This guide is a general practical overview. It is not legal advice, not binding procurement advice and no guarantee of an award. For a binding legal assessment of your individual case, we recommend consulting a lawyer or a procurement law specialist.
Public tenders are an underrated source of contracts for many trades businesses: municipalities, state authorities and other public contracting authorities continuously award contracts in construction, electrical work, plumbing/heating, carpentry and other trades – often without the suitable businesses ever hearing about it. The problem is rarely a lack of suitability but a lack of visibility: if you do not search the right platforms regularly, you simply do not see your own opportunities.
Unlike classic new-customer business, the chance of winning a public contract is not decided by recommendation or reputation, but simply by whether a business learns of the suitable tender at the right time and submits a complete, formally correct bid. This makes public tenders a contract channel that is in principle open to every suitable business – provided the structural hurdles of the search are overcome.
Note: This guide is a general practical overview. It is not legal advice, not binding procurement advice and no guarantee of an award. For a binding legal assessment of your individual case, we recommend consulting a lawyer or a procurement law specialist.
A public tender is a procedure by which state or municipal contracting authorities – such as cities, districts, state authorities or public institutions – award contracts for construction, supply or services. Unlike private contracts, a legally prescribed procedure applies here, which is meant to ensure transparency and competition: in principle, every suitable bidder is meant to have the opportunity to apply.
The problem in practice: there is no single central platform on which all public tenders in Germany are published together. Instead there are many different places to find them, which can be roughly divided into two categories:
EU-wide tenders are published via TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), the official EU platform for procurement notices. This is where larger contracts are found whose estimated value reaches or exceeds certain EU thresholds (more on this below).
Regional and national tenders – often the more relevant category for trades businesses – are by contrast published via a large number of individual procurement portals: federal states, districts, municipalities and many public institutions run their own procurement platforms or use central state portals. Anyone who wants to search systematically for suitable contracts potentially has to keep an eye on dozens of such portals.
Regardless of which platform a tender is published on, the associated procurement documents (Vergabeunterlagen) usually contain a service specification (what exactly is to be carried out), information on deadlines (application deadline and, where applicable, execution deadline), required evidence and suitability criteria, and the award criteria on which the contract will later be awarded – often a combination of price and other factors such as quality or execution time, not exclusively the lowest price. Anyone who knows this structure finds their way around different tender documents more quickly, even though layout and wording vary from platform to platform.
This fragmentation is the main reason why many trades businesses hardly use public tenders as a source of contracts – not because they would be unsuitable, but because manual searching is too time-consuming to pursue consistently alongside day-to-day business.
In addition, public contracts differ not only by contract value but also by award procedure. Depending on the contract value and type of contract, different types of procedure are used – for example the public tender (öffentliche Ausschreibung, in which in principle every suitable bidder can apply), the restricted tender (beschränkte Ausschreibung, in which a limited number of bidders are specifically invited to submit a bid) or the direct award (freihändige Vergabe) or negotiated award (Verhandlungsvergabe), which occurs more often for smaller contract values and is formally somewhat leaner. What matters most for trades businesses: especially for smaller, regionally tendered contracts, the procedures are often less demanding than many expect – the biggest hurdle is usually not the procedure itself but finding out about the tender in the first place.
Anyone searching for public tenders manually faces several practical hurdles at once. First, the sheer number of platforms: instead of one central point of contact, several portals have to be visited and searched individually, each with its own search logic, its own filter categories and its own registration process.
Second, the inconsistent categorisation: not every platform tags tenders by the same trades or service descriptions. A search for "electrical installation" on one portal may not find the same results as a search for "electrical work" on another – anyone who relies on a single search wording overlooks relevant tenders.
Third, the time factor: to have a realistic chance of suitable results, the search would have to be repeated regularly – ideally daily – because new tenders are published continuously and application deadlines are often only a few weeks. For a business that is fully occupied with customer appointments, building sites and preparing quotes in day-to-day operations, a daily manual search across several platforms is hardly realistic to sustain.
In practice this often leads to one of two patterns: either the search for public tenders is neglected entirely because the effort seems too high relative to the uncertain result. Or it is pursued only sporadically – with the result that precisely the tenders with a short response time are regularly missed, because too much time passes between two searches.
Another often underestimated cost factor: many procurement platforms require their own registration to access the full tender documents – with their own login, their own notification system and their own search form. Anyone who wants to keep an eye on several platforms has to repeat this registration effort accordingly often, before the actual content search even begins. In total this results in a research effort that is hard to justify economically for a single business if it is done entirely manually – even if there is a basic willingness to apply for public contracts.
Whether a public contracting authority has to tender Europe-wide depends on so-called EU thresholds – amounts from which an EU-wide publication duty via TED applies. These values are adjusted by the European Commission every two years. For the period from 1 January 2026 (valid until 31 December 2027), the following thresholds apply, among others (in each case estimated net contract value, excluding VAT):
For most trades businesses, putting this in context matters more at this point than the exact figures: contracts that reach these thresholds are for a typical trades business the exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of public contracts realistically relevant for trades companies lie below these EU thresholds – for example the renovation of a single part of a building, electrical work in a school or a plumbing contract for a municipal building.
Such contracts are not subject to the EU-wide tendering obligation but are awarded under national or regional procurement law (for example under the Sub-Threshold Procurement Regulation, Unterschwellenvergabeordnung, UVgO, or the Procurement and Contract Regulations for Construction Works, Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Bauleistungen, VOB/A) and are published via the corresponding regional procurement portals. Anyone who relies exclusively on TED when searching for tenders therefore overlooks a large part of the contracts actually relevant to trades businesses.
Another point that is particularly relevant for trades businesses: even larger construction projects whose total value reaches the EU thresholds are, as a rule, not awarded under procurement law as a single large contract to one general contractor. Public contracting authorities are in principle required to divide extensive projects into trade lots (Fachlose) – that is, into individual trades such as electrical, plumbing/heating or carpentry work, which are then each tendered independently and with their own, considerably lower contract value. This principle of award by lots is meant to enable small and medium-sized businesses to take part even when the overall project is far beyond their own capacities. For the practical search, this means: even for large construction projects published EU-wide, it is worth looking at the individual trade lots – these are often of a size that is realistically feasible for an individual trades business.
Instead of searching procurement platforms individually and manually, the matching can be automated: a suitable tool takes a short profile once – sector, location and service profile – and automatically matches this profile against current public tenders, so that the business does not have to search every single platform itself. The principle is deliberately kept simple: the business describes once what it generally qualifies for, and the matching then takes over the ongoing monitoring of the relevant sources – including a keyword- and AI-supported relevance check that goes beyond a pure full-text search and also recognises thematically fitting results, even if the exact wording of the tender differs from your own service profile.
The matching runs against several sources at the same time: both TED for EU-wide tenders and regional procurement portals for the smaller contracts that are often more relevant for trades businesses – with a focus on trades such as construction, electrical, plumbing/heating, carpentry, architecture, cleaning and IT.
When the profile is created, there is an immediate one-off, free sample scan against the most recently captured tenders, so that it is straight away apparent whether and which suitable results currently exist. The ongoing, daily matching against new tenders, including automatic email notification, can be booked as a monthly subscription (in two plans, Basic and Plus).
The practical advantage over manual searching: instead of keeping an eye on several platforms yourself, the matching keeps running in the background, and a notification only arrives when a suitable new tender has actually been found – the time effort for the business is reduced to reviewing the results instead of the search itself.
In practice, an automatic matching is relevant for very different trades:
Construction companies and building trades. From the renovation of public buildings to individual trades on larger building sites – construction contracts from public contracting authorities are one of the most common types of tender at all, both EU-wide and regionally.
Electrical businesses. From electrical installation in schools and administrative buildings to larger infrastructure projects – electrical work is regularly awarded both as a standalone tender and as a sub-trade of larger construction projects.
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning technology. Public buildings continuously need maintenance, renovation and modernisation of their building services – an area in which energy-efficiency renovation projects in particular are generating a growing tender volume.
Carpentry and joinery shops. From custom fitted furniture in public buildings to furniture fit-outs for schools and administrations – an area that is often under-represented on the large, nationally known platforms but is quite present on regional portals.
Architecture and planning offices. Public construction projects as a rule require upstream planning services, which are often tendered separately – an area with its own system, but a similar problem of where to find tenders as for the executing trade.
Cleaning companies. The ongoing building cleaning of public institutions is regularly re-tendered, often with recurring contract terms – an area with a comparatively predictable tender rhythm.
IT service providers. From maintenance of municipal IT infrastructure to individual digitalisation projects – a growing area of public procurement that increasingly also includes smaller, specialised providers.
The common denominator of all these trades: the actual professional suitability is rarely the problem – the problem is learning of the suitable tender in time at all. This applies regardless of business size: both a sole trader and a trades business with several employees face the same structural challenge as long as the search is done manually – the only difference is how much time can be planned internally for the research.
The following five questions help you assess in a few minutes whether public tenders come into question as an additional source of contracts for your business:
If you answer most of these questions with "yes", an automated matching is probably a sensible addition to your existing contract acquisition. Public tenders do not replace any existing new-customer business but come in as an additional channel.
What matters here is the right expectation: public tenders are not a substitute for a full order book from existing customers and referrals, but an additional, plannable channel that is particularly valuable when free capacity is to be filled sensibly at short notice or when an additional source of contracts independent of the season is desired. Anyone who has opened up this channel once also benefits from the fact that many public contracting authorities tender repeatedly – a successful first collaboration often increases the likelihood of also being considered for future tenders from the same contracting authority.
Finding a tender is only the beginning – the actual application follows formal rules that differ from a classic quote to a private customer. Anyone who has mainly calculated for private customers so far should expect somewhat more administrative effort per bid – this extra effort quickly relativises itself, however, once a business has developed a working routine for preparing bids for public contracts. A few practical basic principles that have proven themselves in practice:
Take deadlines seriously. Application deadlines for public tenders are as a rule binding and are not extended just because a bid is submitted shortly afterwards. Anyone who discovers a tender only shortly before the deadline should realistically assess whether enough time remains for a complete bid.
Submit all required evidence in full. Public contracting authorities often require certain evidence – such as proof of suitability, references, clearance certificates or proof of insurance. A bid that is strong in content but lacks a required piece of evidence can be formally excluded from evaluation, regardless of the quality of the bid itself.
Follow formal requirements exactly. Many tenders prescribe a specific format or structure for the bid. Deviations from these formal requirements are a frequent, avoidable reason for bids being excluded – even if the content in itself would be convincing.
Ask actively when things are unclear. If parts of the tender documents are unclear, a query to the contracting authority within the period provided for this is as a rule possible and sensible – in case of doubt better than an assumption that later turns out to be wrong.
Calculate realistically. A bid whose price does not suit your own business helps nobody – neither for the chance of winning the award nor for later execution of the contract. A sound, traceable calculation is more valuable in the long run than a particularly low bid that does not cover costs.
Prepare references in a targeted way. Public contracting authorities often ask for comparable reference projects. Anyone who documents relevant earlier contracts – including from the private sector – clearly structured and with scope, period and contact person can present this evidence considerably faster and more convincingly than by putting it together at short notice.
Assess capacities realistically. A bid should only be submitted if the contract can actually be carried out in the intended period. An award that leads to scheduling conflicts with existing contracts harms more in the long run than a tender that was deliberately skipped.
These points increase the likelihood that a bid is evaluated in full at all – a guarantee of the award is not connected with this, as the final decision depends on the specific tender, the competitive situation and the contracting authority's individual award criteria.
In practice, a few avoidable mistakes recur when searching for public tenders:
Only one platform in view. Anyone who relies exclusively on a single procurement platform – for example only TED or only one regional portal – systematically sees only a section of the tenders that are actually relevant. Especially the smaller contracts below the EU thresholds, which often suit trades businesses better, frequently appear only on regional portals.
Discovering deadlines too late. If the search only takes place sporadically, tenders with a short application deadline are often discovered only when hardly any time remains for a complete bid – or not in time at all.
Bid submitted incomplete. Missing evidence or formal errors regularly lead to exclusion, although the bid itself would have been competitive in content.
Focus on contracts that are too large instead of realistic contract sizes. Some businesses unconsciously orient themselves on well-known, large EU-wide tenders and overlook that the contracts they can realistically win are usually considerably smaller and run via regional portals.
Inconsistent search terms. Anyone who searches only for a single wording (for example only "plumbing work", but not "heating installation" or "bathroom construction") overlooks tenders that correspond to the same service but were tagged differently. Precisely because procurement platforms do not handle their categories uniformly, a search term selection that is as broad as possible is worthwhile.
Lack of regularity. A one-off search shows only a snapshot. Because new tenders are published continuously, an only occasional search systematically misses a large part of the contracts actually available – regardless of how thorough the individual search was.
Overlooking tenders below your own threshold of attention. Some businesses do search actively, but unconsciously limit themselves to particularly large or high-profile construction projects – and thereby overlook the considerably more numerous, smaller tenders for individual trade lots or maintenance and renovation contracts, which for an individual trades business are often the more realistic and faster-to-implement contract size.
Anyone who avoids these mistakes and searches systematically instead of sporadically gains a noticeable advantage over competitors who do not even consider public tenders as a source of contracts.
Don't want to keep an eye on several procurement platforms yourself? Talk to us about how the search can be automated for your business.
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Check for free nowThis guide is a general practical overview. It is not legal advice, not binding procurement advice and no guarantee of an award. For a binding legal assessment of your individual case, we recommend consulting a lawyer or a procurement law specialist.
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