Every step to bid in Portugal: the documents, who handles each one…

This page is the checklist behind a bid in Portugal: each document and formality a Portuguese tender asks for, in the order you meet them, and who may lawfully take care of it. For how procurement works there overall, from thresholds and procedures to evaluation, payment and challenges, see How to bid for public tenders in Portugal.

Before you bid

1. Open an account on the platform the notice names. Portuguese buyers run their procedures on platforms licensed by IMPIC under Lei 96/2015: today VortalGOV, acinGov, ComprasPT and anoGov. You need an account on the one your buyer uses; only the simplified direct award (up to €5,000 for goods and services, €10,000 for works) runs without one.

Cost and time: basic access is free, with paid plans for extras; the platform has up to 3 working days to complete your registration.
Who does it: the company account is created for you, and you confirm the company data. Your adviser and your signatory then sit on it as separate named users, each with their own credentials; at least 3 users can work at once without charge.
From abroad: foreign companies can register, but whether a foreign tax number is accepted differs from platform to platform.

2. Get a qualified signature for each signatory. Every document you upload must be signed with an eIDAS qualified electronic signature. Portuguese options include the signature on the Cartão de Cidadão, Chave Móvel Digital, Multicert and DigitalSign.

Cost: market price; the Cartão de Cidadão and Chave Móvel Digital signatures are free for their holders.
Time and validity: allow a few days; a certificate typically lasts 1–3 years.
Who does it: each signatory gets and keeps their own. An advogado acting as your procurador signs with their own certificate, never yours.
From abroad: any qualified certificate from a provider on an EU trusted list works. On anoGov, foreign users can also use Chave Móvel Digital after registering on Autenticação.gov.

3. Sort out your tax number (NIF). The company tax number (NIPC/NIF), from the Autoridade Tributária, is what platforms, BASE contract records, e-invoicing and payment run on. It is permanent. A Portuguese company already has one; for a non-resident entity, a contabilista or advogado requests it as your appointed representative under a procuração, and you sign that procuração and supply your registry documents.

4. Public works: get your IMPIC title. Whoever carries out public works needs a construction title from IMPIC, in the right categories.

Alvará de Empreiteiro de Obras Públicas: five categories and classes 1 to 9, where the class caps the works value (class 1 up to €200,000; class 9 above €19,000,000). You apply in person, by post or through IMPIC’s document form, with Mod. A1, a Mod. A6 integrity declaration for each legal representative, register and criminal-record certificates, the technical-staff forms A7 to A9 and an insurance declaration. From class 3, your IES figures must show equity of at least 10% of the class maximum, general liquidity of at least 100% and financial autonomy of at least 5%.
Certificado de Empreiteiro de Obras Públicas: a lighter title for works up to €40,000 excluding VAT, by subcategory, requested online with Mod. A3.
Fees: an initial fee (taxa inicial) of €75, paid at least 24 hours before you submit the application and deducted from the final fee; an optional €25 “Na hora” service for classes 1 and 2 and for the certificado. Concession and annual fees follow Portaria 261-A/2015.
Valid: indefinitely while you meet the requirements, with an annual IMPIC check and an annual fee every January.
Who does it: the application is prepared for you; your engineers provide the staff qualifications, and a contabilista certificado prepares the financial ratios. Your legal representatives sign the integrity declarations.

5. SME certification, for reserved contracts. Some contracts are reserved for certified Portuguese SMEs (below the EU thresholds, and works under €500,000). The certificate comes from IAPMEI through an online application; your accountant prepares the figures and you submit or authorise it.

With your bid

6. The Anexo I declaration and the ESPD. In every procedure you sign a declaration (Anexo I of the CCP) accepting the caderno de encargos and confirming that no exclusion ground applies. Where the procedure has an EU notice, you add the ESPD (DEUCP). Both are free and valid for that procedure only. They are filled in for you; your legal representative or procurador signs them with their own qualified signature.

7. Proof of powers, if the certificate doesn’t show them. When the signing certificate doesn’t show that the signer can bind the company, you upload a document proving it: a procuração, or a certidão showing who the directors are.

Who does it: an advogado or solicitador drafts and authenticates the procuração naming the signer, who may be one of your employees or the advogado acting for you. A notary can also grant or authenticate it. Your directors sign it, and it goes up with the bid carrying its own qualified signature.
Time and validity: 1–3 days; valid until revoked.
From abroad: a foreign procuração needs an apostille and a certified translation.

8. Consortium commitment. A group of companies (agrupamento) can bid together; if it wins, the members form the structure the programa requires before signing and are jointly liable. An advogado drafts the commitment and each member signs it with its own qualified signature.

9. Upload and sign every file. Your documents go onto the platform before the deadline, and late bids are excluded. Each file is signed separately, including every file inside a zip; the platform adds qualified time-stamps (selos temporais), and some platforms charge for stamps beyond their free allowance. Errors and omissions in the tender documents have to be raised within the first third of the bid period.

Who does it: your adviser prepares the bid and uploads it as a named user of your company’s account. Your signatory applies their own qualified signature to each file.
After you submit: the jury may ask for clarifications or give you up to 5 days to cure a formal defect, and you have at least 5 days to comment on its preliminary report. Your adviser drafts the replies; your signatory signs them.

If you’re in line for award

Since Decreto-Lei 177/2026, buyers must first fetch qualification evidence themselves through public interoperability systems. As the winner, you upload only what they can’t obtain that way.

Document	Issued by	Who can get it for you	Cost and time	What only you do
Tax status (situação tributária regularizada)	Autoridade Tributária (Portal das Finanças)	Ideally nobody: you authorise the buyer to consult it. Otherwise a contabilista certificado, through their own professional access	Free; same day online	Authorise the consultation, or download it with company credentials you never share
Social-security status (situação contributiva regularizada)	Instituto da Segurança Social (Segurança Social Direta)	The buyer, by consultation; otherwise your contabilista	Free; same day online	Authorise the consultation
Criminal-record certificates (registo criminal) of the company and its directors	Direção-Geral da Administração da Justiça	The company’s record can be requested by an authorised representative	Same day online for Portuguese records; 3 months is common practice, so check the programa	Each director requests or authorises their personal certificate
Certidão permanente (online commercial-registry certificate)	Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado	Anyone may order it; the buyer reads it through its access code	Same day online	—
IMPIC alvará or certificado (works)	IMPIC	Prepared for you; see step 4	See step 4	Sign the integrity declarations

The certidão permanente proves incorporation, the company’s object and who binds it; IMPIC reads it the same way. If your home country issues no criminal-record, tax or social-security certificates, a solemn declaration (declaração solene) made by your director before a judicial or administrative authority, a notary or a qualified professional body takes their place.

When the tender asks for them:

Technical-capacity evidence: lists of similar contracts, declarations from previous clients and CVs, where the programa sets minimum capacity or scores the team. Collecting client declarations can take weeks, so build the file early; you sign the summary.
Certified Portuguese translations of foreign qualification documents, unless the programa accepts other languages. A missing translation can be cured within up to 5 days.
Apostilles on foreign public documents. Portugal is party to the Hague Convention; EU Regulation 2016/1191 removes the apostille for certain EU public documents, such as criminal records, but not the translation.

Before the contract and the first invoice

The caução. Where the contract requires one, it is up to 5% of the contract price (10% if your price was abnormally low), posted within 10 days of the award notice, or the award passes to the next bidder. A bank issues a first-demand guarantee or an insurer a seguro-caução on the programa’s model; a cash or securities deposit must be made in Portugal. You sign the facility and pay its cost. Below €1 million it can be waived.

Workplace accident insurance (seguro de acidentes de trabalho). Mandatory, required for IMPIC titles and as a contract condition for works and for contracts with staff in Portugal. An insurer authorised by ASF, or your broker, issues the policy and declaration within days; it runs for a year, and you sign it. A foreign firm’s policy must cover activity in Portuguese territory.

The RCBE. Entities incorporated in Portugal or doing business there declare their beneficial owners in the Registo Central do Beneficiário Efetivo and confirm the declaration every year; non-compliance can bar you from contracting with the State (Lei 89/2017). It’s free and done online the same day at rcbe.justica.gov.pt, by your representative or by an advogado, solicitador, notary or contabilista using their own authentication. You provide the ownership data and authorise the filer.

The IMPIC declaration for foreign works winners. An EEA or GPA-country company with no Portuguese establishment obtains a Declaração de Habilitação de Obras Públicas for the specific contract it has won, filed with the award decision, a home register extract, criminal records, staff evidence and insurance covering Portuguese territory. An advogado or engineer files it; your directors sign the declarations. IMPIC charges an issuance fee under Portaria 261-A/2015.

Signing. Your legal representative or a procurador signs the contract with their own qualified signature, after the 10-day standstill where it applies. For contracts of €750,000 or more, the buyer itself requests the Tribunal de Contas visto.

E-invoicing. Invoices to public buyers are electronic. Your contabilista issues them in the required format; a foreign firm may need a Portuguese NIF for this in practice.

Who does what

Step	Who can do it	What only you do
Platform account	Created for you; your adviser works as a named user	Confirm company data; your signatory registers with their own certificate
Qualified signature	A qualified trust service provider	Each signatory obtains and controls their own
NIF for a non-resident entity	A contabilista or advogado, under a procuração	Sign the procuração; supply registry documents
IMPIC alvará or certificado	Prepared for you, with your engineers and contabilista	Sign the integrity declarations
Anexo I declaration and ESPD	Prepared for you	Sign with your qualified signature
Procuração	An advogado, solicitador or notary	Directors sign
Consortium commitment	An advogado drafts	Each member signs
Upload and submission	Your adviser, as a named user	Sign every file
Tax and social-security status	The buyer, by consultation; or your contabilista	Authorise the consultation
Criminal records	Requested for the company by an authorised representative	Each director requests or authorises their own
Caução and accident insurance	A bank or insurer	Sign the facility or policy; pay the cost
RCBE	An advogado, solicitador, notary or contabilista	Provide ownership data; authorise the filer
Contract	—	Sign with your qualified signature, or through a procurador

The professionals involved

Professional	Licensed or regulated by	What they do for a bidder
Advogado or solicitador	Ordem dos Advogados; Ordem dos Solicitadores e dos Agentes de Execução (OSAE)	Advise on the programa and caderno de encargos, admission of foreign bidders, consortia and subcontracting; draft and authenticate procurações; certify copies and translations; file the impugnação administrativa and the urgent pre-contractual court action; sign as your procurador with their own certificate
Notário	Ordem dos Notários; Ministério da Justiça	Grant or authenticate procurações; certify translations and copies; recognise signatures; receive the declaração solene
Contabilista certificado	Ordem dos Contabilistas Certificados (OCC)	Obtain or check your tax and social-security status; file the IES used for IMPIC financial capacity; prepare the ratios for alvará class 3 and above; handle start-of-activity declarations and the NIF for a foreign entity
Revisor oficial de contas (ROC)	Ordem dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas; oversight by CMVM	Issue the auditor’s declaration a foreign construction firm (class 3 and above) gives IMPIC in place of the IES; audit accounts used as financial-capacity evidence
Engineer or architect	Ordem dos Engenheiros; Ordem dos Engenheiros Técnicos; Ordem dos Arquitectos	Serve as the technical staff each alvará class requires, with the Ordem’s experience document; prepare works price lists, work plans and financial schedules
Translator	No sworn-translator profession in Portugal	Translate foreign qualification documents into Portuguese; a notary, advogado, solicitador, consulate or chamber of commerce certifies the translation
Bank or insurer	Banco de Portugal; Autoridade de Supervisão de Seguros e Fundos de Pensões (ASF)	Issue the caução as a first-demand guarantee or seguro-caução, or a joint-liability declaration where allowed
Tender consultant (consultor de concursos públicos)	Not regulated	Watch the Diário da República and BASE; prepare bid documents; work the platform as a named user of your company’s account

Legal consultation and drafting contracts for a client are acts reserved to advogados and solicitadores.

If your company is from abroad

You don’t need a Portuguese establishment to bid; who may bid from abroad, and on what terms, is in How to bid for public tenders in Portugal. For the paperwork:

Your home register extract replaces the certidão permanente, with an apostille and a certified Portuguese translation; EU public documents covered by Regulation 2016/1191 need no apostille. Tax and social-security compliance is checked in Portugal or your home state, using home certificates, or a solemn declaration where none is issued, translated and certified; posted workers carry A1 forms. Criminal-record certificates for the company and each legal representative come from your home state, in Portuguese or English or with a certified translation. For works, an EEA or GPA-country firm uses the per-contract IMPIC declaration, and from class 3 an equivalent of the IES backed by an auditor’s declaration. An EU-established bank’s joint-liability declaration can stand in for the caução, but deposits must be made in Portugal. The RCBE also applies to foreign entities doing business in Portugal.

Pitfalls

Sign each file on its own. A signature on the zip doesn’t cover the files inside it, and an unsigned file can get the bid excluded.
Show the signer’s powers. If the certificate doesn’t prove the signer binds the company, upload the procuração or certidão with the bid.
Never share the company’s platform password. Every user is a named person with their own credentials.
Check the procedure’s start date. Procedures started before 1 October 2026 still follow the old rules, not Decreto-Lei 177/2026.
Watch the short windows. 5 days to cure a defect and 10 days to post the caução; missing either passes the award to the next bidder.
Keep the RCBE current, including its annual confirmation, before you sign the contract.
Make sure your advogado isn’t also acting for a competitor. One advogado may not act for two competing bidders in the same tender.

Doing it with askTender

In Portugal, your askTender Partner is added as a named user on your company’s account on the licensed e-procurement platforms (Vortal, acinGov and others) and works under their own login. You keep your own login and sign what only you can sign: every bid file with your own qualified signature, the declarations, the procuração and the caução facility. The askTender Desk prepares the declarations and the bid, assembles the files and coordinates the certificates; askTender Partners, such as a contabilista certificado, an advogado or an engineer, do the steps their licence covers.

Questions

Which documents go in with a bid in Portugal?

Your offer, the Anexo I declaration in which you accept the caderno de encargos and confirm that no exclusion ground applies, the ESPD (DEUCP) when the procedure has an EU notice, and a procuração if the signer’s certificate doesn’t show power to bind the company. Every file must carry a qualified electronic signature, applied to each file individually, even inside a zip.

Can someone other than our director sign the bid?

Yes. A procurador, such as an advogado or an employee named in a procuração, can sign with their own qualified certificate. The procuração is drafted and authenticated by an advogado, solicitador or notary, signed by your directors, and uploaded with the bid. Nobody ever signs with another person’s certificate.

What does the winner have to provide?

Only the qualification documents the buyer can’t fetch itself: proof of no tax or social-security debts, criminal-record certificates for the company and its directors, and the certidão permanente or a home register extract. For works, an IMPIC title. Then the caução, within 10 days of the award notice where the contract requires one.

Does a foreign company need a Portuguese NIF?

The CCP doesn’t require one to bid. Platforms record a company tax number at registration, and invoicing may need a NIF in practice, so check with the platform early. A contabilista or advogado can request a NIF for a non-resident entity under a procuração; non-EU entities generally need a fiscal representative.

Which construction title do I need for public works?

A Portuguese firm needs an IMPIC alvará in the right class and category, or the lighter certificado for works up to €40,000 excluding VAT. An EEA or GPA-country firm without a Portuguese establishment can instead obtain a per-contract Declaração de Habilitação de Obras Públicas once it has won.

What is the RCBE and when does it matter?

The central register of beneficial owners. Entities incorporated in Portugal or doing business there declare their owners and confirm the declaration every year. It’s free and done online the same day, and failing to comply can bar you from contracting with the State, so have it current before you sign.

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.