German public procurement is federally fragmented: there is NO single national supplier registry that a company joins once. Instead, suppliers register on the specific e-procurement platform used by the buyer they want to sell to, and qualify per-tender via the EU self-declaration (ESPD/EEE). Federal (Bund) authorities largely use e-Vergabe (evergabe-online.de) with notices on oeffentlichevergabe.de; the 16 Länder and municipalities use platforms such as DTVP, Vergabe24 and cosinex; and all contracts above the EU thresholds are additionally published EU-wide on TED. Foreign and EU companies may bid without a German entity: under §97(2) GWB participants must be treated equally and discrimination on the basis of nationality is prohibited. Eligibility is self-declared at bid stage via the ESPD (§50 VgV). A voluntary, order-independent prequalification list (PQ-VOB) exists for the construction sector.
e-Vergabe (federal) · DTVP / Vergabe24 / cosinex (Länder & municipal) · oeffentlichevergabe.de (federal notices) · TED (above EU threshold)
Beschaffungsamt des BMI (federal central procurement office, operator of e-Vergabe); procurement is otherwise decentralised across the Bund, 16 Länder and municipalities
Foreign companies eligibleNo local entity required to bid
No local entity or German establishment is required to bid. Under §97(2) GWB all participants in a procurement procedure must be treated equally and discrimination on the basis of nationality is prohibited; contracting authorities cannot demand a German tax number or local establishment as a condition of participation. EU/EEA bidders have full equal access. Non-EU bidders have guaranteed access for contracts covered by the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and other trade agreements the EU is party to; outside GPA/agreement coverage, access to sub-threshold or non-covered contracts is not legally guaranteed and is at the buyer's discretion. NOTE: if a contract is WON and PERFORMED, downstream tax/labour obligations can arise — construction projects lasting beyond 6/12 months trigger permanent-establishment registration with the tax office, and posted workers must be registered in writing with the customs authority (Zoll) before work begins. These are performance-stage, not bid-eligibility, requirements.
Because there is no single national registry, first determine which e-procurement portal your target buyers use. Federal authorities publish on e-Vergabe (evergabe-online.de) with notices aggregated on oeffentlichevergabe.de; Länder/municipal buyers use DTVP, Vergabe24 or cosinex; all above-EU-threshold tenders are additionally published on TED. There is no single log-in that reaches every buyer.
Create a company account on each relevant platform. On e-Vergabe (federal), register via the tenderer/company-data registration (operator Beschaffungsamt des BMI; support@bescha.bund.de). On DTVP, registration is free for all basic functions needed to search, download documents and submit bids (paid tiers ~EUR 49/month add features). Registering on DTVP also lists your company in the bidders database that authorities can search for restricted/direct-award procedures. A company can register regardless of nationality or place of business.
Ensure you can submit bids electronically through the platform's tools. e-Vergabe supports fully online procedures. Under current EU/German rules a qualified electronic signature is generally NOT mandatory for standard electronic submission, but the buyer's tender documents govern the exact required form (text form vs. advanced/qualified signature) for each procedure. [REVIEWER: confirm current e-signature requirements per platform/tender — this varies by buyer and could not be pinned to a single primary source.]
For above-threshold tenders you provisionally self-declare suitability and absence of exclusion grounds using the ESPD/EEE (Einheitliche Europäische Eigenerklärung) under §50 VgV, in the standard EU form (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7), instead of German-specific forms. Supporting documents are only produced if you are the prospective winner (the contracting authority may request them earlier if needed to run the procedure). Foreign firms may submit equivalent home-country certificates; use the EU e-Certis tool to map requirements.
Documentation and correspondence for German public tenders are almost exclusively in German. Foreign bidders should expect to submit their offer and correspond in German (certified translations of foreign-language certificates may be required). Above-threshold notices appear on TED (sometimes with multilingual summaries), but the full tender documents are in German.
Construction and ancillary-trade companies may voluntarily join the official PQ-VOB list, maintained by the Verein für die Präqualifikation von Bauunternehmen e.V. via accredited prequalification offices. It is an order-independent, upfront proof of suitability under §6/§6a (EU) VOB/A; authorities must in principle accept a valid PQ entry instead of re-examining suitability per bid. Voluntary; reduces per-tender paperwork; pays off for firms bidding in several public tenders per year.
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Create free accountRegistering as a bidder on the public platforms (e-Vergabe, DTVP basic edition) is free; there is no mandatory national registration fee. Optional paid platform tiers (e.g. DTVP Professional ~EUR 49/month). Optional construction PQ-VOB: reported ~EUR 350 initial + per-performance-area charges, annual renewal ~EUR 400-700 (fees vary by PQ office — secondary sources; verify with the chosen office).
Varies per tender — not a fixed registration time.
Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB, Part 4, §§97 ff.) — §97(1)(2) enshrine competition, transparency and equal treatment/non-discrimination; §§122-124 GWB govern suitability and exclusion grounds. Vergabeverordnung (VgV) for above-threshold supplies/services (implements EU Directive 2014/24/EU): §50 VgV governs the ESPD/EEE self-declaration; §47 VgV permits reliance on third-party capacities (Eignungsleihe). VOB/A for construction; UVgO for below-threshold federal supplies/services. Above EU thresholds, EU procurement directives and TED publication apply.
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This guide is grounded in official sources, last verified 2026-07-21.