The open procedure is the simplest competitive route: the buyer publishes a tender notice, and any interested supplier can submit a tender. The name is unchanged from the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, but it now sits in a different law.
Where it appears in the Act. Section 20(2) says a competitive tendering procedure is either an open procedure, defined as a single-stage tendering procedure without a restriction on who can submit tenders, or a competitive flexible procedure. gov.uk’s e-learning says the open procedure remains a single-stage procedure.
It is not a free-for-all. The buyer can still set conditions of participation, and section 19 says it must disregard a tender from a supplier that does not satisfy them. It then picks the most advantageous tender against its published award criteria.
What it means for a small supplier. You do not need to be invited or shortlisted, which makes the open procedure the most accessible route. The trade-off is that you submit everything at once, so there is no second round to fix gaps: the full price, method statements, insurance evidence and references go in together. Check the closing date as soon as you see the notice, because you are competing against anyone who chooses to enter, and work back from it to plan your time.