The framework agreement in Belgian public procurement
In Belgium, a framework agreement sets for a period the terms of the contracts awarded later, including prices. Article 43 of the law of 17 June 2016 limits its term to four years, save justified exceptional cases. Only companies party to it receive those contracts. With several, the buyer follows the agreement or reopens competition in writing.
Updated
In Belgium, a framework agreement sets, for a given period, the terms of the contracts to be awarded later, in particular prices and, where appropriate, the quantities envisaged. Article 43 of the law of 17 June 2016 limits its term to four years, save in duly justified exceptional cases. With several companies, contracts follow the agreement or a reopening of competition.
An agreement, then contracts
A framework agreement is not a procedure. The buyer concludes it at the end of a procedure under the law: open, restricted or negotiated, for example. The agreement sets the terms; the contracts awarded later, during its term, rely on it.
The law of 17 June 2016 as a whole is explained here: Guide to the law of 17 June 2016 The term is also in the glossary: Glossary
With one company or with several
Article 43, § 3, requires the buyer to state in the contract notice whether it intends to conclude the agreement with one or several economic operators. The table sets out what the law provides in each case.
| Point | One company | Several companies |
|---|---|---|
| How contracts are awarded | Within the terms laid down in the agreement (art. 43, § 4) | Without reopening competition, with reopening, or partly both (art. 43, § 5) |
| What the buyer may ask | It may consult the company in writing and ask it to complete its tender as necessary | When competition is reopened: a written tender for each contract, within a sufficient time limit (art. 43, § 6) |
| What does not change | No substantial modification of the terms already laid down (art. 43, § 2) | The same terms as for awarding the agreement, made more precise or supplemented where the documents provide |
| Term | Four years at most, save in duly justified exceptional cases | Four years at most, save in duly justified exceptional cases |
What article 43 says
Paragraph 1 lets a contracting authority conclude framework agreements provided it applies the procedures of the law. Contracts based on a framework agreement are only awarded between the contracting authorities clearly identified in the call for competition or in the invitation to confirm interest, and the economic operators party to the agreement as concluded. Text, in French: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, French)
Paragraph 2 forbids any substantial modification of the terms already laid down when awarding contracts based on the agreement, in particular where it is concluded with a single operator. It limits the term of the agreement, and of the contracts based on it, to four years, save in duly justified exceptional cases, in particular owing to its subject.
Paragraph 5 describes three ways to perform an agreement concluded with several operators. Without reopening competition, where it sets all the terms of the works, supplies or services, or the objective conditions that decide which party performs. Partly without and partly with reopening, where the procurement documents provided for it, on objective criteria they state. With reopening, where it does not set all the terms.
Paragraph 6 sets out the reopening: written consultation of the operators able to perform the contract, a sufficient time limit for each contract given the complexity of its subject, written tenders not opened before the time limit expires, then award to the best tender on the criteria in the agreement’s documents. Contracts covered by article 92, of low value, are excepted from that last point.
What an SME checks on the notice
To become a party to the agreement, a company answers the procedure that concludes it. The points below are read in the notice and the procurement documents; the law does not replace them.
- Read whether the notice concludes a framework agreement, and with one or several companies. The useful reading order is here: Reading a TED notice
- Read the planned term, which buyers may award contracts under the agreement and, where published, the quantities or amounts envisaged.
- With several companies, read whether contracts will follow the agreement, a reopening of competition, or both, and on which criteria.
- If the notice is divided into lots, each lot may have its own rules: TED notice in lots
- Read the procedure that concludes the agreement: open Open procedure, restricted Restricted procedure or negotiated Negotiated procedure
- Check that the deadline TED publishes has not passed: Notice still open Deadlines still open: Deadlines
- TED award notices say, where they publish it, who was chosen for a past framework agreement: Award notices
After the framework agreement: what TED does not show
Article 61, 3°, of the law of 17 June 2016 exempts contracts based on a framework agreement from a contract notice. The notice on TED is the one for the framework agreement itself; the orders placed afterwards get no call for competition of their own. A company that does not bid for the framework agreement will, as a rule, not see the contracts that follow from it.
Article 62 requires a contract award notice no later than thirty days after the framework agreement is concluded (simplified below the EU thresholds). For framework agreements concluded under article 43, the buyer also reports to the reference point, by 15 February each year, the total value of the contracts awarded under them in the previous year.
In the special sectors (water, energy, transport, postal services), article 125 raises the maximum duration to eight years, save in exceptional cases duly justified, in particular by the subject of the framework agreement.
Consolidated text of the law read on Wallex on 27 October 2026: Law of 17 June 2016, consolidated text (Wallex, French)
TED and the directive
Above the European thresholds, the notice is read on TED: TED Directive 2014/24/EU covers framework agreements in article 33. The Belgian law of 17 June 2016 transposes part of it. Text of the directive: Directive 2014/24/EU
What AOEX does not do
AOEX does not submit the tender, does not contact the buyer and does not say who will be chosen. This page is not legal advice.
The text to follow remains the latest official notice and the procurement documents.
Frequently asked questions
What is a framework agreement in Belgian public procurement?
Article 2, 35°, of the law of 17 June 2016 defines it as an agreement between one or more contracting entities and one or more economic operators that establishes the terms of the contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular prices and, where appropriate, the quantities envisaged.
How long can a framework agreement last?
Article 43, § 2, says that the term of a framework agreement, like that of the contracts based on it, may not exceed four years, save in duly justified exceptional cases, in particular owing to its subject. The term of a given agreement is in the notice and the procurement documents.
Can a company that is not party to the framework agreement receive a contract based on it?
No. Article 43, § 1, says such contracts are only awarded between the contracting authorities clearly identified in the call for competition and the economic operators party to the framework agreement as concluded. A company has to answer the procedure that concludes the agreement.
What is a reopening of competition?
With several companies, where the agreement does not set all terms, the buyer consults in writing the parties able to perform the contract, sets a sufficient time limit, receives written tenders that are not opened before it expires, and awards to the best tender on the criteria in the agreement’s documents (article 43, § 6).
Are contracts based on a framework agreement published on TED?
As a rule, no. Article 61, 3°, of the law of 17 June 2016 exempts them from a contract notice: the framework agreement itself is published. A company that does not bid for it does not see the orders that follow.
Does AOEX show whether a TED notice is a framework agreement?
Where the TED notice publishes that it concludes a framework agreement, and how, the AOEX page repeats it. An unpublished field stays unpublished. AOEX does not submit the tender and does not contact the buyer.
Sources
Law of 17 June 2016, article 2, 35°, and article 43, consolidated text read on Justel: Law of 17 June 2016 (Justel, French) Directive 2014/24/EU, article 33: Directive 2014/24/EU
This note describes public documents and how AOEX works. It is not legal advice.
Edited by aoex.
