Participating in public tenders: rules and procedures

Notices for tenders subject to the EU directives are published in the database Tenders Electronic Daily – TED. The notice is published in one of the official EU languages (normally Swedish), with a summary in other languages. Notices must also be published in one of several registered and publicly available electronic databases. Notices must also be published in one of several registered and publicly available electronic databases.  

Tenders Electronic Daily – TED

There is no single database in Sweden for contract notices for tender procedures not covered by the EU directives. Notices must be published in one of the registered and publicly available electronic databases. 

List of registered databases at the Swedish Competition Authority (in Swedish)

Regions and municipalities have established systems of choice for some types of social and health services. These are similar to tender procedures, but companies may submit applications to participate at any time.

Systems of choice are subject to the Swedish Act on System of Choice (LOV), and all notices are published on the national database Hitta LOV-uppdrag operated by the National Agency for Public Procurement. 

Website Hitta LOV-uppdrag (in Swedish)

The procurement acts contain rules for a number of different procurement procedures. There are three categories of tender procedures:

Single-stage tenders

Any company may submit a tender in response to a contract notice.

Multi-stage tenders

Companies submit applications to participate in response to the contract notice, and the public authority invites all or some of the qualified tenderers to submit tenders.

Direct awards

There are situations in which public authorities are not required to invite competition through a contract notice. These include the following: 

• Situations in which extreme urgency makes it impossible to comply with the time limits for the public tender procedures
• Situations in which the estimated value of the contract falls short of the national threshold for direct awards in the applicable procurement act
• Situations in which for technical reasons there can be no competition for the contract

Generally, the procurement rules for procedures below the EU thresholds are less detailed than those that follow from the EU directives. Consult the procurement documents for information on the procedure, its different stages, and applicable time limits. Contact the public authority with any questions regarding the procedure.

Depending on which procurement act applies to the tender process and the type of procedure used, the public authority may – or even must – exclude companies in certain situations. In procurements covered by the EU directives exclusion grounds relate to: 

• payment of taxes and social security contributions;
• insolvency, conflicts of interest, and professional misconduct; or 
• when the supplier, or a person included in the administrative, management or supervisory body of that supplier, is subject to certain criminal convictions.

Moreover, the procurement documents will specify any conditions regarding companies’ minimum capabilities that apply in the tender (selection criteria). In procurements covered by the EU directives the m selection criteria must pertain to:

• the company’s suitability to pursue the professional activity; 
• the company’s economic and financial standing; or
• the company’s technical and professional ability. 

The rules for selection criteria in utilities procurement are more flexible.

Companies may rely on subcontractors to meet the selection criteria, but any such subcontractors would also be subject to the exclusion grounds. Requirements regarding exclusion grounds and selection criteria, and information on the documentation (evidences) companies must present regarding these, are specified in the procurement documents. Companies established in any EU country have the right to submit evidence issued by their country of establishment. 

There are no official lists of approved or debarred companies in Sweden (no shortlisting or blacklisting).

The ESPD is a self-declaration form that must be accepted as preliminary evidence regarding exclusion grounds and selection criteria in most tender procedures subject to the EU directives.

The European Single Procurement Document ESPD

The database e-Certis contains information on evidence that may be requested relating to exclusion grounds and selection criteria for tenders subject to the EU directives.

The database e-Certis

For tenders subject to the EU directives, public authorities shall, where necessary, require that the company performs the contract in accordance with stated requirements on wages, holidays, and working hours that the employees who will be performing work under the contract shall, as a minimum, be guaranteed. These same obligations apply to subcontractors involved in contract execution. This requirement does not apply in defence and security procurement.

The public authority submits an award decision to tenderers at the end of the procedure. This must state the reasons for the choice of tenderer or tenderers. 

Companies are required to use electronic invoices according to the standard adopted by the European Commission,

Companies may apply for a legal review of decisions taken by the public authorities on, or connected to, public tender procedures. All companies have access to these review procedures irrespective of their country of establishment. There are three types of legal review. 

Tenderers may initiate a review of the tender procedure if they believe that they have been harmed by an infringement of the relevant procurement act. Normally, a standstill period of 10 days applies from the notification of the award decision within which the public authority may not conclude the contract. The review procedure must be initiated during the standstill period.  If the court finds the complaint founded, it may order that the tender procedure be recommenced, or concluded, only once corrections have been made. 

A company may apply for a review of the effectiveness of a contract, notably if it has been concluded without prior publication of a contract notice. The application must as a general rule be submitted within six months of the conclusion of the contract. If the court finds the complaint founded it will declare the contract ineffective, unless this could, in exceptional cases, lead to disproportionate consequences relating to a general interest.

A company may apply for review of a decision to cancel a tender procedure within 10 days of notification of that decision.

The Administrative Courts are the bodies of first instance for these review procedures. There are no court fees in these procedures and the parties carry their own legal costs.  

Administrative Courts

A public authority that has not complied with the provisions of a public procurement act shall compensate the harm to a company caused thereby. An action for damages must be submitted to the appropriate District Court within one year of the conclusion of the contract. The district court applies an application fee, and the losing party typically carries the legal costs of the winning party.