The Belgian law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement

What the law calls a public contract

The law is published in French and Dutch. The wording on this page is an English rendering of those texts. Article 2, 17°, defines a public contract as a contract for pecuniary interest between one or more economic operators and one or more buyers, for the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services. The consolidated text is the one in the Belgian Official Gazette: Belgian Official Gazette, 14 July 2016

Article 1, § 2, says the law sets the principles and basic rules for the public contracts covered by title 2, chapter 1, and title 3, chapter 1. Article 1, § 1, 3° and 4°, says it partially transposes Directive 2014/24/EU, on award in the classic sectors, and Directive 2014/25/EU, for entities in water, energy, transport and postal services. Texts: Directive 2014/24/EU Directive 2014/25/EU

Who may buy in Belgium

Article 2, 1°, treats as a contracting authority the State, the Regions, the Communities and local authorities, bodies governed by public law that meet the three conditions in that point, and associations formed by one or more of those authorities. Article 17 applies title 2, the classic sectors, to the contracting authorities in article 2, 1°.

Article 4 says buyers treat economic operators equally and without discrimination, and act in a transparent and proportionate way.

Article 8, § 2, says groups of economic operators may take part in public contracts. The buyer may not require them to have a specific legal form in order to submit a request to participate or a tender.

Classic sectors and special sectors

Title 2 covers public contracts in the classic sectors. Title 3 covers public contracts in the special sectors. Articles 96 to 102 cover gas and heat, electricity, water, transport, ports and airports, postal services, and the extraction of oil, gas, coal and other solid fuels.

Which regime applies is read in the notice and in the procurement documents. This page does not choose the title in place of the notice.

Publication in the Belgian Official Gazette and entry into force

The law was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 14 July 2016, under number 2016021053.

Article 193 says the King sets the date of entry into force, except for that article itself, which enters into force on the day of publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.

Article 131 of the royal decree of 18 April 2017 on the award of public contracts in the classic sectors says that, for title 2 contracts, the articles of the law that were not yet in force enter into force on 30 June 2017. That applies to contracts published or that should have been published from that date, and to contracts with no duty of prior publication whose invitation to tender is sent from that date. Article 131 excepts the provisions referred to in article 132 of that decree. Text: Royal decree of 18 April 2017 (Justel)

The Justel note under article 193 also records, for title 3, the royal decree of 18 June 2017, article 129: the articles of that title that were not yet in force enter into force on 30 June 2017, for contracts published or that should have been published from that date, and for those without prior publication whose invitation to tender is sent from that date.

Before you submit a tender

The order below follows what the law and the royal decree of 18 April 2017 ask you to read before you reply. The day and the address that count remain those of the notice.

1. Read the official notice in a useful order: who is buying, what is asked, the place, the deadline. The guide is here: How to read a TED notice
2. Set the estimated amount next to the Belgian and European thresholds in force in 2026 and 2027: Thresholds 2026-2027 Article 8, § 1, of the royal decree of 18 April 2017 says a contract subject to European publicity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union and in the Bulletin of Invitations to Tender, and a contract subject only to Belgian publicity is published in the Bulletin of Invitations to Tender. Belgian contracts that are not on TED are explained here: Markets not on TED
3. Open the procurement documents at the address the notice states. Article 64, § 1, of the law says the contracting authority offers, by electronic means, free, unrestricted, full and direct access from the date the notice is published.
4. For a contract above the European thresholds, the European Single Procurement Document goes with the tender or the request to participate. Article 73, § 1, describes it as an updated declaration on honour, accepted as preliminary evidence. How to complete it is explained here: ESPD guide
5. Submit where the notice says: Where to submit a bid Belgian TED notices whose deadline has not passed are here: Deadlines An alert for new notices is here: Alert AOEX does not submit the tender and does not contact the buyer.

The procedure the notice names

Article 35 says that, where a contract notice has been published, the award uses one of these procedures: the open procedure, the restricted procedure, the competitive procedure with negotiation, the competitive dialogue, the innovation partnership, or the direct negotiated procedure with prior publication. Article 42 covers the cases in which a negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used. How to tell these negotiated procedures apart is explained here: Negotiated procedure

In an open procedure, article 36, § 1, says any interested economic operator may submit a tender. The minimum time for receipt of tenders is thirty-five days from the date the notice is sent. Article 36, § 2, allows that minimum to be reduced to fifteen days where a prior information notice has been published and the conditions of that paragraph are met. The day that counts for the tender is the one the notice publishes. The detail is here: Open procedure

In a restricted procedure, article 37, § 1, says any economic operator may submit a request to participate. The minimum time for receipt of those requests is thirty days from the sending of the notice. § 2 says only the operators invited after those details have been assessed may submit a tender. The detail is here: Restricted procedure

Article 43 allows the contracting authority to conclude a framework agreement, which sets the terms of the contracts to be awarded during a given period to one or several economic operators. Its term may not exceed four years, except in duly justified exceptional cases. The detail is here: Framework agreement

Article 81, § 1, says the contracting authority awards the contract to the most economically advantageous tender. § 2 says that tender is determined on the basis of price, cost, or the best price-quality ratio. For contracts equal to or above the European publicity amounts, § 4 says the contracting authority states, in the procurement documents, the relative weighting of each criterion, except where the tender is determined on price alone.

The low-value contract

Article 92 says contracts whose estimated value is below 30,000 euros are subject only to part of the law, and that they may be concluded by an accepted invoice. The European amounts for 2026 and 2027, and what each threshold changes for a bid, are in the thresholds guide: Thresholds 2026-2027

Where to read Belgian notices

BOSA presents the e-Procurement platform, at e-Procurement, as the place where a company accesses a public contract or submits one electronically. On that platform it reaches the Bulletin of Invitations to Tender. The page: BOSA

TED publishes the notices sent to the Official Journal of the European Union: TED AOEX lists the Belgian TED notices that are still open: Deadlines The alert for new notices is set here: Alert

Common questions

Does this page explain French public procurement law?

No. It explains the Belgian law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 14 July 2016. A French text does not apply to a buyer in Belgium.

Since when does the law apply to the classic sectors in Belgium?

Article 193 leaves the entry into force to the King. Article 131 of the royal decree of 18 April 2017 brings into force, on 30 June 2017, the title 2 articles that were not yet in force, for contracts published or that should have been published from that date, and for contracts without prior publication whose invitation to tender is sent from that date. Exceptions are set out in article 132 of that decree.

May an SME bid in an open procedure in Belgium?

Yes. Article 36, § 1, says any interested economic operator may submit a tender in response to a contract notice. The deadline that counts is the one the notice publishes. The minimum of thirty-five days can be shorter in the cases article 36 sets out.

Does the law require the ESPD for every Belgian contract?

Article 73, § 1, asks for the European Single Procurement Document when a request to participate or a tender is submitted: an updated declaration on honour, accepted as preliminary evidence. The ESPD guide states for which Belgian contracts that document is required.

What is a low-value contract under this law?

Article 92 covers contracts whose estimated value is below 30,000 euros. Those contracts may be concluded by an accepted invoice. The European thresholds for 2026 and 2027 are in the thresholds guide.

Sources

Belgian Official Gazette, 14 July 2016 Directive 2014/24/EU Directive 2014/25/EU Royal decree of 18 April 2017 (Justel) BOSA e-Procurement TED