This page is the checklist behind a Swiss bid: each document and formality, in the order a tender brings them up, and who may lawfully deal with each one. For how Swiss procurement works overall, from thresholds and procedures to evaluation, payment and appeals, see How to bid for public tenders in Switzerland.
Before you bid
1. A personal simap.ch login for everyone involved. Federal, cantonal and municipal notices, documents, questions and awards all sit on simap.ch, run by the Verein simap.ch. You can read notices without logging in, but downloading, asking questions and submitting need an account.
- Cost and time: free; active the same day, once you confirm the email.
- Who does it: each person registers their own login. Your advisers use theirs; no one shares an account.
- From abroad: the same.
2. Your company’s tenderer organisation. The first user creates the company profile with its UID number, or a DUNS number, and becomes its Administrator. Anyone else, including an adviser, sends a request to join; the Administrator approves it and assigns a role. Administrators can edit company data and users, while a Mitarbeiter (staff member) can view. One person can belong to several organisations, with a different role in each.
- Cost and time: free; done the same day the Administrator approves.
- Valid: until the Administrator removes the member.
- Who does it: you create the profile, or approve the join requests, and assign roles. Keep one of your own employees as Administrator.
- From abroad: use your UID if the company is registered in Switzerland, otherwise have a DUNS number ready.
3. Your company identity. The UID, the Swiss business identification number, appears on the self-declaration. Buyers may also ask for a commercial-register extract showing your authorised signatories. Both are public data (the UID register of the Federal Statistical Office, and the cantonal commercial registers indexed on Zefix) and can be retrieved for you; certified extracts are ordered from the cantonal register. There is no licence or prequalification to bid at federal level.
With your bid
4. The BKB self-declaration. The Federal Procurement Conference (BKB) form is standard in federal tenders and recommended to every buyer. In the 2026 version your authorised representatives confirm, for your company and your subcontractors:
- the labour-protection rules and working conditions at the place of performance, and your notification duties under the Act on Combating Illegal Employment;
- equal pay for women and men;
- environmental law and anti-corruption rules;
- that no exclusion ground applies and you are not under a multilateral development bank’s sanctions;
- that your taxes and social contributions are paid;
- for work abroad, the ILO core conventions, now including 155 and 187 on occupational safety and health.
It is free, prepared the same day and valid for that procedure. Cleaning contracts use a special version. The form can be filled in for you; your authorised representatives sign it, by hand or as the notice specifies, and false statements risk sanctions.
5. Equal-pay evidence (federal tenders, 100+ employees). If your company has 100 or more employees, not counting apprentices, a federal tender asks how equal pay was checked: a Logib analysis, a government check, or an independent analysis report. Buyers can also check smaller firms.
- Cost: the Logib tool from the Federal Office for Gender Equality is free and runs locally, so no payroll data is sent to the authorities.
- Valid: for the reference month stated on the declaration.
- Who does it: your payroll provider or fiduciary runs Logib with your data; you provide the data and sign the declaration.
- From abroad: it applies to goods and services provided in Switzerland.
6. Working conditions where the work is done. For work performed in Switzerland, you and your subcontractors follow the collective or standard employment contracts (GAV, NAV) or customary terms of the place of performance (BöB Art. 12 and Annex 6). There’s no separate certificate: you declare it in the self-declaration, and cantonal labour-market inspectorates check compliance, which stays your duty as employer. For goods or services produced abroad, the ILO core conventions and listed environmental conventions apply instead, and your supply chain must meet them.
7. Language. Federal buyers must accept bids and questions in German, French or Italian; English only where the notice allows it, and cantonal tenders use the canton’s language. A translator prepares the bid or its annexes in the right language; certified translations usually go through notarial certification.
8. Consortium and subcontractors. A Bietergemeinschaft bids jointly, and simap.ch supports consortium profiles; the self-declaration covers your subcontractors. A lawyer drafts the consortium agreement and each member’s authorised signatories sign it. For a foreign firm, teaming up with a Swiss partner is a common way in.
9. Submit. The notice decides the form: online on simap.ch where the buyer has enabled it, otherwise on paper, sometimes with quality and price in separate envelopes. The offer is priced in Swiss francs and submission is free. On paper, what counts is arrival before the deadline, not dispatch.
- Who does it: your adviser prepares the offer and, for online submission, uploads it from their own login inside your organisation. Any signature the notice requires comes from your authorised signatories, as shown in the commercial register or under a Vollmacht.
If the buyer asks for evidence
The self-declaration does most of the work. Buyers may ask for supporting documents, typically from the bidder they have selected, and they set how recent each one must be.
| Document | Issued by | Who can get it for you | Valid for | What only you do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social-contribution confirmations (AHV, BVG, UVG) | Your AHV compensation fund (Ausgleichskasse), pension fund and accident insurer | A fiduciary (Treuhänder), with your authorisation | As recent as the buyer requires | Authorise the request; keep payments current |
| Tax confirmation | Your cantonal tax administration | A fiduciary, with your authorisation | As recent as the buyer requires | Authorise the request |
| Debt-collection register extract (Betreibungsregisterauszug) | The debt-enforcement office (Betreibungsamt) at your seat, online through EasyGov in many places | A fiduciary, under a Vollmacht | As recent as the buyer requires | Sign the Vollmacht |
| Commercial-register extract | The cantonal commercial register | Retrieved for you | — | — |
| Equal-pay evidence | Logib, a government check or an independent analysis | Your fiduciary or payroll provider | The reference month on the declaration | Provide payroll data; sign |
The debt-collection extract shows any enforcement proceedings against the company, and Swiss buyers commonly use it as evidence of financial reliability; it concerns firms with a Swiss seat only.
Before the contract and the first invoice
Posted-worker notification. EU/EFTA workers posted to Switzerland must be notified to the State Secretariat for Migration’s procedure at least 8 days before work starts, and from the first day in construction, cleaning, security, catering and some other sectors. Third-country nationals can be posted this way only if admitted long-term (generally 12 months or more) to an EU/EFTA labour market. You file each notification as the employer and hold A1 forms for the staff; the notification covers one posting.
E-invoicing to the federal administration. For contracts with the central federal administration above CHF 5,000 excluding VAT, invoices must be electronic. It’s set up through your e-invoicing provider or portal, with which you sign the contract.
Who does what
| Step | Who can do it | What only you do |
|---|---|---|
| simap.ch login | Each person registers their own | Register your own login |
| Tenderer organisation | Your adviser joins under their own login | Create the profile; approve join requests; assign roles |
| UID and commercial-register extract | Retrieved from public registers | — |
| BKB self-declaration | Prepared for you | Your authorised representatives sign |
| Equal-pay evidence | A fiduciary or payroll provider runs Logib | Provide data; sign the declaration |
| Working conditions, ILO conventions | — | Comply as employer; evidence on request |
| Translations | A translator | — |
| Consortium agreement | A lawyer drafts | Each member’s signatories sign |
| Offer submission | Your adviser, from their own login in your organisation | Sign the offer and self-declaration |
| Tax, social-contribution and debt-collection evidence | A fiduciary, with your authorisation | Authorise; sign a Vollmacht; keep payments current |
| Posted-worker notification | — | File it as employer; hold A1 forms |
| Federal e-invoicing | Set up through your provider | Contract with the provider |
The professionals involved
| Professional | Licensed or regulated by | What they do for a bidder |
|---|---|---|
| Rechtsanwalt / avocat, entered in a cantonal lawyers’ register | Cantonal supervisory authorities for lawyers (BGFA); cantonal bar associations and the Swiss Bar Association (SAV/FSA) | Advise on participation conditions, exclusion grounds (BöB Art. 44 and 45) and award decisions; file appeals within 20 days to the Federal Administrative Court or the cantonal courts; draft Vollmachten and consortium agreements |
| Treuhänder (fiduciary) or licensed auditor | Fiduciary services largely unregulated; auditors licensed by the Federal Audit Oversight Authority (RAB/ASR) | Obtain AHV, BVG and UVG confirmations and tax-payment confirmations; order the debt-collection register extract; run the Logib equal-pay test with your payroll data |
| Translator | Not regulated; certification usually through a notary | Translate the offer and annexes into German, French or Italian |
| Procurement consultant (Beschaffungs-/Ausschreibungsberater) | Not regulated | Join your simap.ch organisation under their own login; download documents and use the Q&A forum; prepare the offer and the self-declaration for your signature |
If your company is from abroad
You don’t need a Swiss company to bid; who may bid from abroad, and at which level of government, is explained in How to bid for public tenders in Switzerland. For the paperwork:
On simap.ch you register the company with a DUNS number instead of a UID, and a home-register extract takes the place of the Swiss commercial-register extract. You sign the same self-declaration, which exists in English, through the lowest independent legal entity that performs the contract. Tax and social-contribution confirmations come from your home authorities, with A1 forms for posted staff, and in place of a Betreibungsregisterauszug you give home-country insolvency or debt evidence. Work done in Switzerland follows Swiss place-of-performance terms, the offer needs to be in German, French or Italian, and posted staff must be notified before work starts.
Pitfalls
- Check the SECO market-access lists before a foreign firm bids. Outside the treaty area, admission is the buyer’s choice, and you may lose the right to appeal.
- Never work in someone else’s simap login. Advisers join your organisation under their own; keep your own employee as Administrator.
- Only your authorised representatives sign the self-declaration and the offer.
- Federal tenders: have equal-pay evidence ready if you have 100 or more employees.
- Paper bids must arrive before the deadline; posting them in time is not enough.
- Appeals have a 20-day deadline and don’t suspend the procedure automatically.
Doing it with askTender
In Switzerland, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on simap.ch and works under their own login. You keep your own login and sign what only you can sign: approving who joins your simap profile, the self-declaration, the offer and any Vollmacht. The askTender Desk prepares the self-declaration and the offer, assembles the evidence and tracks your deadlines; askTender Partners, such as a Treuhänder, a Rechtsanwalt or a translator, do the steps their licence covers.
Questions
What do I hand in with a bid in Switzerland?
Your offer, in German, French or Italian (English only where the notice allows it) and priced in Swiss francs, together with the BKB self-declaration signed by your authorised representatives. In federal tenders, a company with 100 or more employees also shows how equal pay was checked. Anything else the notice lists as evidence goes in as well, online on simap.ch where the buyer has enabled it, otherwise on paper.
Who has to sign the self-declaration?
Your company’s authorised representatives, meaning those shown in the commercial register or holding a Vollmacht. For a group, it’s the lowest independent legal entity that performs the contract. The form can be filled in for you, but nobody else can sign it, and false statements can lead to sanctions.
Can an adviser work on simap.ch for my company?
Yes, under their own login. They ask to join your company’s tenderer organisation, and your Administrator approves the request and assigns a role. One person can belong to several organisations. Nobody should ever use your login, and an employee of yours should stay Administrator.
Do I need to prove equal pay?
In federal procurement, yes, if you have 100 or more employees, apprentices not counted. You show a Logib analysis, a government check or an independent analysis report. The Logib tool is free and runs on your own computer, so no payroll data goes to the authorities; a fiduciary can run it with your data.
Which confirmations can a buyer ask for?
Usually only on request: confirmations from your AHV compensation fund, pension fund, accident insurer and cantonal tax administration that taxes and contributions are paid, a commercial-register extract showing who signs, and, from Swiss-seated firms, an extract from the debt-collection register (Betreibungsregisterauszug). The buyer decides how recent they must be.
What must a foreign firm do before sending staff to Switzerland?
Notify EU/EFTA workers posted to Switzerland through the notification procedure at least 8 days before work starts, or from day one in construction, cleaning, security, catering and some other sectors, and hold A1 forms. Third-country nationals can be posted this way only if admitted long-term to an EU/EFTA labour market.
Sources
- simap.ch: short guide to registration and tenderer roles
- simap.ch: training material for tenderers
- Federal Procurement Conference (BKB): self-declarations
- BKB: self-declaration of tenderers
- BKB: self-declaration form, English version (2026)
- Federal Act on Public Procurement (BöB), Fedlex
- Ordinance on Public Procurement (VöB), Fedlex
- State Secretariat for Migration: notification procedure for short-term work
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.