How to bid for government tenders in El Salvador

El Salvador at a glance


Law	Ley de Compras Públicas (LCP), in force since 10 March 2023
Authority	DINAC, the national procurement directorate
System	COMPRASAL (comprasal.gob.sv), mandatory for all covered buyers
Supplier registry	RUPES, open to foreign companies
Competitive tender from	Above 240 minimum wages, about USD 98,112
Treaties	CAFTA-DR (US, Central America, Dominican Republic); EU–Central America. Not in the WTO GPA
Language	Spanish
Guarantees	Performance 10%; no listed bid bond
Challenges	2 working days, then 3 to TACOP

Who buys, and where

Who. The LCP covers state bodies, autonomous institutions and state companies such as CEL and ISSS, municipalities, and any entity spending public funds.
Not covered. Contracts funded by lenders such as the World Bank, IDB or CABEI usually follow the lender’s own rules. So do some special regimes: projects financed by the bidder, strategic public-utility projects, and in 2026 national AI and robotics projects.
COMPRASAL. Every covered buyer must record its procurement in COMPRASAL, from annual plans and calls for bids to results and contracts. Calls are published there as an aviso específico de contratación, with the bidding documents.
Commodity exchange. Some entities buy through reverse auctions on the commodity exchange BOLPROS, which requires a local representative and an authorised broker.

Thresholds and procedures

Thresholds are set in monthly minimum wages for the commerce sector, USD 408.80 since 1 June 2025.

Method	When
Licitación competitiva (open tender)	Above 240 wages, about USD 98,112
Comparación de precios (price comparison)	Up to 240 wages: an open call plus at least 3 invited suppliers
Contratación directa (direct award)	Any value, but only on listed grounds: sole supplier, urgency, emergency, failed tender, and others
Baja cuantía (petty cash)	Small, immediate purchases, published monthly
Framework catalogue	Below 240 wages; once a catalogue exists, buyers must use it
Reverse auction	At least 5 working days for technical offers; lowest qualified price wins

Bidding time. The LCP sets no fixed minimum; it requires “sufficient” time for the complexity. On treaty-covered contracts, CAFTA-DR and the EU agreement require at least 40 days, or 10 in listed cases.
Evaluation time. Up to 15 working days for tenders, and 8 for price comparisons and direct awards.
No splitting. Splitting a purchase to stay under the line is banned, and such awards are void.

Who can bid

Foreign companies can bid, alone or jointly, if validly constituted under their home law. They can’t be under an exclusion, such as a corruption conviction, bankruptcy, unpaid taxes or a recent termination for fault.
RUPES. Registration in the RUPES supplier registry is mandatory for almost all procurement. Foreign companies can register with a passport or home-country tax ID; a Salvadoran tax number isn’t needed. You must declare beneficial owners with 10% or more.
Treaties.
- CAFTA-DR. Covers El Salvador’s listed ministries and other entities above USD 105,767 for goods and services and USD 6,683,000 for construction in 2026–27. These are the US-published figures.
- EU–Central America agreement. Covers EU suppliers above SDR 130,000 for central government goods and services and SDR 5 million for construction.
- No GPA. El Salvador is not a WTO GPA party.
Preferences.
- Made in El Salvador: a buyer may give priority to goods made in El Salvador if its documents say so.
- Small businesses: micro and small enterprises win ties. Buyers aim to spend at least 25% with Salvadoran small businesses, and 10% with women-led ones.
- Civil works: US Commerce reports that local firms are favoured for state-funded civil works.
Language and documents. Bids are in Spanish, and supporting documents in other languages need a translation. Foreign corporate documents are reported to need an apostille, or legalisation, plus a Spanish translation.
Consortia. Joint bids are allowed where the documents permit, with joint and several liability. Members are reported to need a public deed, and each must be in RUPES.

Bidding, step by step

Check who pays. If a multilateral lender funds the project, its rules and portal usually apply instead of the LCP.
Prepare your corporate documents: certificate of incorporation, your representative’s powers and tax ID, each apostilled and translated into Spanish.
Register in RUPES at comprasal.gob.sv/register. Choose your ID type, enter your details, upload the signed sworn declaration, and wait for DINAC to approve it.
Complete your RUPES profile: contacts, shareholders, beneficial owners, goods and services, and documents.
Find opportunities in COMPRASAL: annual purchase plans, expressions of interest and calls for bids. Download the bidding documents.
Ask questions and attend any site visit. Clarifications go to everyone, and deadlines can move.
Submit through COMPRASAL (encrypted) or on paper, as the documents say, before the deadline. Prices are usually in US dollars, taxes included.
During evaluation, fix curable defects within the time allowed. Results are notified and published in COMPRASAL.
If you win, sign within 5 working days of the award becoming final. At signing, provide your legal-capacity and solvency certificates (tax, social security, pensions, municipal), then lodge the performance guarantee. If you don’t lodge it, the contract can pass to the runner-up.

Guarantees and payment

Types. The LCP lists advance-payment, performance, good-works and quality guarantees. It lists no bid-security guarantee, but check each tender’s documents.
Form. Guarantees are surety bonds or insurance, or other instruments if the documents allow, and must be irrevocable and payable on first demand.
Foreign issuers. Foreign banks and insurers can issue guarantees only through a Salvadoran financial institution acting as confirmer.
Performance. At least 10% for works; up to 10% for goods, services and consulting. It can be waived for immediate deliveries and small purchases.
Advance payments. Up to 30% of the contract (50% exceptionally), backed by a guarantee for 100% of the advance.
Works and quality. Guarantees of 10% of the final value, for at least a year.
Payment. Terms are set in the contract and paid after a signed acceptance record and invoice. If the State pays late, you’re automatically owed compensation at half the legal commercial interest rate.
Your delays. Late delivery costs 0.1% a day for the first month, rising after that. The contract can be terminated once fines reach 15%.

How bids are evaluated

Most advantageous bid. Contracts go to the most advantageous bid as defined in the documents: price, quality and price, best economic value, design, sustainability, or price and time.
Objective criteria. All criteria must be objective and published. Vague criteria like “best offer” are banned, and specifications must accept equivalent goods.
Price checks. Bids can be rejected if prices are unreasonable, far above the estimate, or abnormally low.
Single bids. A single compliant bid at a reasonable price can win.

Challenging a decision

Step 1: revisión. File a recurso de revisión with the buyer’s highest authority within 2 working days of being notified of the result. It’s decided within 10 working days, after a non-binding recommendation from a special commission. Filing suspends the procurement.
Step 2: appeal. Appeal to the Tribunal de Apelaciones de Compras Públicas (TACOP), the procurement appeals tribunal, within 3 working days of the revisión decision. TACOP decides within 12 working days. The appeal suspends the process unless that would put health services at risk. TACOP’s decision ends the administrative route.
No appeal is possible against petty-cash purchases, direct awards or online purchases.
Court. After that, you can go to the administrative courts, reportedly within 60 working days.
Treaty contracts. CAFTA-DR requires at least 10 days to challenge covered procurement, longer than the LCP’s windows. How the two interact is untested, so act within the LCP deadlines.

What changed in 2025–2026

May 2025: sports federations and Olympic bodies were taken out of the LCP.
1 June 2025: the minimum wage rose to USD 408.80. That moved the tender line from about USD 87,600 to about USD 98,112.
June 2025: an amendment to the implementing regulation added stricter beneficial-owner registration at 10% and a procedure for strategic public-utility projects.
1 January 2026: new CAFTA-DR thresholds took effect.
January 2026: contracts with specialised arts professionals were allowed outside the LCP.
September 2026: a decree set special rules for national AI and robotics projects, reportedly by direct contracting outside the LCP.

Live Salvadoran tenders

Questions

Can a foreign company bid on Salvadoran government tenders?

Yes. Any foreign company validly constituted in its home country can bid, alone or jointly, once registered in the RUPES supplier registry on COMPRASAL. The law requires no local office, though a local representative is advisable, and is required for purchases through the commodity exchange.

Do I need a Salvadoran tax ID to register?

No. RUPES accepts a foreign passport or your home-country tax ID as well as a Salvadoran tax number. You upload a signed sworn declaration, declare your beneficial owners, and the procurement directorate DINAC approves the registration.

When does El Salvador use competitive tendering?

Licitación competitiva is required above 240 monthly minimum wages, about USD 98,112 since the June 2025 wage rise. Up to that line buyers can use price comparison, inviting at least three suppliers. Direct contracting is allowed at any value, but only on listed grounds.

Is a bid bond required in El Salvador?

The 2023 law doesn’t list a bid-security guarantee, only advance-payment, performance, good-works and quality guarantees; check each tender’s documents. Performance guarantees are at least 10% for works and up to 10% for goods and services. Foreign banks can issue guarantees only through a Salvadoran institution acting as confirmer.

Do trade agreements help foreign bidders in El Salvador?

Yes, on covered contracts. CAFTA-DR protects US, Central American and Dominican suppliers, and the EU–Central America agreement protects EU suppliers, with national treatment, at least 40 days to bid and at least 10 days to challenge. El Salvador is not a party to the WTO GPA.

How quickly must I challenge a Salvadoran award?

Very quickly. File a recurso de revisión with the buyer’s head within 2 working days of the result, then appeal to the procurement appeals tribunal (TACOP) within 3 working days of the revisión decision. Both steps suspend the procurement.

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.