Open procedure timescales

The normal period from publication of the contract notice on the Find a Tender Service to the receipt of tenders is 35 days.

There are generally two sets of circumstances when it is possible to shorten the 35 days and these are outlined below. (A third is in a state of urgency subject to certain provisions).

PIN notice published
A PIN notice has been published at least 35 days and not more than 12 months before the dispatch of the actual contract notice on the Find a Tender Service.  The timescale of 35 days may be reduced to 15 days.

Use of electronic submission of tenders
Where the contracting authority permits the submission of tenders electronically, the minimum time limit for receipt of tenders can be 30 days.  The tools and devices used for electronic receipt of tenders must (amongst other things) ensure that no one can have access to the data transmitted before the deadline for receipt of tenders.

A contract notice must also be published on Contracts Finder . This notice should not be published before it has been published on Find a Tender Service or at least 48 hours have elapsed from the receipt of the confirmation of the notice from Find a Tender Service.  The contract notice on Contracts Finder must be published within 24 hours of when it is entitled to be published as detailed above.

Standstill Period
After informing all participants of the outcome of the award decision, a period of 10 days must elapse before entering into the contract (15 days if the notice is not sent electronically).  The 10 days commence on the date the notice is sent to all participants and ends at midnight at the end of the 10th day after the relevant sending date.

Contract Award Notice
A contract award notice must be published on Find a Tender Service within 30 days of the contract award.  A contract award notice must also be published on Contracts Finder within 90 calendar days of the contract award date but not before publication of the Find a Tender Service contract award notice.