Steps to win - #1 Where to find information about the public tender in Poland?

Today we are starting a new series of posts (called "Steps to win") on our blog dedicated primarily to contractors who want to participate in public tenders in Poland and win them.

On 1 January 2021, the Act of 11 September 2019 – Public Procurement Law (hereinafter referred to as PZP - this is commonly used Polish abbreviation of this act) entered into force. Despite the fact that a lot of time has passed since the new regulations came into force, we are still faced with questions from contractors (but also, indirectly, contracting authorities who want to help their novice contractors by providing a kind of "PZP application guide") regarding how to participate in a public tender.

In order to meet the expectations of contractors, below (and in the future posts on our blog) we present practical hints (Q&A) for contractors participating in public tenders in Poland. We used as a reference point an open procedure (for orders with a value equal to or higher than the EU thresholds (hereinafter referred to as the EU tender) and a new basic mode, similar to the previous open procedure, without conducting negotiations (for orders with a value lower than the EU thresholds, hereinafter referred to as the national tender).

We hope that our publications will be helpful, especially for contractors from outside Poland, in understanding what a tender conducted in accordance with the Public Procurement Law really is and how to effectively apply for a contract in Poland?. At the same time, the aim of our publications will be to present the extensive subject of the Public Procurement Law in the most concise way possible - in the case of issues requiring in-depth analysis, including reference to the case law currently in force, we encourage you to contact us.

#1 Where to find information about the public tender in Poland?

The main source of information is the official publications of notices, i.e.:

1. Public Procurement Bulletin (PBP, a polish abbreviation is BZP) for national tenders. Since 1 January 2021, the PBP is located on the new e-Zamówienia internet platform available at ezamowienia.gov.pl.

2. Official Journal of the European Union for EU tenders, available at ted.europa.eu.

Information on the currently applicable quota thresholds, which primarily determine whether a tender will be recognised as EU or national, can be found in the announcement of the President of the Public Procurement Office available on its website (here is the link: https://www.gov.pl/web/uzp/nowe-progi-unijne-i-nowy-sredni-kurs).

When filtering notices, it is worth using the Common Procurement Vocabulary code (CPV code), i.e. the subject list of orders and individual numbers assigned to them. Each contracting authority is obliged to use such codes in the tenders conducted, and their main purpose is to make it easier for contractors from all over the European Union to search for public contracts that fall within the scope of their interests.

Detailed information about the tender, including the specification of the terms of the contract, i.e. the polish commonly used abbreviation is SWZ, can be found on the website indicated in the notice about the given contract.

We higly recommend you to buy a qualified electronic signature!

From 1 January 2021, all tenders with a value above PLN 130,000 (net) are, as a rule, conducted only using electronic means of communication.

The above means that the rule is that there is no longer a traditional submission of offers in writing. The PZP allows for the submission of offers in the old form in certain cases, but this is an exception that the contracting authority is always obliged to justify in the minutes of the procedure (the contractor has the right to access the minutes and learn about these reasons).

It is also worth ensuring that all persons signing bids from the contractor acquire appropriate electronic signatures in advance (in this respect, the widest possibilities, regardless of the type of tender, are provided by a qualified electronic signature, and we strongly recommend obtaining such a signature - in advance).