Running procurement
How to run a compliant tender under the Procurement Act 2023
Published 6 January 2026 by eSourcingData
Since 24 February 2025, contracting authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland run tenders under the Procurement Act 2023. A compliant tender means publishing the right notices at the right time, setting proportionate conditions of participation, evaluating against the most advantageous tender, and observing a standstill before you sign. This guide walks the full sequence.
Plan the procurement and publish a pipeline notice
Compliance starts before the tender does. Larger contracting authorities must publish a pipeline notice each financial year setting out contracts they expect to advertise above the relevant threshold. This signals the market early and gives suppliers time to prepare, which usually improves the quality of the responses you receive.
At planning stage, define what good looks like. Write the specification against outcomes rather than a fixed method where you can, decide your route to market, and confirm you have the budget and internal approvals. A clear brief here saves clarification rounds later and reduces the risk of a challenge.
Choose your procedure. Under PA23 you can use the open procedure or design your own multi stage route using the competitive flexible procedure. Pick the one that matches the complexity of what you are buying and the state of the supplier market.
Publish a tender notice on Find a Tender
Regulated above threshold procurements must be advertised through a tender notice on Find a Tender Service. This is the single point where suppliers across the country look for public opportunities, and publishing there is what makes the process transparent and contestable.
The notice should point clearly to your tender documents, state the conditions of participation, describe the award criteria and their weightings, and set out the timetable. Ambiguity in the notice is the most common cause of avoidable clarification questions, so be precise about deadlines and what you expect suppliers to submit.
For contracts below the higher thresholds you may still advertise on Contracts Finder. Publishing widely is not just a legal formality, it widens the pool of capable suppliers and gives you a stronger field to evaluate.
Set proportionate conditions of participation
Conditions of participation replace the old selection stage. They are the minimum requirements a supplier must meet to be considered, covering areas such as legal standing, financial capacity and technical ability. The rule is proportionality, so a condition must relate to and be proportionate to the subject matter of the contract.
Avoid conditions that only large incumbents can meet unless the contract genuinely requires that scale. Overly demanding financial thresholds or narrow experience requirements shrink your market and invite challenge. Ask for the minimum that gives you confidence the supplier can deliver.
Document your reasoning for each condition as you set it. If a supplier questions a requirement, or a decision is later reviewed, a short written rationale recorded at the time is far more persuasive than one reconstructed afterwards.
Run the competitive flexible procedure
The competitive flexible procedure lets you design a process that fits the procurement, which might include dialogue, negotiation, demonstrations or successive rounds that narrow the field. Whatever shape you choose, describe it fully in your tender documents so every supplier understands the rules before they commit time to bidding.
Consistency is the discipline that keeps a flexible procedure compliant. If you allow negotiation, offer it to all remaining bidders on the same terms. If you run demonstrations, score them against the same published criteria. Treating suppliers equally is not optional, it is the foundation of a defensible award.
Keep the audit trail live throughout. Every stage decision, every score and every reason for narrowing the field should be captured as it happens, not written up at the end.
Evaluate, award and observe standstill
Evaluate against the most advantageous tender, weighing quality, price and any other published criteria such as social value. Use a moderated panel so scores are agreed rather than averaged, and record the rationale for each score so the outcome can withstand scrutiny.
When you have a decision, issue an assessment summary to each supplier explaining how their bid scored and why the winning bid was preferred. This transparency is a legal requirement under PA23 and, in practice, it heads off many challenges before they start.
Then observe the mandatory standstill period of at least eight working days before entering the contract. If nobody raises a valid concern in that window, you can proceed to sign and publish a contract award notice.
