Public tenders in Switzerland: platforms, thresholds and rules

At a glance

Law: Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (BöB, SR 172.056.1) und Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (IVöB 2019)
Oversight: Beschaffungskonferenz des Bundes (BKB)
Central portal: simap.ch

Thresholds

Federal buyers, supplies and services: open or selective procedure required (GPA, 2026–2027)	CHF 230 000
Federal, cantonal and communal buyers, works: GPA treaty area from (2026–2027)	CHF 8 700 000
Federal buyers, works outside the treaty area: open or selective procedure from	CHF 2 000 000
Federal buyers, direct award (freihändiges Verfahren) allowed below: supplies and services	CHF 150 000
Federal buyers, direct award (freihändiges Verfahren) allowed below: works	CHF 300 000
Cantons and communes, supplies and services: GPA treaty area from (2026–2027)	CHF 350 000
Cantons and communes (IVöB), supplies, services and ancillary construction: open or selective procedure required from	CHF 250 000
Cantons and communes (IVöB), main construction work: open or selective procedure required from	CHF 500 000

Law and buyers

Federal procurement is governed by the Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (BöB, Federal Act on Public Procurement) and its ordinance (VöB), in force since 1 January 2021. Cantons and communes apply the Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (IVöB 2019, Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement), which most cantons have joined, together with cantonal implementing law. Both texts follow the revised WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA 2012) and the bilateral procurement agreement with the EU, which also covers certain utilities. Buyers include federal offices such as the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL), armasuisse and the Federal Roads Office, the cantons and communes, and public companies such as SBB. The Beschaffungskonferenz des Bundes (BKB) coordinates federal procurement, and the KBOB coordinates construction.[5][7][10]

Where tenders are published

Open and selective procedures of the Confederation, cantons and communes are published on simap.ch, the internet platform operated jointly by the Confederation and the cantons; awards above the relevant thresholds are published there too. Some cantons also publish notices in their official gazette. Switzerland does not publish on TED. Access to notices and tender documents must be free of charge under the BöB, though a free simap account is usually needed to download documents and ask questions. Many tenders still require the bid by post or hand delivery in the form the documents set, while electronic submission is gradually being introduced. For contracts in the treaty area that are not tendered in a WTO official language, the buyer publishes a summary in one, usually English or French.[4][7]

Procedures and thresholds

Swiss law has four procedures. The offenes Verfahren / procédure ouverte (open procedure) and selektives Verfahren / procédure sélective (selective procedure, with a prequalification stage) are required above the thresholds. The Einladungsverfahren / procédure sur invitation (invitation procedure) lets the buyer invite at least three bidders without a public notice, within set value limits. The freihändige Verfahren / procédure de gré à gré (direct award) is allowed below lower limits or in listed exceptional cases. The limits differ between the Confederation and the cantons: cantonal limits for open procedures are higher for supplies and services, and construction distinguishes main construction (Bauhauptgewerbe) from ancillary trades (Baunebengewerbe). The treaty area under the GPA starts at higher values, which affects deadlines, access for foreign bidders and remedies.[1][3][7][10]

Documents and language

Buyers often accept a Selbstdeklaration (self-declaration) first and ask for evidence at a set stage. Typical evidence shows that taxes and social security contributions are paid, for example an extract from the debt enforcement register (Betreibungsregisterauszug) and confirmations from the old-age, unemployment and accident insurance funds. Bidders must also confirm compliance with occupational safety rules, working conditions at the place of performance, equal pay for women and men and environmental law; for work abroad, at least the ILO core conventions apply. Some cantons and the Confederation accept entries in recognised registers instead of individual documents. Foreign bidders submit equivalent documents from their home country. For work done in Switzerland, foreign companies must also respect the notification rules for posted workers and the local working conditions.[6][7]

Deadlines, award and challenges

In the treaty area the minimum period for bids in an open procedure is 40 days from publication. In a selective procedure it is 25 days to apply and 40 days to bid after the invitation. The buyer may cut the 40-day period by 5 days each for electronic publication, electronic tender documents and electronic submission, and to no less than 10 days in proven urgency. Outside the treaty area the bid period is normally at least 20 days, and at least 5 days for largely standardised goods and services. The contract goes to the most advantageous offer on criteria such as quality, price and sustainability. Appeals against an award must be filed in writing within 20 days, at the Federal Administrative Court for federal buyers or the cantonal administrative court for cantonal and communal buyers. In the treaty area the contract may only be signed after this appeal period.[6][7]

How to win a tender in Switzerland

Since the 2019 revision of the BöB and IVöB, the contract goes to the most advantageous tender (vorteilhaftestes Angebot) rather than simply the cheapest. The buyer must state the award criteria and their weighting in the invitation or tender documents; besides price and quality, criteria can include sustainability, life-cycle costs, plausibility of the offer, reliability of the price and, under federal law, the different price levels in the countries where the work is performed. Lowest price alone is only allowed for standardised services that meet high sustainability standards. Buyers usually run one or two question rounds in the anonymous question forum on simap.ch, with fixed deadlines; late questions are not answered, and all bidders who obtained the documents can read the answers. Study the buyer's earlier award notices on simap, which name the winner, the price and the decisive advantages. Answer every criterion with Swiss references and named key staff, price in Swiss francs and respect formal rules, including signed or paper submission if required. Bids fail when late, incomplete or abnormally low without proof of compliance. The award is notified with a short summary of reasons; ask for a debriefing, and appeal within 20 days if needed.[6][8][9]

List each award criterion and weighting from the invitation and documents.
Read the buyer's earlier simap award notices for winners, prices and advantages.
Post questions in the simap forum before each round closes and read all answers.
Answer every criterion with Swiss references, named staff and prices in CHF.
Follow formal rules on signature, format and delivery to arrive on time.
Ask for a debriefing and appeal within 20 days if necessary.

Clarification round: Question round in the simap.ch question forum (Fragerunde / Frageforum, forum aux questions)

How TenderRender helps you in Switzerland

TenderRender does the work behind each step above. Your team checks and refines.

1
Research the buyer
Brings together the buyer's earlier awards, policies and contracts, so your bid fits this buyer's situation in Switzerland.
2
Ask questions
Finds unclear points and risks in the documents and drafts questions about them for the clarification round: Question round in the simap.ch question forum (Fragerunde / Frageforum, forum aux questions).
3
Write per criterion
Drafts a first version per award criterion, in the language of the tender, with citations to your own documents.
4
Review
Scores your bid per award criterion the way an evaluator would, with concrete improvements.
5
Fill in forms
Fills in the declarations, price schedules, questionnaires and Excel annexes from your own data and earlier bids, with a source per answer.
6
Submit
Builds a checklist of everything you need to submit on simap.ch and prepares the documents ready to sign.

Tender search covers the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany; in Switzerland you upload the documents from simap.ch and TenderRender works with them the same way.

Teams writing or reviewing with TenderRender won 49% of their completed tenders. How this was calculated

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Tips for bidders

Set up a free simap account and search profiles in the languages of the regions you serve, because each canton publishes in its own official language. Check carefully whether a contract falls inside the treaty area: outside it, foreign companies may only bid if their country grants reciprocity or the buyer allows it, and appeals are limited. Read the formal requirements in the tender documents, as many Swiss buyers still require a signed paper bid delivered on time, and late bids are excluded. Price your offer in Swiss francs unless the documents say otherwise. If you will perform work in Switzerland, plan for Swiss working conditions, wage levels and posted-worker formalities. Keep the 20-day appeal deadline in mind, because Swiss procurement law does not pause it during court holidays.[4][7]

Platforms in Switzerland

This country does not publish on TED, so there are no shares. These are the platforms from our market map, public ones first.

simap.ch
Swiss federal, cantonal and municipal tenders: register your company and assign user roles; online help and video tutorials explain downloading documents and asking questions.
How it works →Website

PublicCommercial

Tender search for this country

Baublatt (Infomanager / Xplorer)
Swiss construction information service tracking building applications, permits and public tenders daily, with project data, decision-maker contacts and APIs.
BidAtlas
Swiss AI bid-management platform whose agents find tenders on simap and DTVP, analyse requirements, suggest references and draft bid documents.
IntelliProcure
Swiss procurement intelligence platform on simap data: tender-document search, award statistics, supplier rankings and daily keyword/CPV email alerts.
simap.ch
Official procurement platform of the Swiss Confederation, cantons and communes to publish tenders and awards, download documents and submit bids online.
TenderLift
Swiss tender platform that reads every SIMAP notice, grades fit against your company, adds buyer and award intelligence and checks bids against requirements.
vergabe.bot
AI search engine for public tenders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including notices from municipal websites, with daily email alerts and API.

Bid writing tools from this country

BidAtlas
Swiss AI bid-management platform whose agents find tenders on simap and DTVP, analyse requirements, suggest references and draft bid documents.
Scalera
AI platform for construction suppliers and contractors that extracts line items from bills of quantities and matches them to products or subcontractors.
Tendera
AI tool for Swiss construction companies that extracts must/can criteria from specifications and compares offers against them in a matrix.
TenderLift
Swiss tender platform that reads every SIMAP notice, grades fit against your company, adds buyer and award intelligence and checks bids against requirements.

All players on the market map

Frequently asked questions

Where are public tenders in Switzerland published?

On simap.ch, the joint platform of the Confederation and the cantons. Switzerland does not publish on TED, and some cantons also use their official gazette.[4]

Do I need to register to bid?

Reading notices is free; a free simap account is usually needed to download tender documents and ask questions. The bid is submitted in the form the documents require, often still on paper.[4][7]

What are the thresholds?

For 2026 and 2027 the GPA treaty area starts at CHF 230,000 for federal supplies and services, CHF 350,000 for cantonal and communal supplies and services and CHF 8,700,000 for works. Below that, open procedures are required from CHF 230,000 (federal) or CHF 250,000 (cantons) for supplies and services.[1][2][3]

Can foreign companies take part?

Yes, in the treaty area companies from GPA countries and the EU bid on equal terms. Outside it, foreign companies are admitted if their country grants reciprocity or the buyer allows it.[7]

In which language must I bid?

In federal procurement, bids may in principle be submitted in any Swiss official language. Cantonal buyers usually require the canton's official language; the tender documents state the accepted languages.[7][10]

How much time do I have to submit a bid?

In the treaty area at least 40 days in an open procedure, which can be shortened for electronic publication and submission. Outside the treaty area normally at least 20 days.[7]

Is Switzerland bound by the EU procurement directives?

No. Switzerland follows the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and its bilateral procurement agreement with the EU, so thresholds and procedures differ from EU rules.[5][7]