramentada |
A sworn translation, needed for foreign documents before signing the contract. |
| Apostila |
An apostille, the certificate that authenticates foreign public documents (Brazil joined the Apostille Convention in 2016). |
Preferences and guarantees
| Term |
Meaning |
| ME / EPP |
Microempresa and empresa de pequeno porte: micro and small businesses (revenue up to R$4.8 million). They get exclusive tenders up to R$80,000, quotas of up to 25%, and a tie-break. |
| Empate ficto |
A “fictitious tie”: a small business bid within 10% of the best price (5% in a pregão) may match it. |
| Margem de preferência |
A preference margin of up to 10% for Brazilian manufactured goods and services, and up to 20% for Brazilian innovation. |
| Garantia de proposta |
Bid security, up to 1% of the estimated value. |
| Garantia contratual |
Performance security: up to 5%, 10% for complex contracts, and up to 30% for large-scale works. |
| Seguro-garantia |
A surety bond, one accepted form of guarantee. |
| Grande vulto |
A large-scale contract, above R$261,968,421.04 in 2026. |
After the award
| Term |
Meaning |
| Recurso |
An appeal. Declare your intention in the system window (at least 10 minutes), then file the reasons in 3 working days. |
| Adjudicação / homologação |
Award to the winner, then ratification of the whole procedure by the authority. |
| Contrato / termo de contrato |
The contract. |
| Reajuste / repactuação |
Price adjustment by an index, or renegotiation based on costs (where labour is dominant). |
| Ordem cronológica de pagamentos |
Payments made in strict chronological order. |
| Tribunal de Contas (TCU) |
The Federal Audit Court. Anyone can report irregularities to it. |
Questions
What is a pregão eletrônico?
An electronic reverse auction, the procedure Brazilian law requires for goods and services that can be described by usual market specifications. Bidders submit proposals, then lower their prices in a timed online session; the best bid is judged first and only the winner’s qualification documents are checked.
What is the difference between dispensa and inexigibilidade?
Both are direct contracting without a tender. Dispensa means a tender could be held but the law allows skipping it, for example for small values (in 2026, up to R$130,984.20 for works and R$65,492.11 for other purchases) or emergencies. Inexigibilidade means competition is impossible, for example when only one supplier exists.
What is an ata de registro de preços?
A price-registration record: a commitment from the winning suppliers to supply at registered prices for a year (extendable once), which the buyer, and in some cases other agencies, can call on as needed without a new tender.
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.
