Procurement glossary

Plain-language definitions of the public procurement and Reyda terms used across this site.

Public procurement has its own vocabulary. This page explains the terms you will meet in tender documents and in Reyda. Terms are in alphabetical order within each section.

Procurement terms

Award notice A notice that tells the market who won a contract and for how much. Reyda uses award notices to show contract history and contracts that are about to expire.

Bid / tender / response Your offer to the buyer. “Tender” can also mean the buyer’s procurement itself, so context matters.

Bid/no-bid decision The decision on whether a tender is worth the effort and risk of bidding. Some teams call it go/no-go.

Buyer / contracting authority The public body that runs the procurement, such as a ministry, city council, hospital or university.

Clarification questions Questions bidders may send to the buyer before a set date. The buyer usually publishes the answers to all bidders.

Contract notice The formal announcement that a buyer is inviting bids. It states the scope, the procedure, the deadlines and how to take part.

CPV codes Common Procurement Vocabulary. The EU’s standard code list for what is being bought, for example 72000000 for IT services. Shorter prefixes cover wider categories.

Design contest A procedure in which the buyer selects a plan or design, often in architecture or urban planning, usually through a jury.

eForms The EU’s standard data format for procurement notices published on TED.

ESPD European Single Procurement Document. A standard self-declaration in which you confirm that you meet the exclusion and selection criteria. You provide the full evidence later, usually only if you win.

Evaluation criteria How bids are scored. Most EU tenders use MEAT (most economically advantageous tender), which combines price and quality.

Framework agreement An agreement with one or more suppliers that sets terms for future orders over a period, often several years. Being on a framework does not guarantee any orders.

Lot A part of a tender that can be bid for and awarded separately. You can often bid for one lot or several.

Method statement / quality question A written answer explaining how you will deliver the work. It is usually scored against published criteria.

NUTS regions The EU’s standard system of statistical regions. Reyda uses it for regional preferences.

OJEU The Official Journal of the European Union. Tenders above EU value thresholds are published in its supplement, which is TED.

PIN (prior information notice) An early notice that a buyer plans to procure something. Reyda shows these under Upcoming.

Pricing schedule The buyer’s form, often a spreadsheet, in which you enter your prices.

Procedure type The rules for the competition. In an open procedure, anyone can bid. In a restricted procedure, the buyer shortlists bidders first. In a negotiated procedure or a competitive procedure with negotiation, the buyer can negotiate with bidders.

Submission deadline The last date and time for bids. Late bids are normally rejected.

TED Tenders Electronic Daily, the EU’s online journal for public procurement notices.

Thresholds Contract values above which EU-wide publication rules apply. Smaller contracts are often published only on national portals.

Reyda terms

Bid Room The shared workspace for one bid: buyer documents, requirements, your files, assignees, comments and activity. See Bid Rooms overview.

Credits The unit that measures AI work in Reyda. See Plans and credits.

Deliverable A piece of bid work that Emma tracks, such as a method statement or a completed form. Deliverables appear in the Bid Room overview.

Emma Reyda’s AI bid manager. Open her with Open Emma at the bottom of the sidebar. Some screens, and the phone menu, call her Assistant. See Meet Emma.

Final package The compiled, verified set of files for submission. See Final package.

Goal An outcome you hand to Emma, such as “prepare the response for this tender”. Emma breaks it into work. See Goals and work.

Pipeline Where you qualify tenders before committing to a bid. Its tabs are Triage, Pursue, No bid and Archived. See Pipeline overview.

Requirements The obligations, documents and criteria Reyda extracts from the buyer’s files. See Requirements.

Routine A standing instruction that Emma runs on a schedule or when something happens. See Routines.

Search profile Saved search criteria you can reapply and get email updates for. See Search profiles and alerts.

Snippet A reusable block of text, such as your company overview. See Snippets.

Template A reusable document structure for proposals. See Templates.