Every step to bid in Chile.

This is the checklist behind a bid in Chile: each registration, declaration and certificate a tender involves, roughly in the order you meet them, with who may lawfully handle each one. For how the system works overall (procedures, thresholds in UTM, evaluation, payment and challenges), see How to bid for public contracts in Chile.

Before you bid

1. A personal Mercado Público login. Every person who acts for your company on Mercado Público signs in with their own ClaveÚnica, and since 16 December 2025 that login also asks for a second-factor code, sent by email or generated in an authenticator app.

• Cost and time: free, the same day.
• Who does it: each person, for themselves. ChileCompra describes the accounts as personales e intransferibles, so nobody should ever sign in as someone else.
• From abroad: the administrator’s guide offers an “Extranjero” login option besides ClaveÚnica.

2. Link your company and become its Administrador. Once a person has a login, they attach the company to it. For a legal person this takes the company’s SII Clave Tributaria, and the first person to link the company becomes its Administrador. If someone else already holds the company, a menu that also uses the Clave Tributaria lets you take administration back.

• Cost and time: free, the same day. Accreditation in the registry is paid separately (step 5).
• Who does it: your representative, entering the Clave Tributaria themselves.
• From abroad: foreign companies register in the “Extranjeros” category, with no Chilean RUT.

3. SII inicio de actividades (Chilean suppliers). A national supplier needs an active start of activities with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos to be accredited, and it is also what lets you issue electronic invoices. It stays valid while your activities remain open.

• Who does it: your accountant, as your Mandatario Digital on SII. You create the mandate (general or specific) with the company’s Clave Tributaria or the representative’s ClaveÚnica, the legal representatives and the entity confirm it, and the accountant accepts it. Once it shows as Autorizado, the accountant works with their own RUT and password.

4. The Registro de Proveedores sworn declaration. Every legal person must sign this declaración jurada, in force since 12 December 2024. It names your partners and their percentages (looking through partners that are themselves companies), your administrators, related companies and beneficial owners: anyone holding 10% or more, or control. Until it is signed, the company cannot offer, quote or manage purchase orders.

• Cost and time: free, the same day.
• Keeping it current: update it every 6 months from registration or renewal, and within 10 business days of any change in ownership or administration.
• Who does it: a lawyer or accountant prepares the ownership chart; your legal representative signs online, under Administración on Mercado Público, with their own ClaveÚnica. The RUT of the signer must match that of the legal representative on record.

5. Accreditation in the Registro de Proveedores (“hábil” status). Accreditation is a paid service: the registry checks your company against 12+ official sources and shows it as hábil (eligible). You must be hábil to bid in licitaciones and to be contracted.

These are ChileCompra’s published 2025 tariffs; the 2026 amount is shown at payment.

• Validity: 6 months or 1 year; renew within the 60 calendar days before it expires.
• Who does it: you pay online from the supplier desk under Acreditación y habilidad, through banks and payment companies. Paying doesn’t guarantee hábil status; the record then reads HÁBIL, INHÁBIL or EN REVISIÓN.
• From abroad: the “empresa extranjera” tariff is paid on ChileCompra’s Compraquí site, habilidad shows as “SIN INFORMACIÓN”, and you declare your annual sales when you register or renew.

6. Stay hábil. The registry keeps checking official sources for grounds of inhabilidad. Examples: tax debts over 500 UTM for more than a year (or 200–500 UTM for more than two years) without a payment agreement; pension or health debts over 12 months; anti-union or bribery convictions; debarment by a multilateral development bank; liquidation. The record shows the reason and how to resolve it.

• Who does it: your accountant watches the habilidad tab and fixes the cause at the institution concerned, such as a tax payment agreement or overdue contributions paid. You sign any payment agreement or settlement with the creditor.
• The MDB statement: every registrant declares it is not on the World Bank, IDB, AIIB, EBRD or AfDB debarment lists; being listed is itself a ground of inhabilidad. Your representative signs it; it is free and done the same day.
• From abroad: the Chilean-source checks generally don’t apply, but MDB debarment is a hard blocker.

7. Your supplier record (ficha). The public record holds your general data, technical background, certifications, legal and financial documents (deeds, good-standing and powers certificates) and a contract-performance rating. It is free, and worth keeping complete: a buyer cannot ask a winner for documents already in the registry. Keep the single notification email current too (article 140). Anyone working as a user on your account can upload documents; you supply the originals. ISO or other management-system certificates go here when bases score them, issued after an audit by an accredited certification body.

8. Size category, and the Sello Empresa Mujer. There is no certificate to request: ChileCompra sets your category (Ley 20.416) from SII sales data in UF, micro up to 2,400, small up to 25,000 and medium up to 100,000. It decides your registry fee, Compra Ágil eligibility and whether you can join a UTP. A company in a group whose parent isn’t an SME isn’t an SME either. The Sello Empresa Mujer is free, optional and also automatic: it appears when over 50% of the ownership is female, the general manager is a woman, or over 50% of the legal representatives are women, as declared in step 4.

9. Works registers, for public works buyers. Ley 19.886 covers goods and services; works buyers keep their own contractor registers.

• MOP Registro de Contratistas de Obras Menores (DS MOP 75/2004): needed for MOP works budgeted at up to 6,000 UTM net of VAT. Category A Superior (900 UTM of economic capacity) covers works of 4,001–6,000 UTM, category A (450) works of 1,501–4,000, and category B (150) works up to 1,500. The file is uploaded via mercadopublico.cl and includes a cover letter and forms your legal representative signs, a commercial-bulletin certificate no older than 10 days, Registro Civil fines especiales records no older than 30 days for the company, its partners, directors and team, form F3 with experience certificates signed by the owners of the works, and legal and accounting files. Copies must be notarised conforme a original. Registration lasts until the last day of the month one year after approval; update it in the month before.
• MOP Registro de Obras Mayores and Registro de Consultores: for larger MOP works and MOP consultancy, by specialty and category. An accountant and an engineer prepare the file and your legal representative signs it. A free certificate of current registration and economic capacity is downloaded from certificadosproveedores.mop.gob.cl.
• MINVU Registro Nacional de Contratistas (RENAC): for works and prefabricated elements contracted by MINVU, SERVIU and Parque Metropolitano, filed online (“Proveedores técnicos”) or at the regional Seremi. The file holds a balance sheet signed by an accountant, the tax return, a bank certificate, criminal-record and commercial reports, deeds and Registro de Comercio entries, a professional title and a sworn statement, all no older than 60 days. Allow about 20 business days after a complete file, plus 10 business days for national ratification. Registration lasts 6 years; economic data is updated every 16 months and the commercial report every 60 days.
• Commercial-bulletin certificate: from the Boletín de Informaciones Comerciales, showing no protested documents, issued the same day for the company RUT with a verification code or the issuer’s signature.

With your bid

10. The declaración jurada para ofertar. Every offer or quote carries an online sworn declaration that the supplier is not affected by inhabilidades: recent economic or labour convictions, family ties to officials in the process, or prohibited companies. It is free and accepted per offer. A false declaration may be perjury and can make the supplier inhábil.

• Who does it: the declaration is accepted on the platform by whoever submits the offer. If someone else submits for you, confirm the facts to them in writing first.
• In a UTP: the UTP’s apoderado signs for all members.

11. The offer itself. The offer form and every document the bases request are attached on Mercado Público before the electronic deadline: usually administrative, technical and economic annexes. The bases are free. Offers must be serious, unconditional and unique (unless the bases allow alternatives) and remain valid for 60 calendar days unless the bases say otherwise. Questions go through the tender’s forum only. A user on your account can build and submit it; you approve the final price.

12. A bid guarantee, if the bases require one. It can be demanded only exceptionally, in tenders over 5,000 UTM, for at most 3% of the tender amount, and it secures your offer until contract signature.

• The instruments: a boleta de garantía bancaria or vale vista from a bank, a póliza de garantía from an insurer, or a certificado de fianza from a sociedad de garantía recíproca (SGR), on paper or electronic under Ley 19.799. The bases cannot restrict which type you use.
• Get the details right: the exact wording (glosa), the currency or UF, and the validity the bases set.
• Who does it: you apply to your bank, insurer or SGR, and the instrument is issued in your company’s name. A broker can arrange it but cannot be the applicant.

13. A UTP agreement, for joint bids. A Unión Temporal de Proveedores lets smaller companies bid together without forming a company. Since 12 December 2024 every member must be an empresa de menor tamaño, except in innovation contracts and competitive dialogue; members are jointly and severally liable, appoint a common representative or apoderado, and must each be hábil.

• Who does it: a lawyer drafts it, the legal representatives of all members sign, and a notary executes it as a public deed (escritura pública); a private instrument is enough under 1,000 UTM. The UTP’s representative attaches it to the offer.
• Validity: at least the contract term, renewals included.

If you’re in line for award

The registry already covers what your record holds, so expect requests only for what isn’t there, and you must still be hábil when the contract is signed.

For the F30-1, contributions must have been paid electronically through PreviRed, Caja Los Andes or Caja La Araucana.

Before the contract and the first invoice

The performance guarantee (garantía de fiel y oportuno cumplimiento). Mandatory for contracts over 1,000 UTM, at 5% of the final net price, and possibly higher for reckless bids or risky contracts. For services it also secures your workers’ wages and social security, and it stays valid until 60 business days after the contract ends. Where performance comes in stages, it may be tied to them and substituted. The same instrument rules as the bid guarantee apply; you apply for and sign it.

Signing. Purchases under 100 UTM, and standard purchases of 100–1,000 UTM if the bases allow, are formalised by accepting the purchase order, which an authorised user can do (the Administrador role includes it). Otherwise your legal representative signs a contract within the deadline in the bases, or 30 calendar days from award, by hand or with their own firma electrónica avanzada (FEA). An FEA comes from an accredited certification provider (PSC), needs a Chilean cédula de identidad, costs what each provider charges and lasts 1–3 years, as contracted. It is personal to the signer.

Invoicing. Your accountant issues SII electronic invoices as your Mandatario Digital, after delivery and receipt are recorded in Mercado Público. A user with the Ver Facturas and Solicitud de Pago roles can follow payment and file claims there. For service contracts, the F30-1 then supports each payment statement and the release of your guarantee.

Who does what

The professionals involved

If your company is from abroad

You don’t need a Chilean company, or even a RUT, to register and bid, though a foreign winner usually needs a RUT to invoice and be paid in Chile; who may bid and on what terms is explained in How to bid for public contracts in Chile. The paperwork that differs:

• Registry file: simple copies of proof of identity, nationality and domicile; your incorporation document; a good-standing certificate; a certificate of powers in force; the MDB debarment statement (listed as document 5 of the foreign file); and the partners and beneficial-owners declaration (article 146 no. 6). Spanish translations of anything in another language.
• At contracting: apostilled or legalised versions of those documents, which the buyer must ask for. For MOP registers, documents issued abroad need consular or MINREL visation and translation by MINREL.
• Labour certificates: with no employees in Chile you normally have no F30, so ask the buyer which substitute it accepts. The F30-1 applies once you employ workers in Chile.
• Accounts: home-country audited statements, translated into Spanish, apostilled if the buyer asks.
• Guarantees: the instrument must be payable in Chile at sight, so a Chilean bank or insurer is the practical route.
• UTP: a foreign firm can join one only if it qualifies as an empresa de menor tamaño; larger foreign firms bid directly or through a Chilean company.
• RUT: a Chile-domiciled lawyer (or accountant) files the online application, with the data of Formulario 4415.1, as your mandatario. You grant the poder before a notary abroad and have it apostilled or legalised.
• Signature: if your representative cannot get an FEA, the contract can be signed by hand or through a Chilean apoderado.
• Certifications and titles: home-country ISO certificates from recognised accredited bodies are typically accepted, subject to the bases; foreign professional titles need a recognition certificate for RENAC. The commercial-bulletin certificate doesn’t apply without a Chilean RUT.

Pitfalls

• Never hand over your keys. Your ClaveÚnica, its second-factor code, the company’s Clave Tributaria, your FEA and your Mi DT login stay with you. Advisers work through their own users, the SII Mandatario Digital and Mi DT’s representative role.
• Check habilidad before every offer. Make sure the record says hábil and the ownership declaration is current, and keep checking up to contract signature.
• Report changes within 10 business days. A new partner, administrator or beneficial owner not declared in time leads to suspension.
• Read the declaración jurada para ofertar every time. Whoever submits accepts it in your name; a false statement can be perjury and make you inhábil.
• One offer per process. You cannot bid alone and through a UTP in the same tender, and simultaneous offers by related suppliers can be ruled inadmissible.
• UTPs are for smaller companies only. If any member isn’t an empresa de menor tamaño, the UTP doesn’t qualify.
• Guarantees in your own name. The instrument must be yours, payable at sight, irrevocable and on first demand; the bases can’t restrict the type, so the choice of instrument is yours.
• Start foreign paperwork early. Simple copies are enough to register, but the apostille and translation are due at contracting.

Doing it with askTender

In Chile, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on Mercado Público and works under their own login. You keep your own login, and sign what only you can sign: the registry sworn declaration, your guarantees, the contract, and the facts behind each declaración jurada para ofertar, confirmed in writing. The askTender Desk prepares the annexes and checks guarantee wording against the bases; askTender Partners, such as a contador, an abogado or a translator, do the steps their licence covers.

Questions

Sources

• ChileCompra: the Registro de Proveedores on Mercado Público (2025 training deck)
• Decreto 661/2024 (Hacienda): the public procurement regulation
• ChileCompra: ClaveÚnica login on Mercado Público
• ChileCompra: the Registro de Proveedores sworn declaration for legal persons
• ChileCompra: the sworn declaration accepted with each offer
• ChileAtiende: registering in the Registro de Proveedores
• SII: the Mandatario Digital
• SII: RUT and start of activities for foreign entities
• ChileAtiende: the F30 labour and social-security certificate
• Dirección del Trabajo: the F30-1 compliance certificate
• ChileAtiende: firma electrónica avanzada
• ChileCompra: the Unión Temporal de Proveedores
• MOP DGOP: registering in the Registro de Contratistas de Obras Menores
• ChileAtiende: MOP certificate of registration and economic capacity
• ChileAtiende: MINVU’s Registro Nacional de Contratistas

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.