German public procurement in one paragraph
Germany has two sets of rules. Above the EU thresholds, the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB, Part 4) applies, with detailed regulations for each kind of contract: the VgV for supplies and services, VOB/A (EU section) for works, the SektVO for utilities and the VSVgV for defence. Below the thresholds, budget law applies instead: the UVgO for supplies and services and VOB/A (section 1) for works. Each of the 16 states (Länder) adds its own procurement and wage rules for its own buyers, so a tender from Munich and one from Berlin can follow different rules below the threshold.
Where German tenders are published
| Where | What’s on it |
|---|---|
| oeffentlichevergabe.de | The national notice service (Bekanntmachungsservice) run by the federal procurement office. It collects notices from federal, state and municipal buyers, and has been written into law since July 2026. |
| service.bund.de | A federal portal that aggregates tenders from about 70 platforms, including state and municipal ones. A good single place to search. |
| TED (the EU’s Official Journal) | Every contract above the EU thresholds. German buyers send these in the eForms-DE format through the national data service. |
| e-Vergabe (evergabe-online.de) | The federal e-tendering platform, where you download documents, ask questions and submit bids. |
| State and private platforms | State marketplaces such as Vergabemarktplatz NRW and Bavaria’s portal, and commercial platforms such as DTVP, Vergabe24 and Subreport. Many municipalities tender only here. |
The notice tells you which platform hosts the tender. That is where you register, download the documents and submit.
The thresholds in 2026
EU thresholds (from 1 January 2026, excluding VAT). Above these, the full EU rules apply and the tender goes on TED:
| Contract | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Supplies and services: federal ministries and the Chancellery | €140,000 |
| Supplies and services: all other public buyers | €216,000 |
| Supplies and services: utilities, and defence and security | €432,000 |
| Social and other specific services | €750,000 (€1,000,000 for utilities) |
| Works | €5,404,000 |
Since July 2026, the lower €140,000 threshold covers only the federal ministries and the Chancellery. Other federal agencies use €216,000.
Federal limits below the thresholds:
| Value (excluding VAT) | What federal buyers can do |
|---|---|
| Up to €50,000 | Award directly, without a procedure (supplies, services and works). |
| Up to €100,000 | Negotiate with suppliers without a call for competition (supplies and services), or award works by freihändige Vergabe. |
| Up to €150,000 (works) | Run a restricted tender without a public call. |
| Up to the EU threshold | Use a negotiated award with a call for competition as the standard procedure (supplies and services). |
Young innovative companies get extra room: federal buyers can award up to €100,000 directly to start-ups four years old or less. The states set their own limits, so check the rules of the state where the buyer sits.
How contracts are procured
- Above the thresholds: the buyer chooses freely between the open procedure (anyone can bid) and the restricted procedure (candidates apply, the shortlist bids). Negotiated procedures, competitive dialogue and innovation partnerships are allowed only in specific cases. Framework agreements last up to 4 years (8 for utilities).
- Minimum time limits: 35 days in an open procedure, or 30 days when bids are submitted electronically, which is the norm. In a restricted procedure, at least 30 days to apply and 25 days to bid electronically. Urgency can cut these to 15 and 10 days.
- Below the thresholds: public tenders, restricted tenders, negotiated awards and direct awards, with “appropriate” deadlines rather than fixed minimums.
- Lots: German law requires contracts to be split into lots by size and trade, which keeps many tenders within reach of smaller firms. Since 2026, big infrastructure projects can be bundled for speed, but the main contractor can then be required to subcontract to SMEs.
What you need to qualify
Eligibility (Eignung) has three parts: your authorisation to practise the trade, your economic and financial standing, and your technical and professional ability. Since July 2026, requirements must be proportionate to the contract, and buyers must take young firms and SMEs into account.
Self-declarations come first. Buyers must accept the European Single Procurement Document (Einheitliche Europäische Eigenerklärung) as preliminary proof, though many use their own self-declaration forms. Since July 2026, self-declarations are the default, and further documents should only be requested from bidders with a real chance of winning. In open procedures, the buyer now checks the offers before checking eligibility.
Prequalification saves repeat paperwork. Works contractors can be listed in PQ-VOB, and suppliers and service providers in the official AVPQ list kept by the chambers of commerce. A listing counts as proof of eligibility.
The competition register. Before awarding a contract of €50,000 or more (€30,000 until July 2026), buyers must check the federal Wettbewerbsregister, kept by the Federal Cartel Office. It lists convictions and fines that are grounds for exclusion. Unpaid taxes or social-security contributions are a mandatory exclusion ground, so buyers usually ask for clearance certificates, or your home country’s equivalents.
Submitting. Above the thresholds, bids go in electronically through the tender platform in text form. A qualified electronic signature is needed only when the buyer requires one. Language: no law requires German, but the buyer sets the language in the notice, and it is almost always German.
Wages: the new federal Tariftreue law
The federal Tariftreuegesetz took effect on 1 May 2026. For federal works and services contracts of €50,000 or more performed in Germany, the contractor must give its staff working conditions set by federal regulations based on collective agreements, and is liable for its subcontractors. Supply contracts and defence contracts are excluded. Most states have their own wage-compliance laws for their own buyers, with different thresholds. Germany’s statutory minimum wage is €13.90 an hour in 2026, rising to €14.60 in 2027.
How bids are assessed
Contracts go to the most economically advantageous tender (wirtschaftlichstes Angebot), based on the best price-quality ratio. In practice, price alone decided half of above-threshold awards in 2024.
Losing bidders must be told why, and the contract can’t be signed for 10 days after that notice is sent electronically (15 days otherwise). To challenge an award, you must first raise the problem with the buyer within 10 days of spotting it. Problems visible in the tender documents must be raised before the bid deadline. You then apply to the review chamber (Vergabekammer) within 15 days of the buyer refusing to fix it. The chamber decides within five weeks.
Getting paid
- Payment: within 30 days of a verifiable invoice, as a rule since July 2026, and never more than 60 days. Advance and instalment payments are encouraged.
- E-invoicing: federal buyers require electronic invoices, such as XRechnung, except for direct awards up to €1,000.
- VAT: for services and works supplied by a foreign business, VAT usually shifts to the public buyer (reverse charge). Indian businesses that do need German VAT registration file with the Finanzamt Berlin International.
- Construction tax: on works, the buyer withholds 15% construction withholding tax (Bauabzugsteuer) unless you present an exemption certificate.
Bidding from outside Germany, including from India
From the EU or EEA, you have the same rights as a German firm.
From outside the EU, it depends on your country:
- WTO Government Procurement Agreement countries, such as the US, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Switzerland, have guaranteed access to the contracts the agreement covers.
- Other countries have no guaranteed access. In the Kolin judgment of 22 October 2024, the EU Court of Justice ruled that firms from countries without a procurement agreement with the EU can’t rely on EU rules to demand equal treatment. Each buyer decides whether to admit them. The Berlin court of appeal held in 2025 that excluding such a firm is a discretionary choice, not an automatic one, and that the buyer must document its reasons.
- India is in the second group. It has been an observer to the WTO agreement since 2010, not a party. The EU–India free trade agreement concluded on 27 January 2026 has no government procurement chapter, and it isn’t yet signed or in force.
Three further limits apply:
- Defence: Bundeswehr buyers can limit tenders to firms established in the EU.
- Foreign subsidies: on contracts worth €250 million or more, bidders must declare support from non-EU governments of €4 million or more per country over three years.
- The International Procurement Instrument: currently restricts only Chinese bidders for medical devices tenders of €5 million or more.
In practice, for an Indian company:
- Set up with substance. A German subsidiary (GmbH) or other EU company with real operations is the safest route. A letterbox company risks being treated as Indian anyway.
- Or team up. A joint bid with an EU firm, or work as a subcontractor to an EU main contractor, builds German references.
- Bid in German, with translated certificates, and plan for the reverse-charge VAT and construction tax rules above.
What changed in 2025–2026
- 1 January 2026: new, slightly lower EU thresholds. Federal works limits rose: direct award €50,000, freihändige Vergabe €100,000, restricted tender €150,000.
- February 2026: a Bundeswehr procurement law let defence buyers limit tenders to EU firms.
- 1 May 2026: the federal Tariftreuegesetz took effect for works and services contracts from €50,000.
- 1 July 2026: the procurement acceleration law took effect. It brought a federal direct award up to €50,000, self-declarations as the default, a competition-register check from €50,000, payment within 30 days as the rule, and faster reviews. Federal negotiated awards without competition were allowed up to €100,000, with new start-up rules.
- Coming: a slimmer UVgO for below-threshold contracts was published in draft in June 2026, and the EU proposed a single Public Procurement Act on 9 September 2026. Neither is in force yet.
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Questions
Do I need a German company to bid for German public contracts?
No. Any company can bid, and firms from the EU, the EEA and countries in the WTO Government Procurement Agreement have a right to be treated equally. Firms from other countries can bid too, but the buyer decides case by case whether to accept them, and Bundeswehr buyers can limit some tenders to EU firms.
Can Indian companies bid for German public contracts?
They can submit a bid, but they have no guaranteed right to be considered. India is an observer to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, not a party, and the EU–India trade agreement concluded in January 2026 has no procurement chapter. Under the EU Court’s Kolin ruling, a German buyer may admit or exclude an Indian bidder and must document its choice. A German subsidiary with real operations, or a joint bid with an EU firm, is the safest route.
Do I have to bid in German?
No law requires it, but the buyer sets the language in the notice, and it is almost always German. Expect to provide German translations of certificates and references.
What is the federal direct-award limit in 2026?
€50,000 excluding VAT, for supplies, services and works, since 1 July 2026. Below it, federal buyers can award without a procedure, rotating between suppliers. Each German state sets its own limits for its own buyers.
Is a qualified electronic signature required to bid?
Usually not. Above the EU thresholds, bids are submitted electronically in text form, and a qualified electronic signature or seal is only needed when the buyer asks for one.
How quickly do German public buyers pay?
Within 30 days of a verifiable invoice, as a rule since July 2026. Longer terms must be expressly agreed and objectively justified, and can never exceed 60 days.
Sources
- Gesetz zur Beschleunigung der Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 137
- Tariftreuegesetz (federal collective-wage compliance law), BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 119
- European Commission: EU procurement thresholds
- Federal works value limits from 1 January 2026 (BMWSB decree of 17 December 2025)
- service.bund.de: tender information and eForms
- Vergabeverordnung (VgV) §15: time limits in the open procedure
- Wettbewerbsregistergesetz §6: when buyers must check the competition register
- Official list of prequalified companies (AVPQ), IHK
- Destatis: public procurement statistics (Vergabestatistik)
- Court of Justice of the EU: Kolin, C-652/22, press release 183/24
- European Commission: questions and answers on the Kolin judgment (May 2025)
- WTO: parties and observers to the Government Procurement Agreement
- European Commission: EU–India agreements, text of the agreements
- BMAS: the minimum wage from 1 January 2026
- European Parliament legislative train: the proposed Public Procurement Act
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.