Modification Notice

A Modification Notice records changes made to a public contract after it has been signed and entered into performance. It is distinct from a Corrigendum Notice, which corrects procurement notices published during the tender process, and from the Contract Award Notice, which records the original award outcome.

What is a Modification Notice?

Article 72 of Directive 2014/24/EU sets out the circumstances in which a contracting authority may modify an existing contract without launching a new procurement procedure. Permitted modifications include those that are below the relevant EU threshold and below 10% of the original contract value (15% for works), those that cover unforeseen circumstances that a diligent authority could not have anticipated, and those involving additional works or services by the original contractor that cannot be technically or economically separated from the main contract.

When a permitted modification is made and it meets certain value thresholds (essentially, when the modification is significant enough to require transparency), the authority must publish a Modification Notice on TED. This notice records the original contract, the nature of the modification, the reasons it is considered lawful without reopening competition, and the revised contract value.

Under eForms, the Modification Notice maps to specific notice subtypes. The eForms-specific designation is Contract Modification Notice. The eForms SDK defines the mandatory business term fields for this notice type, including fields for recording the legal basis for the modification and the value change.

Modifications that do not meet the legal conditions of Article 72 are considered substantial changes that require a new procurement procedure. Unlawful modifications can be challenged by competing suppliers and can result in the modification (and sometimes the underlying contract) being set aside.

Why Modification Notices matter for bidders

Modification Notices are an underused source of competitive intelligence. They show you where buyers are extending existing contracts, adding scope, or increasing contract values with incumbent suppliers. This tells you which incumbents are consolidating their positions in a market and which buyers are regularly expanding contracts beyond their original scope, which may indicate a tendency to avoid recompetition.

For suppliers monitoring a specific buyer, Modification Notices also signal where a contract is likely to be re-tendered soon (once it reaches its modified ceiling) or where additional scope may be bundled into the next competitive procedure. They can also reveal buyers who are testing the boundaries of lawful modification, which may create grounds for challenge or, at minimum, an early conversation with the authority about upcoming work.

Example

A German city awarded a facilities management contract to a supplier at EUR 3 million. Two years into a four-year contract, the city needs to add maintenance of two newly acquired buildings to the contract. The value of the additional scope is EUR 280,000, which is below 10% of the original contract value and meets the conditions of Article 72. The city publishes a Modification Notice on TED recording the change, the legal basis, and the revised total contract value of EUR 3.28 million.

Frequently Asked Questions

When must a Modification Notice be published on TED?

A Modification Notice must be published when the conditions for a permitted modification are met and the modification value is at or above EUR 5 million, or above 10% (15% for works) of the original contract value, whichever is lower. Member states may set stricter rules.

Can a supplier challenge a contract modification?

Yes. If a modification does not meet the Article 72 conditions, it may constitute an unlawful substantial change, and competing suppliers can challenge it through national review bodies. The remedy in such cases typically includes damages rather than unwinding the modification once the contract is in performance.

Is a modification the same as a contract extension?

Not necessarily. A time extension (for example, exercising a pre-agreed optional extension period) that was included in the original contract documents does not require a Modification Notice because it was already part of the original procurement. A Modification Notice is required when the change goes beyond what was originally contracted for.