Government contracts for small businesses

A small company can bid when the procedure is open to economic operators and the company can evidence the selection criteria. Headcount is not the test Directive 2014/24/EU uses. A turnover figure, a reference or a certificate is.

The EU directive does not reserve contracts for small firms

Article 46 tells contracting authorities to consider dividing a contract into lots, and to state the main reasons when they do not. The notice says whether you may bid for one lot, several, or all of them, and it may cap how many lots one bidder can win. Article 20 allows a reserved procedure only for sheltered workshops and operators whose main aim is the integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons, and only when at least 30 percent of the employees are disabled or disadvantaged workers. That is not a small-business set-aside. A ranking of the largest contracts is a poor map, because the selection criteria often scale with that size.

A US federal set-aside changes who may bid, not the other lines

US federal contracting officers can reserve a contract for small businesses, including socioeconomic categories, under Small Business Administration rules. A set-aside narrows who may submit. It does not remove the other qualification lines in that solicitation. Size standards decide whether the company counts as small for that industry. A state or a city is not using those federal rules unless its own solicitation says so.

Bid the lot whose criteria you can evidence

This example is fictional. A framework has an estimated value of €8 million and asks for three reference contracts of at least €1 million each. One lot, estimated at €180,000, asks for a single similar contract of at least €40,000. A company whose largest similar contract is €60,000 does not meet the framework reference line. It may meet the lot, if the notice applies that lower line to the lot rather than to the whole agreement. Read which value the criterion uses before you assemble a bid for the agreement.

A startup with no public contract can still submit when the procedure allows any economic operator. It fails a line that demands previous contracts, or a certificate it does not hold, unless the notice allows reliance and the other entity will perform the related work. Article 63 allows reliance on another entity’s professional experience only on that condition. A partner in the same trade, missing the same reference, does not change the result.

What a small team should read first

• Is the procedure open, or do you have to be invited before you can send an offer?
• Do the selection criteria apply to the lot you want, or to the whole agreement?
• Which lines are mandatory, and which documents prove them?
• Does the notice allow another entity to cover a missing line, and must that entity do the work?
• Is the submission portal one the company can register on before the deadline?

How Tender Town marks the line a small company can meet

Tender Town lists those lines from the documents on the notice, including which of them are mandatory. Fit analysis compares them with the company evidence on a scope. A reference under the stated value stays a gap.

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