Procurement Act notices are the 17 standard notices public buyers publish on the Central Digital Platform, from early pipeline notices to the notice that a contract has ended. gov.uk’s platform walkthrough (updated 23 June 2026) confirms there are 17 and that not every procurement uses all of them.
The UK codes below follow gov.uk’s e-learning module 2, published 22 April 2024 and correct as at 26 July 2024. It was based on draft regulations. Just want the codes? See the one-line table of all 17 codes. This page is part of our guide on how to win public sector contracts.
Procurement Act notices: how they fit together
Not every procurement uses every notice. Following the sections below, the notices fall in these orders:
- Competitive route: UK1, UK2, UK3 (each only where it applies), UK4, UK6, UK7, then UK9 and UK10 as the contract runs, then UK11.
- Direct award: UK5, UK6, UK7.
- Stopped: UK4 or UK5, then UK12.
Dynamic market notices (UK13 to UK16) and payment reporting (UK8, UK17) run alongside.
Before a tender: UK1, UK2 and UK3
UK1 pipeline notice (s.93)
A buyer expecting to pay more than £100 million under relevant contracts in the coming financial year must publish one. It lists planned procurements worth more than £2 million over an 18-month period, and is due within 56 days of the start of the financial year (section 93; pipeline guidance paras 2, 7, 11). Transferred Northern Ireland authorities are exempt (para 3).
What to do: treat it as a signal about large buyers’ plans, not an opportunity. See pipeline notice.
UK2 preliminary market engagement notice (s.17)
If a buyer engages the market before tendering, it must publish a notice before its tender notice, or give its reasons for not doing so in the tender notice (section 17).
What to do: respond if the topic is yours. It’s your chance to say what a firm your size can deliver. See preliminary market engagement.
UK3 planned procurement notice (s.15)
This one is optional. A notice published at least 40 days, and no more than 12 months, before the tender notice is a “qualifying” one (section 15). It can let the buyer cut the minimum tendering period to 10 days (time periods guidance para 20(d)).
What to do: start preparing when one appears in your trade. Your response window may be short.
The opportunity: UK4 tender notice
This is the notice you bid on. Section 21 requires a tender notice to invite tenders in an open procedure or, in a competitive flexible procedure, requests to participate or a first tender.
The guidance says it includes the conditions of participation, the award criteria or a summary, and how and when to submit (para 85). A competitive flexible notice also gives the criteria for limiting suppliers, any intended minimum number and whether criteria will be refined (para 86).
The minimum time to respond depends on the notice (time periods guidance, para 20):
- 25 days if tenders are submitted electronically and all documents come with the notice.
- 30 days if only one of those is true; 35 if neither.
- 10 days in some cases, such as a qualifying UK3, urgency or a contract awarded under a dynamic market.
- No minimum for light touch contracts.
Requests to participate in a competitive flexible procedure usually get at least 25 days (para 16).
What to do: read it first. Here is how to read a tender notice in five minutes, and what a tender notice must contain.
No competition: UK5 transparency notice
Before a direct award under section 41 or 43, the buyer must publish a transparency notice saying it intends to award directly. User choice contracts are excepted (section 44). The e-learning says this applies “in almost all cases”.
What to do: there’s nothing to bid for. Note the buyer, the supplier and the subject. It shows what the buyer buys without a competition.
The decision: UK6 contract award notice
Before entering a contract, the buyer must publish a notice saying it intends to do so. In a competitive procedure it must first give each supplier with an assessed tender an assessment summary (section 50).
The notice starts the standstill: eight working days beginning with the day of publication, before which the buyer can’t enter the contract (section 51). Exceptions include framework call-offs, contracts awarded under a dynamic market and light touch contracts (standstill guidance para 37).
What to do: read your assessment summary and check the winner and value. See contract award notice, standstill period and how tenders are scored.
During the contract: UK7 to UK11
UK7 contract details notice (s.53)
Due within 30 days of the buyer entering the contract, or 120 days for light touch contracts. For contracts over £5 million, a copy of the contract follows within 90 days (180 for light touch), except for devolved Welsh and transferred Northern Ireland authorities (section 53).
UK8 contract payment notice (s.70)
Quarterly information about any payment of more than £30,000 under a public contract, due within 30 days of the quarter’s end (section 70).
UK9 contract performance notice (s.71, s.52)
For contracts over £5 million, the buyer must set and publish at least three key performance indicators, unless it judges they could not suitably measure performance (section 52). It must assess performance against them at least every 12 months and publish information about each assessment. Where a supplier’s breach leads to termination, damages or a settlement, or it isn’t performing to the buyer’s satisfaction after a chance to improve, the buyer must publish that within 30 days (section 71). See contract performance notice.
UK10 contract change notice (s.75)
Before modifying a public contract, the buyer must publish a notice saying it intends to. Small changes are exempt (section 75).
UK11 contract termination notice (s.80)
Due within 30 days after a public contract is terminated. The section’s definition includes expiry (section 80).
What to do with UK7 to UK11: use them to plan. UK7 shows who holds a contract, and UK10 and UK11 show when it has changed or ended. That tells you when to start watching for the next tender notice.
When a procurement stops: UK12
If a buyer has published a tender or transparency notice and then decides not to award the contract, it must publish a procurement termination notice as soon as reasonably practicable (section 55). It’s the notice that tells you a procurement you were following has ended.
Dynamic markets: UK13 to UK16
A buyer must publish a notice before it establishes a dynamic market, once it has, when it changes it, and when it stops operating (section 39). A dynamic market must accept applications at any time during its term (section 36(6)), so a notice can be a way in rather than a deadline. See dynamic markets and the glossary entry.
Paying on time: UK17 payments compliance notice
Twice a year, within 30 days of the end of each six-month period, a buyer must publish how it has complied with the 30-day payment term (section 69). It is a public record of how promptly a buyer pays, which matters when you’re weighing up a bid.
Smaller contracts: only two notices
A notifiable below-threshold contract needs a below-threshold tender notice before it is advertised, unless the buyer only invites chosen suppliers. It is notifiable from £12,000 for central government authorities and £30,000 for others, including VAT. A contract details notice follows once the contract is entered into (section 87; guidance paras 10, 12).
The e-learning says no other notices are required, though a buyer may publish them. See below-threshold contracts.
What the e-learning list can’t tell you
The e-learning is correct as at 26 July 2024 and says it has not been updated for later changes. It says the pipeline, contract payment, contract performance and payments compliance notices would come in later phases. This page doesn’t say which notices are live today: check the platform. On legislation.gov.uk, the pages for sections 70 and 71 carry commencement notes “for specified purposes”.
Devolved Scottish authorities are excluded authorities, except for procurement within section 115A. See tenders in Scotland.
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.
Questions
How many Procurement Act notices are there?
Seventeen. gov.uk's walkthrough for the Central Digital Platform says there are 17 notices across the procurement and contract management cycle, and that not all of them are used in every procurement because some relate to special activities.
Which notice means I can bid?
The tender notice, which gov.uk's e-learning codes as UK4. It is the notice that invites suppliers to tender or, in a competitive flexible procedure, to request to take part (section 21). A transparency notice, a contract award notice and the later contract notices are not invitations to bid.
What does a transparency notice mean?
The buyer intends to award a contract directly, without a competition. Section 44 of the Procurement Act 2023 requires one before a direct award under section 41 or 43, except for user choice contracts. There is nothing to bid for, but it shows who the buyer is buying from.
When is a contract details notice published?
Within 30 days of the buyer entering the contract, or 120 days for a light touch contract (section 53). For a notifiable below-threshold contract it is due as soon as reasonably practicable after the contract is entered into (section 87).
Do small contracts get the same notices?
No. For a notifiable below-threshold contract the buyer must publish a below-threshold tender notice before advertising it, unless it only invites chosen suppliers, and a contract details notice afterwards (section 87). gov.uk's e-learning says no other notices are required, though a buyer may publish others.