Public procurement

Public procurement

This subtopic contains a selection of materials considered to be particularly relevant to construction lawyers, in relation to the UK and EU public procurement regimes. Further materials on public procurement law are available in the following overviews in the Public Law Practice Area:

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Procurement Act 2023—overview
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Pre-procurement considerations—overview
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Procurement procedure—overview
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Contract award and challenges—overview

General principles

The over-arching principle of public procurement law is that procurement is opened up to wider competition and that tenderers have an equal chance of securing contracts put out to tender. In order to achieve this, the principles of equal treatment of tenderers and transparency of tender procedures are at the heart of the UK public procurement regime.

Legislation framework

Procurement Act 2023

The legislative framework for public procurement in the UK is, with effect from February 2025, derived from the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). PA 2023 received Royal Assent in October 2023 and came largely into force on 24 February 2025. The policy aims of the regime provided for in PA 2023 included:

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creating a simpler and more flexible commercial system

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