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Checklist for participating in national and European tenders

This information is provided by:Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, KVKNetherlands Chamber of Commerce, KVKPIANOoPIANOoMinistry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, EZKMinistry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, EZKNederlandse versie

If you want to participate in a tender, you must first register on a tendering platform. Tenders from Dutch government organisations are published on the tendering platform TenderNed. Below you can read about how to participate in a tender.

1. Register your company on TenderNed and/or TED

In the Netherlands, all government contract tenders are announced on TenderNed.nl. The TenderNed system is only available in Dutch, but the TenderNed website has several explanatory pages in English. Tenders from governments in other EU member states can be found on the platform TED (Tenders Electronic Daily).

Register with TenderNed

To participate in tenders from the Dutch government, you must register your company on TenderNed. You need eHerkenning for this. As soon as your company is registered, you can complete your company file. You can then invite employees of your organisation to the platform and participate in tenders.

2. Search for suitable assignments on TenderNed

Search for interesting tenders on TenderNed. See how to find suitable tenders and announcements (in Dutch). You can set up a profile with your interests (in Dutch). That way you receive interesting assignments in your message box on TenderNed. You can also have this forwarded to your email address.

Tendering also for small entrepreneurs

If an assignment is too big for you or your business alone, you can work together with other businesses. For example, by submitting a quote together.

Smaller contracts (below the European tendering threshold) may be tendered privately by a government organisation. This means that the government organisation invites one or more entrepreneurs and asks them to submit a tender.

3. Review the tender documents and assess the criteria

You can view tender documents via the tendering system used by the client.

The tender documents include:

4. Ask questions

Is anything unclear in the tender documents? Then you can ask the client questions until a certain date. Check in the tender documents what the deadline is for your questions.

Notice of information

The client answers the questions in a 'notice of information'. This notice contains all the answers to questions asked by participants. All participants can see the questions and answers. This means everyone has the same information. And the procedure remains fair. You cannot see who asked the questions.

You can also suggest adjustments to the assignment or procedure. Explain why you think the change is important. The client is free to accept or reject the proposal.

Register for the tender

First check whether you have to register via TenderNed for the tender you want to participate in. Sometimes clients use a different platform (in Dutch) for the registration process.

Will you register via TenderNed? Then follow the steps in the tender dashboard to register. Answer the questions about the requirements and criteria. And upload the requested documents. You must always complete a European Single Procurement Document (ESPD). That is a self-declaration about your financial situation and your ability.

When you submit the registration, your registration will be placed in a digital safe. The client can only view the registrations after the closing date. You can still improve your registration until the closing date.

6. Wait to see if you win the contract

After the closing date for submitting the tenders, the client chooses the company that receives the assignment. This is called awarding (gunning, in Dutch). The client must notify all participants of the award. This is done via a notification of the award decision.

Object

Did you not win the tender? And do you disagree with the client's decision? You can ask questions or object during the objection period. The objection period starts when the notification of the award decision has been submitted:

  • In a European tender procedure, the objection period is (at least) 20 calendar days.
  • In a national procedure, the client is free to determine the duration of the objection period.

During the objection period, you can:

Enter into a contract with the client

Did you win the tender? Then you enter into an agreement with the government organisation and carry out the assignment. This is only allowed after the objection period has ended.

Tips for bidding for a tender

Save time with these tips.

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