Glossary
Glossary: Swedish procurement terms from A to Ö
This glossary explains the most common terms in Swedish public procurement in plain English, with references to the law where they help and links to the guides that go deeper.
- Tenderer (anbudsgivare)
- The supplier that submits a tender in a procurement.
- Tender period (anbudstid)
- The time from publication to the last day for submitting tenders. During the tender period suppliers can ask questions, and the authority can correct or clarify the documents.
- Notice database (annonsdatabas)
- A registered database where procurements are advertised. Since 1 January 2021, notices must be published in a notice database registered with the Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket), under Act 2019:668 on procurement statistics. Procurements above the thresholds are published first on TED.
- Standstill period (avtalsspärr)
- The time after the award decision during which the authority may not sign the contract: 10 days if the decision was sent electronically, otherwise 15 days (LOU chapter 20, section 1). During the standstill period a supplier can apply for review. See the guide on award decisions.
- Desirable criteria (önskade kriterier)
- A criterion you do not have to meet but which affects the evaluation. In practice it is an award criterion.
- CPV code (CPV-kod)
- Common Procurement Vocabulary, a shared classification system for public procurement in the EU, set out in Regulation (EC) 2195/2002. Every procurement is tagged with codes that describe what is being bought, so you can watch the right categories.
- Lot (delområde)
- A part of a procurement that can be awarded separately, for example a geographical area or a product group. You can often bid for one or more lots.
- Direct award (direktupphandling)
- A procurement with no duty to advertise and no set procedure, allowed when the value is low. The limit in LOU has been SEK 700,000 since 1 February 2022.
- Dynamic purchasing system (dynamiskt inköpssystem)
- A fully electronic purchasing system that suppliers meeting the qualification criteria can join at any time while the system runs, unlike a framework agreement, which is closed to new suppliers.
- Contract award notice (efterannons)
- A notice published after the contract has been signed, saying who won it. If a contract award notice has been published, the deadline for challenging the validity of the contract is shortened to 30 days.
- ESPD
- European Single Procurement Document: a standardised self-declaration that the supplier is not to be excluded and meets the qualification criteria. The form is set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/7, and above the thresholds the authority must accept it as preliminary evidence.
- Questions and answers (frågor och svar)
- Questions suppliers ask during the tender period and the authority's answers, which are published to all tenderers. The answers can change or clarify criteria and should be read as carefully as the documents themselves.
- Simplified procedure (förenklat förfarande)
- A procedure for procurements below the thresholds in which every supplier may submit a tender and the authority may negotiate.
- Tender documents (förfrågningsunderlag)
- All the documents that describe the procurement: criteria for the supplier, the specification (kravspecifikation), the evaluation model, the contract terms and the appendices. Mandatory criteria can appear in any of these documents. See the guide on mandatory criteria.
- Prior information notice (förhandsannons)
- A notice in which an authority announces planned procurements in advance. It gives suppliers time to prepare.
- Mini-competition (förnyad konkurrensutsättning)
- A way of calling off from a framework agreement with several suppliers: they submit new tenders for the specific assignment, and the best one under the framework agreement's terms wins.
- Qualification criteria (kvalificeringskriterier)
- Mandatory minimum criteria for the supplier. Under LOU chapter 14, section 1, they may only concern authorisation to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability. They are never part of the evaluation.
- Life-cycle cost (livscykelkostnad)
- The total cost of a product or service over its whole life, for example purchase, operation, energy, maintenance and disposal. It can be used when contracts are evaluated on cost (LOU chapter 16, section 3).
- LOU
- The Swedish Public Procurement Act (2016:1145), lag om offentlig upphandling. It governs most procurements by central government, municipalities and regions.
- LUF
- Act (2016:1146) on procurement in the utilities sectors, which covers water, energy, transport and postal services, among others. It is supplemented by LUK, Act (2016:1147) on the award of concession contracts.
- Value deduction (mervärdesavdrag)
- A deduction from the tender price for each quality criterion that is met, which gives a notional comparison price. The price actually paid does not change. See the worked example in the guide on evaluation methods.
- Minimum criteria (minimikriterier)
- A criterion that must be met for the tender to be considered further. Mandatory criteria and qualification criteria are minimum criteria.
- Turnover criteria (omsättningskriterier)
- A criterion for the supplier's annual turnover. Under LOU chapter 14, section 4, it may be at most twice the estimated contract value, unless there are special reasons.
- Abnormally low tender (onormalt lågt anbud)
- A tender whose price seems too low to deliver what is required. The authority must then ask the supplier to explain the price, and can reject the tender if the explanation does not hold up.
- Option
- A right for the authority, not an obligation, to for example extend or expand the contract. It affects how the contract value in a notice should be read, see the guide on pricing a tender.
- OSL secrecy (OSL-sekretess)
- Secrecy under the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400), offentlighets- och sekretesslagen. Tenders are secret until the award decision (chapter 19, section 3). After that, a supplier's business details, for example detailed prices, can be kept secret if disclosure would harm the supplier (chapter 31, section 16). The authority decides each case.
- Framework agreement (ramavtal)
- An agreement that sets the terms for future purchases, called call-offs (avrop), over a period of as a general rule no more than four years. The volume in a framework agreement notice is often an estimate, not a guarantee.
- Reference project (referensuppdrag)
- Earlier assignments that show the supplier has experience of similar work. Under LOU chapter 15, section 11, the authority may ask for references up to five years back for works contracts and three years for goods and services.
- Correction (rättelse)
- When an authority changes or clarifies the tender documents during the tender period. A correction can add criteria and can also extend the tender period.
- Mandatory criteria (obligatoriska kriterier)
- A criterion that must be met for the tender not to be rejected. Mandatory criteria appear in almost all tender documents. See the guide on mandatory criteria.
- TED
- Tenders Electronic Daily, the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, where procurements above the thresholds are published across the EU.
- Award decision (tilldelningsbeslut)
- The authority's decision on who gets the contract. Every tenderer must be notified of the decision, the reasons for it and the standstill period (LOU chapter 12, section 12). See the guide on award decisions.
- Award criteria (tilldelningskriterier)
- The criteria tenders are evaluated against, for example price, delivery time or the quality of a working method. These are what are often called desirable criteria.
- Thresholds (tröskelvärden)
- Amounts that decide which rules apply and whether the procurement must be advertised on TED. From 1 January 2026, excluding VAT: SEK 1,589,140 for goods and services bought by central government authorities, SEK 2,451,816 for other authorities and SEK 61,340,804 for works contracts.
- Contracting authority (upphandlande myndighet)
- The buyer: central government authorities, municipalities, regions and certain publicly controlled bodies covered by LOU.
- Grounds for exclusion (uteslutningsgrunder)
- Circumstances under which a supplier must or may be excluded from a procurement, for example certain crimes or unpaid taxes and social security contributions. They are set out in LOU chapter 13 and are assessed in addition to the qualification criteria.
- Evaluation method (utvärderingsgrund)
- The basis that decides which tender is the most economically advantageous: best price-quality ratio, cost or price (LOU chapter 16, section 1). See the guide on lowest price or best value.
- Conditional tender (villkorat anbud)
- A tender with reservations or its own terms that depart from the tender documents. It risks being rejected. See the guide on common mistakes.
- Relying on another's capacity (åberopa annans kapacitet)
- Using another company's resources, for example its references or financial standing, to meet the qualification criteria. The supplier must be able to show that it actually has the resources at its disposal, often with a commitment from the other company.
- Open procedure (öppet förfarande)
- A procedure in which every interested supplier may submit a tender and negotiation is not allowed. Common in procurements above the thresholds.
- Review (överprövning)
- A court review of a procurement that a supplier can apply for at the administrative court (förvaltningsrätten) if it considers that it has suffered or may suffer harm (LOU chapter 20, sections 4 and 5). The application must arrive before the standstill period ends.