Procurement Act checklist for suppliers
The Procurement Act 2023 changed the rules for public contracts. This checklist follows one tender from start to finish and says what to do at each stage, with the official source for every step.
- 8 working days
- At least, between the award notice and the contract
- 30 days
- To pay a valid, undisputed invoice
- £5 million
- Above this, contracts usually have published KPIs
- £12,000
- Central government contracts from this value are published
Before the tender
Set up once, then watch for what buyers plan to buy.
5 steps
Find a Tender is the government’s Central Digital Platform, and it is free to use. You register once and get a unique identifier that you use with every buyer. For a contract above the threshold, register before the tender deadline. If you bid only for smaller contracts, you must be registered by the time you win one: a rule since 1 April 2026.
For bids above the threshold, add your core supplier information once: basic details, including whether you are a small business or social enterprise, your accounts, your connected persons and the exclusion questions. You reuse it for every bid.
Notices under the Act are published on Find a Tender, including many contracts below the threshold. Set up alerts for the work you do. Contracts Finder carries only notices under the old rules.
A buyer that expects to spend more than £100 million in a financial year publishes, within 56 days of 1 April, the contracts over £2 million it plans to advertise in the next 18 months. Look for the buyers you work with.
Before a tender, a buyer may talk to suppliers to shape what it buys. When it does, it publishes a preliminary market engagement notice first. It is your chance to explain what works.
Deciding to bid
Check which rules apply and anything that could stop you.
5 steps
Above the threshold, the full rules of the Act apply. Below it, fewer rules apply, but buyers still publish the contracts they award from £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (other buyers), including VAT.
Some buyers can reserve a contract below the threshold for small businesses, voluntary and social enterprises, or local suppliers. Make sure your status is correct in your supplier information.
Buyers must exclude a supplier on some grounds and may exclude it on others, when the circumstances continue or are likely to happen again. The checks cover your organisation and its connected persons, such as directors and parent companies. Buyers also check the debarment list.
If an exclusion ground applies, show the buyer what you have done so it will not happen again. The buyer must let you explain before it decides, and can take your evidence into account.
Buyers must find and reduce conflicts of interest among the people who act for them. If your bid could gain an unfair advantage, for example through a former employee of the buyer, say so early. The buyer can ask you to take steps, and must exclude you if the advantage cannot be avoided.
Bidding
Read how this tender works, then answer what the buyer will assess.
5 steps
This is not Find a Tender. Buyers usually run each tender on their own tendering portal, where you download the documents, ask clarification questions and submit your tender. You usually need an account on each portal.
Buyers use the open procedure, a single round of tenders, or a competitive flexible procedure they design themselves. A flexible procedure can have several stages, such as negotiation or a demonstration, so note every stage and date.
The contract goes to the most advantageous tender: the one that meets the requirements and best satisfies the award criteria. The tender documents say how much each criterion counts, so plan your answers around them.
If you rely on another organisation to meet the conditions of participation, or plan to use subcontractors, the buyer can check them against the exclusion grounds too.
After the award decision
Learn from the scores, and know the dates that follow.
3 steps
After a competitive tender, every supplier that submitted an assessed tender receives an assessment summary before the award is announced. It explains how your tender was assessed and, if you did not win, how the winning tender was assessed.
The standstill period starts when the contract award notice is published and lasts at least 8 working days. The buyer cannot enter into the contract before it ends, though some awards, such as call-offs from a framework, have none. If you think the buyer made a mistake, raise it in this period and take legal advice quickly.
The buyer publishes a contract details notice within 30 days. For contracts over £5 million it also publishes a copy of the contract within 90 days, and can hold back only limited information, such as some commercially sensitive details.
During the contract
Deliver against what is measured, and plan for the end date.
4 steps
For contracts worth more than £5 million, the buyer usually sets at least three key performance indicators, assesses performance against them at least once a year and publishes the results.
If a breach of contract leads to termination, damages or a settlement, or you still fall short after a chance to improve, the buyer publishes a contract performance notice. A notice can count against you in later exclusion decisions.
A valid, undisputed invoice must be paid within 30 days, and the contract cannot change that. The same term reaches subcontracts at every tier, so pay your own subcontractors within 30 days too.
Buyers publish a notice when they change a contract beyond small limits, and within 30 days of any ending, including expiry. Mark the end date early: the next tender may appear in a pipeline notice.
Thresholds from 1 January 2026
A procurement above its threshold follows the full rules of the Act. These amounts include VAT and apply to procurements that start from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027. Wales uses the same amounts.
| Contract | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Goods and services, central government | £135,018 |
| Goods and services, other public bodies | £207,720 |
| Goods and services, utilities and defence | £415,440 |
| Light touch services, such as health and social care | £663,540 |
| Works | £5,193,000 |
Questions about the checklist
Which procurements does the Act cover?
Procurements that started on or after 24 February 2025. Procurements that started before then finish under the old rules, such as the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Act covers most public buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and UK-wide bodies operating in Scotland. Scottish devolved bodies follow Scottish rules, and some rules differ for Welsh and Northern Ireland devolved buyers.
Do I need to register on Find a Tender to bid?
You register once, and the same identifier works with every buyer. For a contract above the threshold, register before the tender deadline: the buyer checks that you have registered and shared up-to-date supplier information. If you bid only for smaller contracts, you must be registered by the time you win one.
Is this checklist legal advice?
No. It is a plain summary of the main steps for suppliers, with the official source for each one. For a specific contract, ask the buyer or a legal adviser.
Where are my ticks saved?
In this browser, on this device. Nothing you tick is sent to Bidsights or anyone else. Clear ticks removes them, and clearing your browsing data does too.
When was it last checked?
On 14 October 2026, against GOV.UK guidance and legislation.gov.uk. The current thresholds apply to procurements that start before 1 January 2028.
Every stage is part of one bid
This checklist covers the rules. Bidsights is a CRM for bid management. It keeps each bid with its customer, bid/no-bid decision and tender pack, which you can review with Bidsights AI, plus tasks with owners and due dates, and the contract that follows a win, with its review dates.