How to bid for public tenders in Czechia.

Czechia at a glance

The Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) runs the national procurement information system: the VVZ, NEN and an optional list of qualified suppliers. Each buyer publishes on one buyer profile (profil zadavatele), whose address is listed in the VVZ.

Thresholds and procedures

Thresholds in CZK for 2026–2027:

• The simplified below-threshold procedure is started by a notice on the buyer profile. It isn’t allowed for works above CZK 50 million.
• Minimum bid periods:
  • 11 working days in the simplified procedure;
  • 15 working days (supplies, services) or 20 (works) in a below-threshold open procedure;
  • 30 days above threshold, which can be shortened to 15 after a prior information notice or in urgency.
• Contract publication:
  • contracts with public bodies above CZK 50,000 are published in the national register of contracts, and only take effect once published;
  • contracts not in the register and above CZK 1 million go on the buyer profile within 30 days.

Who can bid

• Who can’t be restricted: suppliers based in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, and suppliers from any country with a treaty guaranteeing access to that contract, such as WTO GPA parties.
• Everyone else. Since the EU Court’s Kolin ruling, the competition office ÚOHS says buyers may restrict or exclude suppliers from countries without an agreement, but only if the tender documents say so. In August 2025 the ÚOHS chairman confirmed that such suppliers can still object to tender conditions. See how companies from outside the EU can bid for EU tenders.
• No legal form or Czech entity is required. A buyer can’t make a particular legal form a condition of participation.
• Foreign documents. You submit your home country’s equivalent of each Czech certificate, and qualification obtained abroad is proved under that country’s law. Where your country doesn’t issue a document, a sworn statement (čestné prohlášení) replaces it. Simple copies are enough unless the buyer asks for originals.
• Basic eligibility documents:
  • a criminal-record extract;
  • tax and social-security confirmations;
  • a health-insurance declaration;
  • a commercial-register extract.
• The ESPD (European Single Procurement Document) is accepted as a self-declaration. In the simplified procedure a sworn statement is enough by default.
• The list of qualified suppliers is optional. An extract replaces proof of basic and professional eligibility, and equivalent EU certificates are accepted.
• If you’re selected, a foreign company must provide an extract from its home beneficial-ownership register, or its owners’ details if there’s no register. Joint-stock companies may be asked who holds more than 10%.
• Sanctions: contracts can’t be awarded in breach of international sanctions.

Translations and signatures

• Language. The buyer sets the tender language, usually Czech. Documents in another language need a translation into the tender language, and the buyer can ask for an official translation by a registered translator if it doubts yours. Czech and Slovak documents need no translation, and buyers can waive translation for others.
• Bid signatures. Anything done through NEN or another certified e-tool is treated as signed, so the bid itself needs no separate qualified signature unless the tender requires one.
• ÚOHS filings need a recognised electronic signature or a Czech data box.

Registering and bidding, step by step

1. Find the tender:
   • the VVZ (vvz.nipez.cz) for above-threshold and some below-threshold notices;
   • NEN (nen.nipez.cz);
   • the buyer’s profile, which may run on E-ZAK, Tender arena, JOSEPHINE or another certified tool;
   • TED for EU-level notices.
2. Check the documents for any restriction on suppliers from outside the EU, and for the tender language.
3. Register in the e-tool the tender names. Viewing is public, but submitting needs registration. E-tools must be free for suppliers.
4. For NEN, use the foreign-supplier path. Check you’re not already registered, register as a person and then as an entity, and upload your home register extracts and authorisations, with translations if asked. Applications close automatically if you don’t answer a query within 10 working days.
5. Prepare the bid:
   • the ESPD or sworn statements;
   • the price;
   • documents for evaluation;
   • a subcontractor list if requested;
   • proof of any bid security.
6. Ask questions and object in time. Objections to tender conditions must arrive before the bid deadline, or 72 hours before it if the documents say so.
7. Submit electronically in the named tool before the deadline. No one can open bids early.
8. If you’re selected, provide any qualification documents not yet submitted, plus beneficial-ownership data. The contract can’t be signed until the challenge periods have passed.

Bid security and payment

• Bid security (jistota): optional, and only where a bid-validity period is set. It’s a fixed amount of up to 2% of the estimated value, or up to 5% with an e-auction. It can be a cash deposit, a bank guarantee or guarantee insurance, and it’s forfeited if the selected supplier fails to provide documents or refuses to sign.
• Performance and warranty guarantees have no statutory cap; they’re set in the contract terms.
• Payment: a public buyer must pay within 30 days of the invoice. A longer term must be expressly agreed and justified, and can’t exceed 60 days. Excluding late-payment interest is void.
• Direct payment to subcontractors can be arranged.

How bids are evaluated

• The standard: bids are always assessed on economic advantageousness. That means best price-quality ratio, including life-cycle cost against quality, or lowest price or lowest life-cycle cost.
• When price alone isn’t allowed: in competitive dialogue, innovation partnerships, or architecture and engineering services.
• Disclosure: criteria, scoring method and weights must be in the tender documents.
• Responsible procurement: buyers must apply socially and environmentally responsible procurement and innovation where appropriate, and justify their approach.
• Unusually low prices: the buyer asks for a written justification, which must confirm compliance with labour law and collective agreements and no illegal state aid. If it fails, you’re excluded.
• No national preference applies to EU, EEA, Swiss or treaty suppliers. There’s no SME quota, but lots, joint bids, subcontracting and relying on other firms’ capacity help smaller firms.
• Reserved contracts are possible for integration social enterprises. From 2027 they’ll be the only category.

Challenging a decision

1. Objections (námitky) to the buyer are mandatory before going to ÚOHS, and free.
   • File them within 15 days of learning of the breach, or before the bid deadline for tender conditions.
   • The buyer decides within 15 days, and silence counts as rejection.
   • Objections aren’t possible for small-scale contracts, or after the contract is signed.
2. A petition to ÚOHS must arrive within 10 days of the rejection, or within 25 days of sending your objections if the buyer didn’t decide. Send a copy to the buyer.
3. The deposit (kauce):

It’s lost if the petition finally fails. If you withdraw before a decision, 35% (at least CZK 30,000) is lost. 4. Standstill: the contract can’t be signed until objection deadlines pass, or within 60 days of ÚOHS proceedings starting, unless the petition is rejected. 5. Appeals:

• internal appeal (rozklad) to the ÚOHS chairman, generally within 15 days;
• then the Regional Court in Brno within 2 months;
• then the Supreme Administrative Court.

What changed in 2025–2026

• 1 January 2025: new reserved contracts for integration social enterprises.
• 23 January 2025: ÚOHS published its reading of Kolin. Buyers may restrict bidders from countries without an agreement, if the documents say so.
• 3 April 2025: Act 69/2025 Coll.
  • raised the small-scale limits to CZK 3 million and CZK 9 million;
  • raised the buyer-profile publication limit to CZK 1 million;
  • built the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation into Czech procedure.
• 25 August 2025: the ÚOHS chairman confirmed that suppliers from countries without an agreement can object to tender conditions.
• 1 January 2026: new CZK thresholds for 2026–2027.
• 2026, pending: an ÚOHS proposal on review procedure was sent for comment in March 2026. It would split the deposit 70/30 and add a CZK 50,000 court fee. It isn’t law, and no broader amendment is in force.

Live Czech tenders

See also how companies from outside the EU can bid for EU tenders and how to bid for EU public tenders on TED.

Questions

Sources

• Act No. 134/2016 Coll. on Public Procurement (ZZVZ), consolidated
• Government Regulation 172/2016 Coll. on thresholds
• MMR procurement portal and NEN
• NEN: registering a foreign supplier
• ÚOHS: interpretation of the Kolin judgment (23 January 2025)

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.