Tender lots explained: bid for one lot or several

Tender lots are separate parts of a larger procurement, each awarded as its own contract, so you can bid for the parts you can deliver. On above-threshold contracts, buyers must consider lots (s.18), and each lot is scored on its own.

If you have opened a notice that says “Lot 1, Lot 2…” and wondered whether you must bid for all of them, this guide is for you. It shows where lots appear, the two limits a buyer can set, and how to choose between one lot and several. It is part of our guide on how to win public sector contracts.

What a lot is, and why buyers split contracts

gov.uk’s lots guidance describes lots as a way to split a larger single procurement into smaller “chunks” under separate contracts. It says lots can make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to bid (paras 1–2). Its own example is a nationwide cleaning contract split by geographic area (para 9). Our cleaning tenders page lists current cleaning notices.

On above-threshold contracts, a buyer must consider, before publishing a tender notice, whether the work could reasonably be supplied under more than one contract and whether lots would be appropriate. If so, it must use lots or give reasons for not doing so (section 18). Lots are not mandatory: the guidance says a contract needn’t be split if the buyer gives reasons (para 10). Those reasons go in the tender notice, except for light-touch and utilities contracts (para 13).

For light-touch contracts the buyer doesn’t have to justify in the tender notice a decision not to use lots (regulation 18(2)(q); light-touch guidance para 28).

Separately, on above-threshold contracts buyers must have regard to the barriers SMEs may face and consider whether they can be removed or reduced (section 12(4)). The guidance says this duty strengthens the expectation to consider lots (para 5). There is a short definition under lots in our glossary.

Older pages on this topic may describe regulation 46 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, formerly the rule on dividing contracts into lots. It was revoked on 24 February 2025.

Where tender lots show up in a notice

The tender notice must say whether the contract will be split into lots. If it is, the notice must describe each lot and any limit on how many lots one supplier can bid for or win (guidance para 18). Read that part first. It tells you what you would actually be bidding for.

After award, the notices follow the lots:

• One contract award notice can cover several lots (para 19).
• A lot the buyer decides not to award is recorded as a “ceased lot” (para 20).
• The contract details notice describes each lot and gives its estimated value (para 22).

Those later notices are useful research. They show how a buyer carved up its work and what it estimated each lot to be worth. If you do maintenance work, our repair and maintenance tenders page lists current notices, and the lot structure is in each one.

As of 10 Oct 2026, 62 of the 470 live notices we saw in the week to that date were split into lots (how we count). To find the lot details quickly, see how to read a tender notice in five minutes.

How many lots you can bid for, and how many you can win

Two separate limits can apply. Check which, if either, the notice sets.

A cap on bids

A buyer may limit the number of lots one supplier can tender for (section 20(7)). If it does, the tender notice must state the maximum (lots guidance para 14).

A cap on wins

A buyer may also limit how many lots one supplier can be awarded. The maximum, and the criteria for deciding which lots you get, must be published in the notice or tender documents (para 16).

Combined lots

If the buyer may combine lots into one contract when a single supplier wins several, that option must be stated too (para 16).

If there is a cap on wins, rank the lots you want before you start writing. The buyer’s published criteria, not your preference, decide which ones you keep.

How each lot is scored

Award criteria are set for each lot in the tender notice, and each lot goes to the most advantageous tender for that lot (para 15). Our guide to how tenders are scored explains the method.

So a strong bid on Lot 2 can’t rescue a weak one on Lot 1. Write each lot’s answers to that lot’s criteria, even where the questions look alike.

Check the tender documents for whether conditions, such as insurance or turnover, differ by lot.

One lot or several? The bid/no-bid view

Treat these as questions, not rules:

• Can you deliver this lot’s geography and volume?
• Do your insurance and turnover fit this lot’s value, as stated in the documents?
• If you win every lot you bid for, can you staff them all?
• Is there a cap on wins, and how are lots allocated?

Conditions of participation must be proportionate (section 22(1)). Above the threshold, a buyer can’t require insurance for performing the contract to be in place before award (section 22(3)(b)). Insurance the law already requires, such as employers’ liability, can still be a condition (conditions guidance para 20). The guidance says the aim is to stop suppliers paying for cover before they know whether they have won (para 18).

Read the pack for the levels the buyer will ask for. Our pages on public liability insurance for tenders and turnover tests explain what buyers check. Then run the numbers with our bid or no-bid checklist.

If even one lot is too big for you, there are two routes. Suppliers can meet conditions of participation together by bidding as a consortium, or by relying on a sub-contractor, where the buyer must be satisfied they will enter legally binding arrangements (section 22(9); conditions guidance paras 25–26). Or you can subcontract to the supplier that wins.

When nobody bids for a lot

If a lot gets no suitable tenders, the buyer may award it directly under section 43, or decide not to award it and record it as a ceased lot (lots guidance paras 17, 20). Before awarding it directly, the buyer must publish a transparency notice (section 44(1)).

So a lot with no suitable bidders isn’t necessarily dead. If you wanted it, watch for that notice.

Lots on smaller contracts and frameworks

The lots duty applies to public contracts, which are contracts at or above the threshold (section 3). Below the threshold a contract isn’t a public contract, and the below-threshold guidance says buyers have more freedom to design the procurement (paras 13–14). A buyer can still split the work, so read the notice. See regulated below-threshold contract for the lighter rules.

A framework can also be divided into lots. If it is, the tender notice must give each lot’s estimated value where known (frameworks guidance para 17). See frameworks and dynamic markets.

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.