Social and Other Specific Services Notice

The Social and Other Specific Services Notice is published when a contracting authority in an EU member state procures services listed in Annex XIV of Directive 2014/24/EU (or the equivalent annexes of Directives 2014/25/EU and 2014/23/EU) and the estimated contract value is at or above EUR 750,000. This threshold is substantially higher than the standard services threshold, reflecting a deliberate policy decision to apply a lighter-touch procurement regime to services that are inherently local, interpersonal, and difficult to standardise.

What is a Social and Other Specific Services Notice?

Annex XIV of Directive 2014/24/EU lists a range of services subject to the light-touch regime. These include health and social services (hospital services, residential care, social work), educational services, hotel and restaurant services, legal services, certain trade union services, and other services of a similar character. The common feature is that they are typically provided locally, are highly context-dependent, and involve a relationship between provider and recipient that makes cross-border competition less practically significant than in other sectors.

For these service types above EUR 750,000 (compared to EUR 215,000 for standard services), contracting authorities must: publish either a Prior Information Notice (PIN) or a Contract Notice to call for competition; award the contract taking into account the quality and continuity of the service; and publish a Contract Award Notice after award. However, many of the detailed procedural requirements that apply to standard procurements (minimum tender periods, mandatory use of specific procedure types, detailed selection criteria rules) do not apply strictly. Member states have significant latitude to design their own rules for these services.

Under eForms, the Social and Other Specific Services Notice maps to specific notice subtypes. Because the light-touch regime is deliberately less prescriptive, the eForms implementation for these notices has fewer mandatory business term fields than notices for standard service contracts.

Why this notice type matters for bidders

Suppliers in healthcare, social care, education, housing support, and related sectors need to understand that the contracts they are competing for are governed by lighter rules. This means more flexibility for buyers in how they run the competition, but also less standardised disclosure. Tender documents for light-touch regime procurements may vary more widely in format and content than those for standard procurements.

The higher threshold (EUR 750,000) means that many smaller social care and educational service contracts are awarded without any mandatory TED publication, relying only on national or local transparency rules. Suppliers monitoring this market must be vigilant about national portals and buyer-specific publication practices, not just TED.

Example

An Irish health authority is procuring residential care services for elderly residents at an estimated cost of EUR 2 million per year for three years. The total estimated value is EUR 6 million, above the EUR 750,000 light-touch threshold. The authority publishes a Social and Other Specific Services Notice on TED, inviting tenders. The notice is less prescriptive than a standard Contract Notice and does not mandate a specific minimum tender period, though the authority sets a 30-day window in practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the EUR 750,000 threshold based on?

The threshold is set in Directive 2014/24/EU and is updated periodically. It applies to the total estimated contract value. For multi-year contracts, all years are included in the calculation.

Are all health and social care contracts covered by the light-touch regime?

No. Only those specific service types listed in Annex XIV are covered. If a health authority is procuring, say, IT systems or construction of a care facility, those contracts fall under the standard rules and the standard services or works thresholds apply.

Do member states have to use the light-touch regime?

The Directive gives member states the option to apply full procurement rules to Annex XIV services even where the lighter regime would apply. Some member states have transposed the Directive in a way that retains more detailed requirements for certain service types.