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What a lot is, and why lots exist
§ 28 BVergG 2018 governs whole- and lot-based awards. A contract can be divided by location, time, quantity, type or subject area. Above the EU thresholds, there is an additional rule: if the contracting authority does not divide the contract into lots, it must give reasons in the tender notice or the procurement record.
Two points matter, because this rule is often quoted too loosely. First, it is a duty to give reasons, not a duty to divide. Second, it applies only above the EU thresholds. Better SME access is the policy rationale behind the rule – not its wording. In practice: lots are your most likely way in, but nobody is obliged to open that door for you.
Orders of magnitude
For 2026/2027 the thresholds include €140,000 for supply and service contracts of central authorities, €216,000 for sub-central authorities and €5,404,000 for works. Above these values, publication is EU-wide via TED; below, nationally.
Below the thresholds, there are lighter procedures, including direct award. For supplies and services its value limit refers dynamically to the threshold for central authorities, so it currently stands at €140,000. Practically relevant and not widely known: from an estimated contract value of €50,000, in a direct award the authority must endeavour to obtain at least three offers or non-binding price quotes, unless there are objective reasons not to. A large share of public IT procurement happens below the major procedures – and there, what often decides is whether an authority knows you well enough to ask.
Five questions that let you assess a lot in 30 minutes
1. Is the lot a self-contained deliverable, or a slice cut out of something bigger?
Good lots can be delivered independently. If your lot depends technically on another one won by someone else, your risk profile changes considerably. Check who carries integration responsibility.
2. Do you meet the eligibility criteria – actually, not roughly?
Eligibility criteria are bidder-related: authorisation, reliability, technical and economic capacity. They are not weighted, only checked. Fail them, and you are excluded, regardless of price. That distinguishes them from contract-related award criteria; a characteristic already assessed as an eligibility criterion may not be used again as an award criterion.
3. If not: can you legitimately supplement the missing capacity?
§ 86 BVerfG allows you to rely on the capacities of other entities regardless of the legal nature of the links between you. That is the basis for both bidding consortia and subcontracting. One limitation: where requirements concern education, professional qualification or relevant professional experience, only partners who will actually perform that work count.
4. Does the timeline match your real capacity?
There are often only a few weeks between award and start of delivery. The honest question is not whether you can deliver, but whether you can deliver from the stated date – with the people actually available then.
5. Does the effort pay off at a realistic hit rate?
A first bid costs several person-days. The investment pays off through reuse: evidence documents, reference texts, concept modules and costing logic. Stopping after the first rejection means paying the cost without collecting the return.
Where to find suitable lots
Above the EU thresholds, tenders are published EU-wide on TED. Nationally, the tender search on the Austrian business service portal usp.gv.at is the obvious entry point, alongside the platforms of Bundesbeschaffung GmbH and BIG. Commercial providers such as ANKÖ, auftrag.at or ausschreibung.at aggregate on a paid basis and offer search profiles – useful, but not an official publication medium.
A pragmatic tip: do not build search profiles only around your own service term, but also around the subject areas your service is typically embedded in as a lot. Searching only for "software development" will not surface the tender in which your lot is called "operations and second-level support".
Go or no-go
The decision is rarely close if you take it in this order: eligibility met or legitimately supplementable, delivery independently possible, timeline realistic, effort justified. If any of those four comes out negative, a no-go is not a missed opportunity. It is a week saved. And if all four fit, the size of the overall tender is simply not your benchmark. The lot is.
Found a tender and unsure whether a lot fits you? We will look at it with you – write to sales@suppliance.at.
This article offers practical orientation and does not replace legal advice. Thresholds, deadlines and procedural rules change; the tender documents and the applicable version of the BVergG prevail.