e-procurement

General information

In the upper threshold range, all contracting entities must process procurement procedures, from the call for tenders to the award, fully electronically. This comprises the exclusively electronic

• notice,
• availability of call for tenders documents and
• communication between contracting entities and tenderers in all phases of the procurement procedure (e.g. transmission of participation applications and tenders).

e-procurement platforms

Contracting authorities currently use the following procurement platforms for electronic procurement, for example:

• auftrag.at (→ WZ)^{German text}
• Austrian Contractors Registry (→ ANKÖ)^{German text}
• call for tenders platform of ASFINAG and ÖBB (→ ProVia)^{German text}

Further information on call for tenders databases and publication media can also be found at USP.gv.at.

Course of the e-procurement procedure from the tenderer’s perspective

• Search for calls for tenders on procurement platforms on the internet
• Registration for downloading the documents
• Creation of the tender or data entry for the tender directly on the contracting entity’s website
• Possible tenderer queries addressed directly to the contracting entity, response provided directly via the platform
• Uploading of the signed documents by the tenderer (encrypted and electronically signed – depending on the portal still outside the platform or directly in the portal)
• Tender is time-stamped upon receipt on the server and signature is checked
• The contracting entity can only retrieve the tenders from the server and check and evaluate them after the submission period has expired

Technical requirements

In order to participate in a fully electronic procurement procedure, the tenderer requires

• a powerful internet connection (at least 5 MB download and two to three MB upload),
• there should ideally be more than one working internet connection in case there is a fault
• a PC or notebook with internet access (at least 2 GB RAM and 50 GB hard drive, WLAN-capable)
• up-to-date operating systems and software (in case of doubt, clarify and test in advance with the respective portal operator)
• a qualified electronic signature (e.g. ID Austria)

Participation in public calls for tenders and electronically conducted public calls for tenders (e-procurement) is free of charge.

The tender can generally be submitted by means of ÖNORM data carrier, Excel file or by direct entry on the portal. By means of a test account, the handling of the respective portal should be tested in advance, with it being possible in particular to test the functionality of the electronic signature and the uploading of (extensive) files.