Single-Stage Procedure

A single-stage procedure is the simplest procurement structure in terms of process design. Every interested supplier submits a full tender response in one go: selection evidence, technical proposal, and price together. The contracting authority evaluates all submissions sequentially or concurrently, first checking selection compliance and then scoring the qualifying tenders against the award criteria. There is no intermediate shortlisting round.

What is a Single-Stage Procedure?

The open procedure under Article 27 of Directive 2014/24/EU is the archetypal single-stage procedure. Any interested supplier may access the tender documents and submit a complete bid within the minimum period (35 days from the contract notice, reducible to 30 days for electronic submission, or 15 days in duly justified urgency cases).

The single-stage structure makes the open procedure the most accessible route in European public procurement. There is no selection hurdle to clear before receiving the tender documents, and no shortlisting decision to survive before investing effort in a full bid. All compliant suppliers with access to the notice can participate.

The trade-off for contracting authorities is evaluation workload. When a contract attracts many responses, the buyer must assess all compliant submissions against both selection and award criteria. For complex contracts or large bidder fields, this can be resource-intensive. This is one reason why buyers use the two-stage procedure for complex high-value requirements.

In the UK, the Procurement Act 2023 retains a form of single-stage open competition with a minimum period of 25 days, alongside the competitive flexible procedure for more complex procurements.

Why it matters for bidders

Single-stage procedures offer maximum access: you do not need to be invited, pre-qualified, or shortlisted. The downside is that you have no intelligence about the competition field before committing to a full bid. You cannot know how many others are bidding or what approximate price and quality levels competitors are likely to offer.

Preparation discipline matters more than in two-stage procedures, where the shortlisting stage allows some calibration. In a single-stage open procedure, your first submission must be complete and competitive. There is no opportunity to improve or clarify after submission, and no negotiation round (unless the procedure type permits it, which the standard open procedure does not).

Example

A Portuguese municipality procures landscaping maintenance for public parks under an open procedure, its standard single-stage route. The contract notice is published on TED and on the national portal. Within the 30-day period, fourteen companies submit full tenders including company accounts, project references, a maintenance methodology, and a priced schedule of rates. The municipality evaluates all fourteen, excludes three that fail the turnover selection criterion, and scores the remaining eleven against quality and price criteria.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a contracting authority use pre-qualification in a single-stage procedure?

Not in the formal sense of a two-stage shortlisting round. However, the contract notice may include minimum selection criteria (such as minimum annual turnover or possession of a specific certification) that function as pass/fail gates applied to all received tenders. Suppliers who fail these criteria are excluded before award evaluation, but all suppliers still submit a full tender.

Is the single-stage procedure faster than a two-stage procedure?

From the buyer's perspective, a single-stage procedure can be faster because there is only one submission window rather than two sequential windows with evaluation between them. However, evaluation time increases with the number of submissions. From the supplier's perspective, the time saving is real: you submit once rather than twice.

Are there single-stage variants for urgent procurements?

Yes. The accelerated procedure and urgent procedure are single-stage mechanisms that compress the minimum time limits under the open or restricted procedure when duly substantiated urgency exists.

Can a buyer conduct an e-auction after a single-stage submission?

Yes. An electronic auction can be used as a final competitive stage following the evaluation of full tenders in an open procedure. The e-auction does not add a pre-qualification stage; it adds a price-sharpening stage after full tenders have been assessed.