# What is an award decision and how do you find the winning price?

An award decision (tilldelningsbeslut) is the authority's notice of which supplier gets the contract and why. All tenderers must be informed of the decision and of the standstill period (LOU chapter 12, section 12), and you can often get the winning price by requesting the decision and the tender as public documents.

Updated 2026-10-25 · Source: https://useprocura.com/en/guides/award-decision · Omega Software Group AB

## What does an award decision say?

Under LOU chapter 12, section 12, the authority must inform all tenderers of the decision to award the contract as soon as possible. The notice must state the reasons for the decision and the length of the standstill period. In practice it usually also shows who won, how the tenders ranked and often a summary of the evaluation.

If the decision is brief, you can ask for more. Under chapter 12, section 13, a tenderer who asks can find out the reasons the tender was rejected and, if the tender met the criteria, the characteristics and relative advantages of the accepted tender.

*What you usually get, and what you can ask for*

| Information | Where it is found |
| --- | --- |
| Who is awarded the contract | The award decision |
| The reasons for the decision | The award decision (chapter 12, section 12) |
| The length of the standstill period | The award decision |
| Why your tender was rejected | On request (chapter 12, section 13) |
| The relative advantages of the winning tender | On request (chapter 12, section 13) |
| The winning price and tender | Request for a public document, after a secrecy assessment |

## How long is the standstill period?

After the award decision, the authority may not sign the contract for a certain time, the standstill period (avtalsspärr). Under LOU chapter 20, section 1, it is 10 days if the decision was sent electronically and 15 days if it was sent some other way. Chapter 20, section 2 lists exceptions, for example certain direct awards and call-offs from framework agreements, where no standstill applies.

The standstill period is the time you have to act. It is during this period that you request documents, examine the evaluation and decide whether a review is worth it.

## How do I request the winning tender and price?

Send a request to the authority's registry or to the contact person for the procurement. Give the procurement's name and case number and ask for the award decision, the evaluation report and the winning tender with its price annex. You do not need to say who you are or why you are asking, and the authority must handle the request promptly.

1. Wait until the award decision has been issued. Before then the tenders are secret.
2. Send the request in writing, preferably by email, with the case number.
3. Ask for the documents in electronic form if possible.
4. If parts are redacted or refused: ask for a written decision with information on how to appeal.

## What may the authority keep secret?

Until the award decision, absolute secrecy applies to the tenders under OSL chapter 19, section 3, second paragraph. The secrecy ends when all tenders are made public, when the award decision has been issued or when the matter has been closed in some other way.

After that, OSL chapter 31, section 16 applies: information about a supplier's business affairs can be withheld if disclosure carries a concrete risk of harm to the supplier. The authority assesses each item of information, and a supplier can never demand secrecy. In practice, total prices and awarded values are often released, while unit prices and hourly rates that reveal a pricing strategy can be redacted.

> Secrecy is the reason public price information is always incomplete. Roughly half of award notices publish no price at all, and searching harder does not change that.

## When can I apply for review?

A supplier that considers it has suffered or may suffer harm can apply for review (överprövning) (LOU chapter 20, section 4). The application is made to the administrative court (förvaltningsrätt) where the authority is based (chapter 20, section 5).

- **Before the standstill period ends.** The application must arrive before the standstill period has expired. Once it has arrived, the standstill is extended until 10 days after the court has decided the case.
- **After a contract has been signed.** The validity of the contract can then be challenged within six months, or within 30 days if the authority has published a contract award notice.

A review requires that you can point to a concrete error, for example that the evaluation did not follow the model stated in the tender documents, and that the error has harmed you. Start by requesting the documents and read the evaluation carefully. Compare the scoring with the criteria and the scale stated in the tender documents, and note every deviation with a reference to where in the documents it appears.

## How do I use award decisions in my next tender?

An award decision is the most concrete information you can get about a market: who wins, how many submit tenders and, sometimes, at what price. Keep them, including from procurements you did not take part in. How to use them in your costing is described in the guide on [pricing a tender](https://useprocura.com/en/guides/pricing-a-tender).

Procura is a Swedish service that shows suppliers which public tenders they qualify for and, where the price has been published, what similar contracts were awarded for. Procura collects published awards and always shows what share published a price and how large the sample is, so you can see how much weight the figures can bear. Read more about [award prices (in Swedish)](https://useprocura.com/losningar/tilldelningspriser).

## Sources

- [Swedish Public Procurement Act (2016:1145), riksdagen.se](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/lag-20161145-om-offentlig-upphandling_sfs-2016-1145/): chapter 12, sections 12–13, chapter 20, sections 1–5
- [Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400), riksdagen.se](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/offentlighets-och-sekretesslag-2009400_sfs-2009-400/): chapter 19, section 3, chapter 31, section 16
- [Konkurrensverket](https://www.konkurrensverket.se/): supervision of public procurement
- [Swedish courts, Sveriges domstolar](https://www.domstol.se/): applying for review

## Frequently asked questions

### Can the authority change its award decision?

Yes. If the authority finds an error in the evaluation during the standstill period, it can make a new award decision or redo the evaluation. A new decision gives a new standstill period.

### What does a review cost?

The biggest cost is usually time and possibly a legal representative, which is not mandatory. Check the current rules on fees and costs with the Swedish courts (Sveriges domstolar) before you apply.

### How long do I have to wait for the documents I requested?

The authority must handle a request for a public document promptly, which often means the same day or within a few days. A secrecy assessment of an extensive tender can take longer. Send a reminder if the answer is delayed, especially if the standstill period is about to expire.

### Can I see my own tender's scores in detail?

Yes, you can request the evaluation report, which shows how your tender was assessed on each criterion. Information about competitors in the report may be redacted after a secrecy assessment.