Swiss public procurement is published on ONE shared platform, simap.ch, used by the Confederation, all cantons and communes. There is NO standing national vendor registry a company joins once — qualification is done per tender: you register a free account on simap.ch, then for each tender you demonstrate that you meet the buyer's suitability/eligibility criteria via self-declaration plus supporting evidence set out in that tender's documents. Switzerland is a WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) party and has a bilateral procurement agreement with the EU. For contracts above the international thresholds, suppliers from GPA/free-trade-agreement partner states have guaranteed, non-discriminatory access; suppliers from non-treaty states are only admitted where their home state grants Switzerland reciprocal access, or with the procuring entity's consent. No Swiss subsidiary or local establishment is required to bid. Federal procurement is governed by the revised Federal Act on Public Procurement (BöB/LMP, SR 172.056.1, in force 1 January 2021) and its ordinance (VöB); cantonal and communal procurement is governed by the revised Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (IVöB 2019), harmonised with the federal law. Note: simap.ch relaunched as a completely new platform on 1 July 2024 with NO data migration — every company had to create a brand-new account.
simap.ch (système d'information sur les marchés publics en Suisse) — the shared federal, cantonal and communal public-procurement platform, relaunched as a new platform on 1 July 2024
Association simap.ch (jointly operated by the Swiss Confederation and the cantons); each contracting authority (e.g. federal offices, cantons, communes, sector entities such as SBB) runs its own procedures on the platform. There is no single national procurement agency and no standing supplier register.
Foreign companies eligibleNo local entity required to bid
No Swiss legal entity, subsidiary, branch or local establishment is required to submit a bid. For contracts within international-treaty scope (i.e. above the GPA/bilateral thresholds), suppliers from GPA and free-trade-agreement partner states — which include the EU/EFTA, the USA, Canada, Japan, the UK, South Korea and other GPA parties — must be treated no less favourably than domestic bidders (national treatment / non-discrimination). OUTSIDE treaty scope (below-threshold contracts, or suppliers from states with no relevant treaty), a foreign bidder is admitted only where its home state grants Switzerland reciprocal access, OR with the procuring entity's consent — so access for non-treaty-country suppliers is NOT legally guaranteed and is at the buyer's discretion. Certain sectors are wholly or partly excluded from treaty coverage (e.g. drinking-water supply, energy, transport, telecommunications, and defence — where armasuisse may attach offset requirements). Performance-stage obligations (Swiss VAT registration, social-security/withholding, posted-worker notification under the Posted Workers Act, and compliance with Swiss collective labour agreements and equal-pay rules) can arise once a contract is WON and performed in Switzerland; these are contract-execution requirements, not conditions of bid eligibility. [REVIEWER: the specific list of GPA/FTA partner states and any current reciprocity determinations should be confirmed against SECO / the BöB Annexes for the buyer in question.]
Register a personal login on simap.ch, then create a supplier/company profile (company name, address, contact details). Registration is free. IMPORTANT: simap.ch was replaced by a completely new platform on 1 July 2024 with no automatic data migration, so any account from the old platform no longer works and a new account must be created. The single account gives access to federal, cantonal and communal tenders published across Switzerland.
Use simap.ch to browse and search all current calls for tender and contract-award notices across the Confederation, cantons and communes. You can view the procedure type (open, selective, invitation, or direct/free-hand award), download tender documents, and use the platform's question/answer forum to put questions directly to the contracting authority. Most above-threshold notices are also republished in the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) under the Switzerland–EU agreement.
Determine whether the tender is above the international thresholds (bringing it within GPA/bilateral scope) and whether your company's home state is a GPA or FTA partner of Switzerland. Above-threshold, treaty-covered contracts guarantee non-discriminatory access to suppliers from partner states. If your home state is not a treaty partner, access is only available where reciprocity is granted or the procuring entity consents — check the tender documents, which state the applicable legal regime and any nationality conditions.
There is no standing prequalification list — you demonstrate suitability per tender against the criteria published in that tender's documents. Provide the self-declarations and supporting evidence the buyer requires. Typical items include: proof of payment of taxes and social-security contributions, absence of bankruptcy/insolvency proceedings, compliance with employment-protection and equal-treatment (equal-pay) rules, and evidence of financial standing and of technical/professional capacity and relevant references. Foreign bidders generally submit equivalent home-country certificates. Criteria must be objective, verifiable and applied equally to all bidders.
Express interest in the tender on simap.ch, download the full documents, and upload your completed bid through the platform before the (strict) submission deadline. Tender documents and the working language are typically German, French or Italian depending on the contracting authority; bids and correspondence must generally be in the buyer's official language. Read each tender's exact submission-form requirements — some authorities still require a paper or dual submission for the priced offer, so follow the specific instructions in the tender documents.
The authority evaluates bids against the published suitability and award criteria and publishes the award on simap.ch. An unsuccessful bidder may challenge an award decision within a strict, non-extendable 20-day deadline from publication of the award decision (no court holidays apply). Keep documentation of your bid in case you need to seek a review.
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Create free accountRegistering a supplier account on simap.ch is free. There is no mandatory national registration fee to become eligible to bid. Costs are otherwise tender-specific (translation of certificates, bid-preparation effort) and, if a contract is won and performed, downstream compliance costs (Swiss VAT, social-security, posted-worker/labour compliance).
Varies per tender — not a fixed registration time.
FEDERAL: Federal Act on Public Procurement (Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen, BöB / Loi fédérale sur les marchés publics, LMP), SR 172.056.1, adopted 21 June 2019, in force 1 January 2021 (total revision that transposes the revised 2012 WTO GPA into Swiss law and harmonises federal and cantonal regimes); implementing Ordinance on Public Procurement (Verordnung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen, VöB / OMP), SR 172.056.11. SUB-FEDERAL: revised Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen, IVöB 2019 / AIMP), applicable in cantons that have ratified it (21 of 26 cantons as of 2026), plus each canton's implementing law. INTERNATIONAL: WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA 2012, in force for Switzerland 1 January 2021) and the Switzerland–EU Bilateral Agreement on certain aspects of government procurement.
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This guide is grounded in official sources, last verified 2026-07-21.