What is TenderNed, and how do you find the Dutch public tenders that suit you?

What is TenderNed?

It is the Dutch government’s tender platform. Municipalities, provinces, ministries and other public bodies are required by law to publish there any contract for which they run a European or national procurement procedure.

You will find the contract notice and the tender documents, and you often submit your bid there as well. Registering is free, but you need eHerkenning, the Dutch business login. Arrange it in good time, as getting it can take a few days. Companies from outside the Netherlands can apply for it too. Some buyers use a different system for submissions. The notice is then still on TenderNed, but you also have to register on that other platform.

Looking for work in other European countries? Then use TED, the European Union’s tender platform. Dutch tenders above the European threshold appear there too.

What will you not find there?

• On TenderNedOpenThe buyer announces the contract publicly. Anyone who meets the requirements may bid.
• Not on TenderNedBy invitationThe buyer chooses who to invite: one company for a single-source award, usually three to five when several are invited.

Below the European threshold, each public body decides in its own purchasing policy which procedure to use. The municipality of The Hague, for example, awards services and supplies between €50,000 and €216,000 by inviting several companies. For that kind of contract TenderNed will not help you. You have to make sure the public bodies in your region know who you are. Some municipalities keep a list of companies they invite, and you can ask to be added.

How do you find the tenders that suit you?

1. 1Search broadlyOn your service or product, and on related terms. Public buyers often describe the same work differently from how you would. Most notices are in Dutch, so search in Dutch as well.
2. 2Search by CPV codeEuropean codes used to classify every contract. They are the same in every language and catch tenders you would miss with keywords.
3. 3Save your searchTenderNed then emails you for free whenever a new notice matches. TED does the same for the whole of Europe.

There are also paid services that combine several sources and send you a daily selection. Useful if you bid a lot, but not needed to get started.

You have found a tender. What next?

Download the documents and read them before you do anything else. Start with what could rule you out.

• ReferencesWhat experience is asked for, and can you prove it?
• CertificatesWhich ones are mandatory, and will you hold them on the closing date?
• SizeDoes the contract fit what your team can handle?
• LocationCan you do the work where it needs to happen?

In effect, that is already your decision on whether to take part: bid or no bid. Only when the answer is yes do you start on the bid itself.

Where does it usually go wrong?

• A certificate is missingA requirement like that is usually a knock-out. Without the certificate you are excluded, however good the rest is. Check it first.
• Missing the deadline for questionsYou can only ask questions up to a set date, often weeks before closing. The buyer answers them all in one document, in Dutch the nota van inlichtingen. Read it: the answers can change requirements and apply to every bidder.
• Uploading at the last minuteA forgotten form or a technical problem. Upload well before the deadline.