Guide
Tender jargon explained
Tender documents are written in a language of their own, and the Procurement Act 2023 renamed much of it in February 2025. These are the terms you will meet most, in plain English, with the Act's own definition linked wherever it has one.
Last checked: 6 October 2026
The Procurement Act 2023 applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own procurement law and some different terms.
The terms
- Abnormally low tender
- A price so low the buyer doubts the supplier can deliver for it. The buyer may reject it, but must first ask the supplier to show it can.Procurement Act 2023, s19
- Assessment methodology
- How the buyer will assess tenders against the award criteria, including any scoring scales, and whether failing a criterion disqualifies a tender. It must be set out in the tender documents.Procurement Act 2023, s23 · How answers are scored
- Assessment summary
- What every assessed bidder receives before the award is published: its score on each criterion with an explanation, and the same for the winning tender.Procurement Act 2023, s50; Regulations 2024, reg 31 · Feedback after losing
- Award criteria
- What tenders are judged on, such as quality, price and social value, with their relative importance shown by percentage weightings, a ranking or a description.Procurement Act 2023, s23
- Below-threshold contract
- A contract worth less than the threshold for its type. Lighter rules apply, and buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that invite tenders for one cannot screen suppliers out on capacity before they bid.Procurement Act 2023, s5 and s85 · Procurement thresholds
- Call-off
- A contract awarded under a framework to one of the suppliers on it, by direct award or a mini-competition. The Act calls it a contract awarded in accordance with a framework.Framework agreements
- Central Digital Platform
- The government's online system for procurement notices and supplier information, which is Find a Tender. It is free to use.Regulations 2024, reg 5
- Clarification question
- A question a bidder asks the buyer during a tender. Answers are normally shared with every bidder, without saying who asked.
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Any competitive procedure the buyer designs for the contract, which can have several stages, such as shortlisting, negotiation or presentations, unlike the single-stage open procedure.Procurement Act 2023, s20 · The competitive flexible procedure explained
- Conditions of participation
- Conditions a supplier must meet to win the contract, limited to legal and financial capacity and technical ability, and proportionate to the contract. They replaced the old selection stage.Procurement Act 2023, s22
- Contract award notice
- The public notice saying who the buyer intends to award a contract to and for how much. Under the Act it starts the standstill period.Who won a contract
- Covered procurement
- The award, entry into and management of a public contract, meaning one at or above the threshold and not exempt. The Act's full rules apply only to these.Procurement Act 2023, s1
- CPV code
- A code from the Common Procurement Vocabulary that buyers use to classify what they are buying, such as 77314000 for grounds maintenance.CPV code finder
- Direct award
- Awarding a contract without competition, allowed only in limited circumstances. Under the Act a transparency notice must be published first.
- Dynamic market
- A list of qualified suppliers that stays open to new members, from which contracts are awarded. It replaced dynamic purchasing systems under the Act.Procurement Act 2023, s35
- Framework
- A contract between a buyer and one or more suppliers that provides for the future award of contracts. A place on one is not a contract for any work.Procurement Act 2023, s45 · Framework agreements
- Incumbent
- The supplier that currently holds a contract that is being re-tendered.Contracts coming up for renewal
- Invitation to tender (ITT)
- The tender documents inviting bids: the specification, questions, evaluation criteria, contract terms and instructions for submitting.
- Light touch contract
- A contract wholly or mainly for services of a kind set out in regulations, typically health, social care and education, with more flexible rules.Procurement Act 2023, s9
- Lots
- Separate parts of a requirement, each awarded as its own contract. Buyers must consider splitting work into lots, often helping smaller firms, and give reasons if they do not.Procurement Act 2023, s18
- Most advantageous tender (MAT)
- The tender that meets the buyer's requirements and best satisfies the award criteria. It can be the lowest price where price is the only criterion.Procurement Act 2023, s19
- Open procedure
- A single-stage tender anyone can submit a bid for.Procurement Act 2023, s20
- Pipeline notice
- A list of planned procurements that a buyer expecting to spend more than £100 million in the coming financial year must publish within 56 days of the year starting.Procurement Act 2023, s93
- Preliminary market engagement
- Talking to suppliers before a tender to shape the requirement and approach. Buyers must not give any supplier an unfair advantage through it.Procurement Act 2023, s16
- Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ)
- The government's standard questionnaire for the procurement-specific information not already held on Find a Tender. It replaced the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ, once the PQQ).
- Standstill period
- Eight working days after the contract award notice during which the contract cannot be entered into, giving bidders time to question or challenge the decision.Procurement Act 2023, s51
- Supplier information
- The core details you keep on Find a Tender: basic information including legal form, economic and financial standing, connected persons and exclusion grounds.Regulations 2024, reg 6 to 12 · What you need before you bid
- Thresholds
- The contract values, including VAT, above which the full procurement rules apply. They differ by type of buyer and contract.Procurement thresholds 2026
- Transparency notice
- A notice a buyer must publish before awarding a contract directly, saying it intends to do so and why.Procurement Act 2023, s44
- Weighting
- How much each award criterion or question counts towards the total score, usually as a percentage.How answers are scored
Put the jargon to work on real tenders
Tender Radar reads every new UK public sector notice, scores it against what you do and emails you the ones worth reading every weekday morning, with a reason for each. 30 days free, no card needed.
Common questions
Tender terms
What is the difference between a tender and a contract award notice?
A tender notice invites suppliers to bid for a contract that has not yet been awarded. A contract award notice says who the buyer has chosen and for how much, after the evaluation. Under the Procurement Act 2023 its publication starts an eight working day standstill period before the contract can be signed.
What replaced the PQQ and the selection questionnaire?
Under the Procurement Act 2023 the selection stage became conditions of participation, and the government's standard Procurement Specific Questionnaire collects what is not already held in your supplier information on Find a Tender.
What does MAT mean in a tender?
Most advantageous tender: the one that meets the buyer's requirements and best satisfies the published award criteria, assessed using the published methodology and weightings. It replaced the old most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).