CPV codes explained, and how to choose yours

CPV codes are the numbers from the Common Procurement Vocabulary that public buyers use to classify what a notice is buying. The Procurement Regulations 2024 define a CPV code as “a code used in the Common Procurement Vocabulary as adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002” (regulation 3). Government guidance says their “main purpose is to help classify contract notices consistently” and “to help suppliers find opportunities by using a standardised vocabulary”.

This guide explains how the codes are built, where the list comes from, how to choose yours and where codes run out. To look codes up, use our CPV code finder. A one-line definition is in the glossary entry for CPV code.

How a CPV code is built: division, group, class, category

The official text is Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008. It says the CPV “consists of a main vocabulary and a supplementary vocabulary”. The main vocabulary is “based on a tree structure comprising codes of up to nine digits”. The numerical code consists of 8 digits, subdivided as follows:

• “the first two digits identify the divisions (XX000000-Y)”
• “the first three digits identify the groups (XXX00000-Y)”
• “the first four digits identify the classes (XXXX0000-Y)”
• “the first five digits identify the categories (XXXXX000-Y)”

“Each of the last three digits gives a greater degree of precision within each category,” and “a ninth digit serves to verify the previous digits.” So a code is eight digits plus a check digit after the dash.

In the patterns above, the X digits are the ones that identify the level, the zeros are padding, and Y is the check digit. Take 90911200-8 as an example. The division is 90, the group 909, the class 9091 and the category 90911. The final three digits before the dash (200) narrow it to one entry, and the 8 after the dash is the check digit.

Here is the cleaning branch, laid out by those digit rules. Each line is an entry in the official list:

• 90000000-7 Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services (division 90)
  • 90900000-6 Cleaning and sanitation services (group 909)
    • 90910000-9 Cleaning services (class 9091)
      • 90911000-6 Accommodation, building and window cleaning services (category 90911)
        • 90911200-8 Building-cleaning services
        • 90911300-9 Window-cleaning services
      • 90919000-2 Office, school and office equipment cleaning services (category 90919)
        • 90919200-4 Office cleaning services

The practical point is that every code shares its first digits with the branch above it. A buyer who picked the broader 90910000-9 and a buyer who picked 90911200-8 are both in class 9091. Our own sector pages work this way: the cleaning page matches any code that starts 9091.

Main vocabulary and supplementary vocabulary

The main vocabulary is the list above. The supplementary vocabulary “may be used to expand the description of the subject of a contract”. Its items are “made up of an alphanumeric code with a corresponding wording” (Annex I, paragraph 3).

For searching, start with the main codes. They are what the finder lists.

Where the list comes from, and the UK’s 2023 change

The vocabulary was set by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002. Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008, of 28 November 2007, revised it, replacing Annex I with the list known as CPV 2008. legislation.gov.uk holds the UK version of that text, derived from EUR-Lex on IP completion day (31 December 2020).

The UK has since changed the wording of two codes. The Common Procurement Vocabulary (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/601) were made on 5 June 2023 and came into force on 29 June 2023. In division 85, they substitute “disabled people” for “the handicapped” in 85311200-4, and “disabled” for “handicapped” in 85312120-6. The code numbers did not change. Our finder uses the legislation.gov.uk list with those two changes applied, so the descriptions you see there match what UK law now says.

Codes also decide some rules. Light touch services “are defined by reference to a list which uses ‘CPV codes’ to identify the services” (gov.uk e-learning, correct as at 26 July 2024).

How to choose CPV codes for your business

This is a method, not a rule:

1. Write down what you sell in the words a buyer would use. “Window cleaning” is better than “facilities support”.
2. Find the most specific codes that match, using the CPV code finder.
3. Add the parent code, so you also catch notices where the buyer picked a broader code in the same branch.
4. Check real notices you would have bid for, and note which codes they used. If one used a code you hadn’t picked, add it.
5. Add keywords for anything the codes don’t cover. The next section shows why.

Check each code’s official wording before you add it. A code that sounds right can sit in a different branch from the work you do. Then keep your short list in one place, with the date you last reviewed it. The same list can go into a saved search, a buyer-portal profile or your TenderWorthy profile.

To see how steps 2 and 3 work, take an office cleaner. The specific code is 90919200-4 Office cleaning services. Its parents in the cleaning branch above are the category 90919000-2 and the class 90910000-9, either of which you could add.

The finder has the division table, so we don’t repeat it here. For the rest of your search routine, see how to set up searches that work.

When codes aren’t enough: the cyber security example

The 2008 list has no dedicated cyber security code. Our cyber security tenders page combines a few specific codes with a title-keyword filter on IT notices.

The codes are:

• 72212730-5 Security software development services
• 72212732-9 Data security software development services
• codes starting 7280, which is 72800000-8 Computer audit and testing services
• codes starting 4873, which is 48730000-4 Security software package

The keyword filter applies to notices in division 72, and looks for terms such as cyber, penetration test, security operations and incident response.

The same gap exists for home care. The list has no domiciliary care code, so our domiciliary care tenders page uses codes starting 853 (85300000-2 Social work and related services) only as a pre-filter. A notice also needs a title keyword such as “domiciliary”, “home care” or “care at home”.

The lesson applies to any search tool you use: combine codes and keywords. A notice with an unhelpful code can still carry the right words in its title, and the reverse is also true. A code-only search can miss the first kind, and a keyword-only search can miss the second.

Using CPV codes on Find a Tender and in alerts

Our first-tender checklist (step 4) suggests setting up keyword, CPV code, location and value searches, and switching on alerts. For how the service itself works, see searching Find a Tender.

Review your codes now and then. When you start bidding in a new area, or you see a relevant notice your alerts missed, check which codes it used and add them.

Whichever tool you use, an alert matches your search, not your business. For how the free government alerts compare with paid ones, read free government tender alerts vs paid.

The busiest divisions in our data

In the week to 10 Oct 2026, construction (division 45) had 119 live notices, health and social care (division 85) had 68, and business services (division 79) had 52 (as of 10 Oct 2026; how we count). Those names are our short labels, not the official wording.

See construction tenders, healthcare tenders and business services tenders for the live notices. The full top ten is on the finder page.

Your next step

Tell us your trade and postcode to join the free weekly list of live tenders, starting soon. On Pro (£49/month), notices that fit your trade and area are checked against what each states about insurance, certifications and location, and you get an email each morning on days with new matches.