1. Why subcontractors are separately regulated
Three reasons. The party actually doing the work is often not the contracting party, so the authority cannot see who is building.
The terms on which a subcontractor is engaged affect the quality of the work, without the authority being able to shape them directly. The effect is indirect but real.
A subcontracting chain can run through several tiers, which blurs responsibility. Responsibility must be settled in the contract.
The purpose of the regulation is therefore transparency, not the restriction of subcontracting. Subcontracting itself is normal and necessary in construction, since no firm performs every trade in house.
2. What goes in September
According to institutional sources the burden falls in two ways. Both concern the volume of evidence.
| What goes | For whom |
|---|---|
| The duty to request evidence of subcontractors' average wages | both |
| The monetary threshold for the obligations rises €150,000 → €500,000 | the authority |
According to professional sources the obligations relating to subcontractors are tied to the same monetary threshold as the abnormally low tender check, and that threshold rises to €500,000. That line changes in September.
The practical consequence is that in medium sized construction procurements the volume of documents to be collected falls appreciably. The precise list of requirements being removed must be checked against the adopted text of the law, since the sources describe the change in general terms.
3. What stays
Three things do not go, and the second is the most important. It concerns the main contractor's liability.
The duty to name subcontractors, where the authority has provided for it in the procurement documents. The requirement then has to be met.
The main contractor's liability for the subcontractor's work, which arises from the contract, not from procurement law. It cannot be passed down the chain.
Employment and tax law requirements, which apply regardless of the Public Procurement Act. They sit in separate statutes.
The second point is frequently misread: the disappearance of procedural obligations does not change the contractual chain of liability. The main contractor answers to the client for the whole of the work, including the part performed by a subcontractor. Amending the Public Procurement Act does not touch the law of obligations.
4. What it means in practice
Three consequences pull in different directions, and the third is rarely mentioned. It concerns the traceability of documents.
| For whom | What changes | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Tenderer | the document collection burden falls | favourable |
| Authority | the checking burden falls, but so does visibility into the chain | mixed |
| Subcontractor | the indirect protection from evidence requests falls | unfavourable |
The third row is the other side of the change: reducing burden also reduces oversight. Whether that is good or bad depends on how well the market regulates itself, and practice will show.
5. What an authority should still consider
Three options remain available through the procurement documents. Each has to be provided for in advance.
Require subcontractors to be named where the procurement is large or sensitive. Naming makes the chain visible.
Provide for a procedure governing changes of subcontractor, so the chain does not shift unnoticed. Any change is then approved first.
Tie quality requirements to the contract, not to the procedure. The contract survives the award.
The third point is the most durable: the contract runs for the whole construction period, the procedure ends when the contract is signed. An authority that wants influence over the subcontracting chain can exert it more effectively through the contract than through the procedure, and the reform does not touch the contract.
In summary, and four practical rules
The purpose of subcontracting rules is transparency, because the authority has a contractual relationship only with the main contractor. On 1 September 2026 the duty to request evidence of subcontractors' average wages is removed, and the monetary threshold for the obligations rises from €150,000 to €500,000. The requirement to name subcontractors in the procurement documents, the main contractor's contractual liability, and employment law requirements are unchanged.
Four rules: check which rules apply, depending on the date the procedure was launched. Do not confuse procedural obligations with contractual liability. Use the procurement documents where visibility into the subcontracting chain matters to the authority. Check the precise list of removed requirements against the adopted text of the law.
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.