# How do public tenders work in Romania?

Romanian public procurement follows the EU directives through Legea nr. 98/2016 and related laws, with ANAP setting policy and almost every procedure running through the national system SEAP / SICAP (e-licitatie.ro). Contracts above EU thresholds are also published on TED, which listed 14,684 Romanian contract notices in 2025. Bidders need a SEAP account and a qualified electronic signature, and should expect documentation in Romanian.

Checked on 15 October 2026. Made by TenderRender from official sources. Not legal advice: check the notice and documents of each tender.
Source: https://www.tenderrender.com/en-us/tender-guides/romania

## At a glance

- Law: [Legea nr. 98/2016 privind achizițiile publice](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/178667)
- Oversight: [Agenția Națională pentru Achiziții Publice (ANAP)](https://anap.gov.ro/)
- Central portal: [Sistemul Electronic de Achiziții Publice (SEAP / SICAP)](https://www.e-licitatie.ro/)
- Thresholds: Direct award (achiziție directă): supplies and services, below this value: RON 270.120 (excl. VAT) ([source](https://www.cdep.ro/ords/pls/proiecte/docs?2022/pr342_22.pdf))
- Thresholds: Direct award (achiziție directă): works, below this value: RON 900.400 (excl. VAT) ([source](https://www.cdep.ro/ords/pls/proiecte/docs?2022/pr342_22.pdf))
- Thresholds: Direct award above which the buyer must use the SEAP electronic catalogue or publish a notice: supplies and services / works: RON 200.000 / RON 560.000 (excl. VAT) ([source](https://www.cdep.ro/ords/pls/proiecte/docs?2022/pr342_22.pdf))
- Thresholds: EU threshold: supplies and services, central government authorities: € 140.000 (RON 698.460) ([source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202505732))
- Thresholds: EU threshold: supplies and services, sub-central authorities: € 216.000 ([source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2152/oj))
- Thresholds: EU threshold: works contracts and concessions: € 5.404.000 ([source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2152/oj))
- Thresholds: EU threshold: supplies and services in the utilities sectors (Legea 99/2016): € 432.000 ([source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2150/oj))
- Thresholds: EU threshold: social and other specific services (classic sector): € 750.000 ([source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2152/oj))

## Law and buyers

Public procurement in Romania is based on the EU directives 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU and 2014/23/EU, transposed by Legea nr. 98/2016 privind achizițiile publice (public procurement), Legea nr. 99/2016 (utilities sectors), Legea nr. 100/2016 (concessions) and Legea nr. 101/2016 (remedies and the review body). Detailed rules are set in methodological norms adopted by government decision. The Agenția Națională pentru Achiziții Publice (ANAP) sets policy and supervises the system. Buyers include ministries and other central bodies, county councils, municipalities, hospitals, schools and state-owned companies in energy, transport and water. The Oficiul Național pentru Achiziții Centralizate (ONAC) acts as central purchasing body for framework agreements used by public authorities.

## Where tenders are published

Almost all Romanian procedures are published and run on SEAP, the Sistemul Electronic de Achiziții Publice, also called SICAP (e-licitatie.ro), operated by the Autoritatea pentru Digitalizarea României (ADR). Contracts above EU thresholds also appear on TED: according to TED data, 14,684 Romanian contract notices were published in 2025 and 99.6 percent of them pointed to SEAP / SICAP, so there is effectively one public platform. Notices can be read publicly, but to take part you must register your company in SEAP as an economic operator. The registration request and tenders are signed with a qualified electronic signature under eIDAS, so arrange a qualified certificate before you start. Commercial alert services such as DataDriven.ro, Licitatia.ro and licitatii.app repackage SEAP notices for monitoring.

## Procedures and thresholds

Legea 98/2016 provides the EU procedures: open procedure (licitație deschisă), restricted procedure (licitație restrânsă), competitive procedure with negotiation (negociere competitivă), competitive dialogue, innovation partnership and the negotiated procedure without prior publication, plus design contests. Below the EU thresholds the buyer uses the simplified procedure (procedura simplificată), launched by a simplified contract notice in SEAP, with shorter time limits and fewer formalities. Small purchases below the national thresholds may be bought by direct award (achiziție directă); above a lower limit the buyer must use the SEAP electronic catalogue or publish a notice so that suppliers can respond. Framework agreements, dynamic purchasing systems and electronic auctions are also used.

## Documents and language

For most procedures you submit the DUAE (documentul unic de achiziții european, the Romanian name for the European Single Procurement Document) as preliminary evidence that you meet the exclusion and selection criteria. The buyer can then ask for supporting documents, typically criminal record certificates, certificates showing that taxes and social contributions are paid, a company register extract, and references, financial statements or certificates required by the selection criteria. The procurement documents are drafted in Romanian, and tenders are normally prepared in Romanian. Foreign bidders may usually rely on equivalent documents from their home country, but should check in the tender documents whether certified translations into Romanian are required and use e-Certis to identify equivalents.

## Deadlines, award and challenges

In the open procedure above EU thresholds, at least 35 days must pass between dispatch of the notice to the EU Official Journal and the tender deadline, which can be shortened after a prior information notice. In the simplified procedure the minimum is 10 days for supplies and services, 6 days for low-complexity supplies and 15 days for works. Contracts go to the most economically advantageous tender, based on lowest price, lowest cost, best price-quality ratio or best cost-quality ratio. Under Legea 101/2016 you must first send a prior notification (notificare prealabilă) to the buyer, within 10 days above EU thresholds or 5 days below. If the answer does not satisfy you, a complaint (contestație) can go to the Consiliul Național de Soluționare a Contestațiilor (CNSC) or to court within a further 10 or 5 days, counted from the buyer's answer or from the end of its three-day answer period.

## Tips for bidders

Register in SEAP and obtain a qualified electronic signature well before your first deadline, especially as a foreign company, because the account must be validated before you can submit. Monitor SEAP daily: simplified procedures can close within two weeks, and many small contracts are handled through the SEAP electronic catalogue rather than formal procedures. Read the full documentation, including clarifications published in SEAP, and ask questions within the stated period. Keep tax and social security certificates and criminal record extracts current. Remember that challenges always start with a prior notification to the buyer, and the clock of 10 or 5 days starts the day after you learn of the act, or on publication of the documents if you object to their content.

## Platforms in Romania

Share of the 14,684 TED notices from 2025 whose documents sit on this platform.

- SEAP / SICAP 99.6% (Public) Enrol in SICAP with a qualified digital certificate from an EU-listed trust provider; the same certificate signs your offers.

## Tender search for this country

- [DataDriven.ro](https://www.datadriven.ro): Romanian tender monitoring platform with AI document summaries, qualification checks, an AI bid-dossier workspace and API/MCP access.
- [Licitatia.ro](https://www.licitatia.ro): Romanian tender monitoring service with email alerts on SEAP and other sources, tender documents, award data and market statistics.
- [licitatii.app](https://licitatii.app): Romanian app for SEAP/SICAP tender alerts by CPV, keyword and county, with award reports and competitor CPV analysis.

## How to win a tender in Romania

Romanian buyers award to the most economically advantageous tender using lowest price, lowest cost, best price-quality or best cost-quality ratio. Lowest price or cost may not be used for certain complex intellectual services and for works and services linked to trans-European transport projects and county roads; the implementing rules set the maximum weight of price there. Where quality counts, read the evaluation factors and their scoring in the tender documents and answer each one concretely. Ask solicitări de clarificări through SEAP in good time: the buyer should normally answer within 3 working days and, for requests sent in time, at least 6 days before the deadline, publishing the questions and answers without your name. To know the buyer, review its earlier procedures, award notices and contracts in SEAP. An apparently unusually low price triggers a request for clarification, and the tender is rejected if the evidence does not justify it. After the result, unsuccessful bidders with an admissible tender are told the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning tender, and every bidder may access the procedure report (raportul procedurii) within one working day of asking.

1. Check the evaluation factors and scoring method before you start writing.
2. Send clarification requests in SEAP early, so answers arrive at least 6 days pre-deadline.
3. Review the buyer's previous procedures, award notices and contracts in SEAP.
4. Prepare a price build-up with evidence if your offer is well below the estimate.
5. Request the procedure report right after the result to see how tenders were scored.

Clarification round: Solicitări de clarificări (requests for clarification or additional information)

## How contracts are awarded in Romania

- 23% of tenders are awarded on price alone
- 2 bids per lot (median)
- 33% of lots receive a single bid
- 74% of winners are SMEs

Source: TED, 34,679 contract and award notices from 2025, calculated by TenderRender. (https://ted.europa.eu/en/)

## Bidding in Romania with TenderRender

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

- **Research the buyer**: Brings together the buyer's earlier awards, policies and contracts, so your bid fits this buyer's situation in Romania.
- **Ask questions**: Finds unclear points and risks in the documents and drafts questions about them for the clarification round: Solicitări de clarificări (requests for clarification or additional information).
- **Write per criterion**: Drafts a first version per award criterion, in the language of the tender, with citations to your own documents.
- **Review**: Scores your bid per award criterion the way an evaluator would, with concrete improvements.
- **Fill in forms**: Fills in the ESPD, price schedules, questionnaires and Excel annexes from your own data and earlier bids, with a source per answer.
- **Submit**: Builds a checklist of everything you need to submit on Sistemul Electronic de Achiziții Publice (SEAP / SICAP) and prepares the documents ready to sign.

Tender search covers the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany; in Romania you upload the documents from Sistemul Electronic de Achiziții Publice (SEAP / SICAP) and TenderRender works with them the same way.

Teams writing or reviewing with TenderRender won 49% of their completed tenders. https://www.tenderrender.com/en-us/customers/win-rate

All players on the market map: https://www.tenderrender.com/en-us/market-map

## Frequently asked questions

### Where are public tenders in Romania published?

Almost all procedures are published and run on SEAP / SICAP (e-licitatie.ro). Contracts above EU thresholds also appear on TED, where 99.6 percent of Romanian notices in 2025 pointed to SEAP / SICAP.

### Do I need to register to bid?

Yes, you need an economic operator account in SEAP to submit tenders, and registration and tenders are signed with a qualified electronic signature. Reading notices does not require an account.

### What are the thresholds?

Direct award is allowed below RON 270,120 for supplies and services and RON 900,400 for works, excluding VAT. Between those values and the EU thresholds the simplified procedure applies; EU procedures start at 140,000 euros (central government supplies and services) and 5,404,000 euros for works.

### Can foreign companies take part?

Yes, companies from other EU countries and countries with equivalent access rights can bid on the same terms. They need a SEAP account and can generally use equivalent documents from their home country.

### In which language must I submit my tender?

Procurement documents are in Romanian and tenders are normally submitted in Romanian. Check the documentation for any translation requirements for foreign certificates.

### How much time do I have to prepare a tender?

Above EU thresholds the open procedure has a minimum of 35 days. In the simplified procedure the minimum is 10 days for supplies and services, 6 days for low-complexity supplies and 15 days for works.

### How do I challenge a procurement decision?

First send a prior notification (notificare prealabilă) to the buyer within 10 days above EU thresholds or 5 days below. If that does not solve the problem, file a complaint with the CNSC or the court within a further 10 or 5 days after the buyer's answer.

## Sources

- [Legea nr. 98/2016 privind achizițiile publice, national legislation portal (legislatie.just.ro)](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/178667)
- [Legea nr. 98/2016, original 2016 text as published by a county council (procedures, art. 74 and art. 113 time limits, art. 187 award criteria)](https://www.cjteleorman.ro/ro/licitatii/Legislatie%20utila%20-%20achizitii%20publice/Legea%20nr.98%20din%202016.pdf)
- [Legea nr. 101/2016 on remedies and the CNSC, consolidated text as published by a county council (art. 6 to 8: prior notification and review deadlines)](https://www.cjteleorman.ro/ro/licitatii/Legislatie%20utila%20-%20achizitii%20publice/Legea%20nr.101%20din%202016.pdf)
- [Chamber of Deputies: law text sent for promulgation (PL-x 342/2022), became Legea nr. 208/2022 amending art. 7 of Legea 98/2016 (direct award thresholds)](https://www.cdep.ro/ords/pls/proiecte/docs?2022/pr342_22.pdf)
- [Senate legislative file L339/2022: promulgated as Legea nr. 208/2022, Monitorul Oficial nr. 697 of 12.07.2022](https://www.senat.ro/legis/lista.aspx?nr_cls=L339&an_cls=2022)
- [Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2152 (thresholds 2026-2027, Directive 2014/24/EU)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2152/oj)
- [Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2150 (thresholds 2026-2027, Directive 2014/25/EU)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2150/oj)
- [Commission Communication OJ C/2025/5732: thresholds 2026-2027 in national currencies](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C_202505732)
- [SEAP / SICAP, the national electronic public procurement system](https://www.e-licitatie.ro/)
- [Agenția Națională pentru Achiziții Publice (ANAP)](https://anap.gov.ro/)
- [Consiliul Național de Soluționare a Contestațiilor (CNSC)](http://www.cnsc.ro/)
- [e-Certis, European Commission](https://ec.europa.eu/tools/ecertis/)