1. The authority: four stages
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Before preparation | Fix the date the procedure is launched, since the applicable rules follow from it. Determine the estimated value excluding VAT for the procurement as a whole. Compare it with the thresholds in force. Document the basis of the calculation. |
| 2. Preparation | Draft the technical specification, the main variable in duration and in the risk of challenge. Decide the award criteria and weightings. Decide whether to require subcontractor data in the tender or only from the successful tenderer. |
| 3. Procedure | Allow for the applicable minimum deadline: 15 or 25 days for construction works in the simplified procedure. Answer questions, since the answer binds all tenderers. |
| 4. Evaluation and contract | Check for an abnormally low value where the duty applies, that is from €150,000 or €500,000, or where the spread is wide. Reason decisions in writing. |
The second stage matters most, because everything that follows depends on it. A technical specification drafted in haste costs more time in the third and fourth stages than was saved in the second.
2. The tenderer: four stages
| Stage | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Before the first procurement | Register the representative. Tidy company data. Learn to complete the European Single Procurement Document. Review a completed similar procurement. |
| 2. On finding a procurement | Read the procurement documents before deciding. Check which discretionary grounds for exclusion apply. Check when subcontractor data is required. Decide whether to take part. |
| 3. While preparing | Ask subcontractors immediately, not after your own calculations. Submit questions where the specification is vague. Mark and justify business secrets. |
| 4. Before submitting | Download the tender container and review it. Check that every required document is included. |
The first item in the third stage decides the quality of the tender, because a subcontractor's answer does not depend on your timetable. Prices must be requested early.
3. Five critical moments
These are the moments where an error becomes expensive. Each of them is avoidable.
Determining the estimated value without documenting its basis. The basis should be recorded at once.
Choosing the type of procedure against the old threshold where the procedure is launched in September or later. The launch date is decisive.
Drafting the technical specification in haste, which affects the whole rest of the procedure. Errors only surface once tenders arrive.
Asking subcontractors for prices too late. The answers then miss the deadline.
Submitting the tender without reviewing the container. A missing document means exclusion.
The second is the most likely in autumn 2026, because the term public procurement threshold has been in use for years and disappears at once. The old wording persists in circulation.
4. What applies only in autumn 2026
Four things are temporary. Two sets of rules are in circulation at once, depending on the date the procedure was launched.
The type of procedure must be read from the contract notice, not inferred from a date. The notice is the binding source.
The construction deadline may be 15 or 25 days, depending on the regime. The regime is stated in the notice.
The adopted consolidated text is binding, not overviews, including this one. Overviews date quickly.
The third affects a tenderer bidding for several procurements at once and requires attention in planning resources: a ten day difference changes which tender is finished first. Resource has to be allocated deliberately.
5. One sentence that sums up the guide
The estimated value is not an estimate but a decision about which set of rules the procurement will follow.
The procedure, the deadlines, the checks and the obligations all follow from it. And on 1 September 2026 which side of the line the same number falls on changes.
In summary, and four practical rules
The authority's work divides into four stages, of which the second, preparation, determines all the rest. The tenderer's divides into four as well, of which the first step of the third, asking subcontractors, decides the quality of the tender. Of the five critical moments, the most likely in autumn 2026 is choosing the type of procedure against the old threshold.
Four rules: fix the date before anything else, as authority and as tenderer alike. Invest in the technical specification, the authority's most consequential decision. Start by asking subcontractors, the tenderer's most consequential decision. Rely on the consolidated text rather than on an overview where the case is complex.
This article serves professional orientation at the date of checking. It does not replace the Public Procurement Act or information published by the Ministry of Finance.