Glossary
Procurement terms, explained for bidders
Relevant terms covering UK and EU public procurement — from procedures and portals to scoring and strategy. Written by bid professionals, not lawyers.
Key takeaways
- 31 UK and EU public procurement terms, defined in plain English for bidders rather than lawyers.
- Organised into 6 categories — from procurement procedures and documents to evaluation, strategy, portals, and compliance.
- Each entry links to a fuller definition, with worked detail and how the term affects a bid.
- Written by bid professionals behind £3bn+ in public sector wins, not generated from a dictionary.
Procurement procedures
Framework agreement
A framework agreement is a multi-year arrangement between one or more public sector buyers and one or more suppliers that sets the terms — pricing, quality, delivery — for contracts awarded during its life. A framework is not itself a contract for work; the individual call-off contracts placed under it are.
Dynamic purchasing system(DPS)
A dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is an electronic procurement tool under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that, unlike a closed framework, stays open to new suppliers throughout its life — any provider meeting the published criteria can join at any point and then bid for individual call-offs.
Open procedure
The open procedure is a single-stage public procurement route, defined in section 20 of the Procurement Act 2023, where any interested supplier may submit a full tender with no pre-qualification or shortlisting. The contracting authority then awards the contract on the basis of those tenders alone.
Restricted procedure
The restricted procedure is a two-stage UK procurement process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in which suppliers first complete a selection questionnaire and the buyer shortlists at least five qualifying candidates, who alone are then invited to submit a full tender.
Competitive dialogue
Competitive dialogue was a UK procurement procedure for complex contracts in which the buyer held structured, confidential discussions with shortlisted suppliers to develop a solution before inviting final tenders. Used when the technical specification could not be defined upfront, it has been absorbed into the competitive flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023.
Negotiated procedure without prior publication
The negotiated procedure without prior publication is a procurement route under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that lets a buyer negotiate directly with one or more suppliers without advertising a contract notice. Permitted only in narrow cases such as extreme urgency, a single capable supplier, or no suitable tenders received.
Light touch regime(LTR)
The light touch regime (LTR) is a simplified UK procurement regime for specified social, health, education, and similar services delivered to people. It applies a far higher threshold — £663,540 including VAT — and lets buyers design their own award process instead of following the standard procedures.
Mini-competition
A mini-competition is a focused tender run among the suppliers already appointed to a multi-supplier framework agreement or dynamic market, inviting all eligible members of the relevant lot to bid for a specific call-off contract using the evaluation criteria and rules pre-set by the framework.
Call-off contract
A call-off contract is the individual, legally binding contract a public sector buyer places with a supplier under a framework agreement or dynamic market. The framework sets the rules; the call-off is the actual order, with its own scope, value, duration, and deliverables.
Documents and notices
Invitation to tender(ITT)
An invitation to tender (ITT) is the formal document package a public sector buyer issues to invite suppliers to submit a tender for a specific contract. An ITT sets out the specification, evaluation criteria and weightings, terms and conditions, pricing schedule, and submission instructions and deadline.
Selection questionnaire(SQ)
A selection questionnaire (SQ) is the standardised pre-qualification document under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that assesses whether a supplier meets the minimum standards to be invited to tender, covering exclusion grounds, financial standing and technical capability. For procurements started on or after 24 February 2025 the SQ is replaced by the Procurement Specific Questionnaire.
Pre-qualification questionnaire(PQQ)
A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) is the legacy document UK public sector buyers used to shortlist suppliers before inviting tenders, assessing financial standing, technical capability, and exclusion grounds. The standardised selection questionnaire (SQ) superseded it in 2016, though bidders still use the term PQQ colloquially.
Contract notice
A contract notice is the formal advertisement a public sector buyer publishes to start a competitive procurement and invite tenders or requests to participate. It names the requirement, the procedure, the response deadline, and where to access the tender documents. Under the Procurement Act 2023 it is renamed the tender notice.
Award notice
An award notice is a public notice confirming the outcome of a procurement — naming the winning supplier, the contract value, and the number of tenders received. Under the Procurement Act 2023 the term splits into two notices: a contract award notice published before the contract is signed, and a contract details notice published after.
Prior information notice(PIN)
A prior information notice (PIN) is an advance notice published by a public sector buyer signalling an intention to procure goods, works, or services in the coming months. A PIN is not an invitation to tender; it alerts the market early and, if compliant, can shorten the later tender timescale.
Evaluation and scoring
Most economically advantageous tender(MEAT)
The most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) is the legacy award basis under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, requiring buyers to award on the best combination of quality and price rather than lowest price alone. The Procurement Act 2023 renames it the most advantageous tender (MAT).
Evaluation criteria
Evaluation criteria, called award criteria under the Procurement Act 2023, are the factors and weightings a buyer publishes to score tenders — covering quality, methodology, staff, price and social value — and decide the most advantageous tender. Criteria must relate to the subject-matter of the contract.
Quality score
A quality score is the mark a public sector evaluator awards to the non-price (technical) elements of a tender, assessed against published award criteria — usually on a 0–5 or 0–10 scale with written descriptors — and often weighted at 40–70% of the total evaluation.
Social value
Social value is the wider economic, social, and environmental benefit a supplier's delivery of a UK public contract generates beyond the goods or services bought — local jobs, skills, carbon reduction, community impact. Central government must score it at a minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation.
Strategy and decision-making
Bid/no-bid decision
A bid/no-bid decision is the structured assessment a supplier makes before pursuing a tender, weighing strategic fit, win probability, resource cost, commercial value, and risk to decide whether the opportunity is worth bidding for — concentrating limited bid effort on winnable, profitable work rather than chasing every notice.
Win themes
Win themes are the three to five recurring messages woven through a tender response that tie a genuine differentiator to a buyer's stated priority and frame it as a benefit. Win themes answer the evaluator's underlying question — why choose this supplier for this contract — rather than listing capabilities.
Competitor analysis in procurement
Competitor analysis in procurement is the systematic study of the suppliers bidding for the same public contracts — using published award notices, framework positions, and market intelligence to learn who wins, where, at what value, and against how many bidders, so each bid is targeted rather than generic.
Consortium bid
A consortium bid is a single tender submitted jointly by two or more suppliers who combine their capabilities, experience, and resources to compete for a public contract none could win or deliver alone. The group nominates a lead member, and a single legal entity must hold the resulting contract.
Portals and systems
Contracts Finder
Contracts Finder is the UK government's free, Cabinet Office-run portal where public buyers publish lower-value contract opportunities and award notices. It covers contracts above £12,000 including VAT for central government and £30,000 including VAT for sub-central bodies such as councils, NHS trusts, and universities.
Find a Tender(FTS)
Find a Tender (FTS) is the UK government's central digital platform for publishing public procurement notices above the threshold, replacing the EU's Official Journal (OJEU/TED) after Brexit. Under the Procurement Act 2023, FTS carries all regulated above-threshold notices for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Tenders Electronic Daily(TED)
Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) is the European Union's official platform for public procurement notices, publishing the Supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. It carries around 800,000 above-threshold notices a year, worth more than €815 billion, across all EU and EEA countries.
CPV codes(CPV)
CPV codes — the Common Procurement Vocabulary — are a standardised set of nine-digit numbers that public sector buyers use to classify the subject of a contract notice. Maintained by the European Union and retained by the UK after Brexit, CPV codes let suppliers search and filter procurement portals consistently.
Regulations and compliance
Procurement thresholds
Procurement thresholds are the financial values, set in Schedule 1 of the Procurement Act 2023 and revised every two years, that decide which rules a UK public contract follows. A contract estimated at or above the threshold (including VAT) triggers full regulated procurement; below it, lighter rules apply.
Public Contracts Regulations 2015(PCR 2015)
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) are the UK statutory instrument (SI 2015/102) that governed public procurement in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland from 26 February 2015. PCR 2015 still applies to procurements commenced before 24 February 2025, when the Procurement Act 2023 took over.
Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Act 2023 is the law governing most UK public procurement, in force since 24 February 2025. It replaces the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and three other regimes with one set of rules, introducing the competitive flexible procedure, a central digital platform, and a published debarment list.
Standstill period(Alcatel period)
The standstill period is a mandatory pause between a public buyer announcing a contract award and signing it, giving unsuccessful bidders time to challenge. Under the Procurement Act 2023 it is at least eight working days from publication of the contract award notice; under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 it was ten calendar days.
Sources
Definitions on this page are grounded in UK and EU primary procurement law and the official notice services. Individual term pages cite the specific clause each definition draws from.