Procurement essentials
The buyer publishes a notice and documents inviting suppliers to compete. Each supplier submits a tender explaining its offer. Everyday speech often calls the whole competition “a tender”, but the records are not interchangeable.
Publishes a tender notice and the documents suppliers need.
Submits a tender: its formal offer to meet the stated requirement.
Assesses the tenders against the published process and criteria.
Records the award decision and, if the process continues, enters into a contract.
The important distinction
A tender notice is the buyer’s published invitation. The associated documents describe the requirement and process. A tender is a supplier’s response to that invitation.
An award records the buyer’s intended decision. A contractis the agreement that follows. An opportunity can end without an award, and an award record is not an invitation to submit another tender.
Real Scout example · checked 27 August 2026
This live construction opportunity shows the minimum shape of a useful first read. Scout retains the source identifiers and official link; the official record remains the authority for documents, eligibility, changes and submission.
Tender-stage record
Current value context
Public bodies can compete contracts below the main thresholds. The figures determine which statutory provisions apply, not whether a supplier’s response can be called a tender.
Procurement Act main thresholds
1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027
These are selected main thresholds, not a complete decision table. Light-touch, utilities, concessions, defence, below-threshold and exempt contracts have separate provisions. Devolved Scottish procurement follows Scottish legislation; its official 2026–27 page lists both the applicable GPA-derived figures and the unchanged Scottish regulated-procurement thresholds.
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Primary sources
Winston checked these official sources on 27 August 2026.