Country guidesEuropeSwitzerland
Government tenders in Switzerland: where they are published.
Public procurement in Switzerland is published on simap.ch, and 3 more sources publish their own notices beside it: 2 state-owned enterprises and 1 defence buyer. TRINTA maps 4 sources in the country and reads every one of them with a dedicated connector.
The national channels
These are the public, national-level sources: anyone can find them in one search. They carry a large share of the notices, not all of them.
What the EU Official Journal shows for Switzerland
Switzerland is in neither the EU nor the EEA, and its official platform is simap.ch. Swiss buyers also publish on TED, the EU Official Journal: 4,274 award notices from January to September 2026. 12.2% of the 4,008 lots with a readable bid count drew a single tender, and on 5.4% of the 4,008 notices naming the winner's country at least one winner is based outside Switzerland, most often in Germany (67).
That is what Switzerland sends to TED, not Swiss procurement as a whole. It is counted on TED and not on simap.ch: TRINTA reads simap.ch with its own connector for its clients, but this site does not republish simap.ch data, whose API specification declares a proprietary licence.
| Winner's country | Award notices |
|---|---|
| Germany | 67 |
| France | 59 |
| Austria | 57 |
| Italy | 17 |
| South Korea | 7 |
Where the foreign winners come from
| CPV | Division | Award notices |
|---|---|---|
| 45 | Construction work | 1,672 |
| 71 | Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services | 462 |
| 72 | IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support | 282 |
| 90 | Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services | 257 |
| 34 | Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation | 175 |
The CPV divisions with the most award notices
Finding and bidding for a tender in Switzerland, step by step
Search simap.ch
The Confederation, the cantons and the communes publish the prior notice, the invitation to tender, the award and any abandonment of open and selective procedures on the platform they operate together (PPA Art. 48(1), IVöB Art. 48(1)): simap.ch, run by the simap.ch association on behalf of the authorities. Access to the publications is free of charge (Art. 48(2)), as is the platform's basic service. A signed-in user can save a search as a subscription, up to 10 per profile.
Sources: Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (IVöB 2019), German text; simap.ch: statutes and general terms; simap.ch: help and frequently asked questions
Register on simap.ch
First a personal user profile, then, in the user menu at the top right, "Create organisation or request to join organisation": search for your company and click "Request to join organisation" or, if it does not appear, "Create new tenderer", which gives you the role of administrator for your company. That is the sequence simap.ch's English help describes.
Register interest and download the documents
On the notice's detail page, register interest; the documents are then available to download, and questions go through the platform's question-and-answer forum. Tender documentation is generally made available electronically (PPA Art. 48(2)).
Sources: simap.ch: help and frequently asked questions; Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; simap.ch: statutes and general terms
Check that you may bid
Tenderers from Switzerland may bid, and so may tenderers from countries to which Switzerland has committed market access by treaty, within those commitments; outside the treaties, those whose country grants reciprocity or whom the contracting authority admits (PPA Art. 6, the same rule in IVöB Art. 6). For a company from the EU those commitments are the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, in force for Switzerland since 1 January 1996 and in its revised form since 1 January 2021, and the bilateral agreement on certain aspects of government procurement, in force since 1 June 2002. SECO keeps the list of countries, published on simap.ch (VöB Art. 1).
Sources: Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (IVöB 2019), German text; Revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, Swiss record of entry into force; Agreement between Switzerland and the EC on certain aspects of government procurement; Public Procurement Ordinance (VöB), Art. 1 and 22, German text
Mind the language and the deadline
Federal buyers accept tenders, requests to participate and questions in German, French or Italian (VöB Art. 22); for any contract within the treaties that is not advertised in a WTO official language, the authority publishes a summary in one (PPA Art. 48(4)). Cantons and communes follow, outside the treaties, the language of the place where the contract is performed (IVöB Art. 48(5)). In an open procedure within the treaties at least 40 days run from the invitation to tender; outside them, generally at least 20 days (PPA Art. 46).
Sources: Public Procurement Ordinance (VöB), Art. 1 and 22, German text; Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (IVöB 2019), German text
Submit the tender
Tenders are submitted in writing, complete and on time, and electronically where the invitation to tender provides for it (PPA Art. 34); on simap.ch, under the submissions tab. Every PDF uploaded there is checked by the federal signature validator for a valid qualified electronic signature under Swiss law (ZertES). simap.ch does not block files without one: whether one is required is set by the tender documents.
Sources: Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; simap.ch: help and frequently asked questions
Meet the conditions of participation
For work performed in Switzerland, federal contracts go only to tenderers that comply with the occupational safety rules, working conditions and equal pay for women and men that apply where the work is done (PPA Art. 12); the authority may ask for a self-declaration as proof (Art. 26).
Sources: Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026
| What | Supplies and services | Construction work | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation, within the treaties: open or selective procedure from | CHF 230,000 | CHF 8,700,000 | PPA, Annex 4 point 1 |
| Confederation, outside the treaties: open or selective procedure from | CHF 230,000 | CHF 2,000,000 | PPA, Annex 4 point 2 |
| Confederation, invitation procedure from | CHF 150,000 | CHF 300,000 | PPA, Annex 4 point 2 |
| Confederation, direct award below | CHF 150,000 | CHF 300,000 | PPA, Annex 4 point 2 |
| Cantons, within the treaties (WTO) from | 200,000 SDR | 5,000,000 SDR | IVöB 2019, Annex 1 |
| Cantons, open or selective procedure from | CHF 250,000 | CHF 500,000 | IVöB 2019, Annex 2 |
| Cantons, direct award below | CHF 150,000 | CHF 300,000 | IVöB 2019, Annex 2 |
Switzerland: thresholds for 2026 and 2027. The federal values are those of the central and decentralised federal administration (PPA Art. 4(1)); sector buyers have higher ones. For the cantons the construction column is main construction work; ancillary construction follows the supplies values. The cantonal treaty thresholds are given in special drawing rights (SDR), because the intercantonal body adjusts the franc amounts periodically (IVöB Art. 16).
Every step rests on an official text, read on 12 October 2026: Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), unofficial English translation, status 1 January 2026; Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (IVöB 2019), German text; simap.ch: statutes and general terms; simap.ch: help and frequently asked questions; Revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, Swiss record of entry into force; Agreement between Switzerland and the EC on certain aspects of government procurement; Public Procurement Ordinance (VöB), Art. 1 and 22, German text; simap.ch: API specification. This describes what those texts say; it is not legal advice, and the tender documents decide each procedure.
And everything that publishes beside them
Beyond the national channels, 3 more sources in Switzerland publish their own notices. We count them by category without naming them: the complete source map is what sets the radar apart, and it is not published.
- 2state-owned enterprises publishing their own notices
- 1defence buyers
The state-owned enterprises are among the most regular buyers in the country, and a watch that stops at the national platform misses what they publish directly.
What TRINTA does on this market
TRINTA reads these sources every day so the company does not have to. The radar is built per client: it starts from the company's real catalogue, builds a multilingual keyword profile, then scores every notice 0 to 100 against what the company actually sells, with the reasoning shown. Procedure documents are retrieved and attached, and a short scored list arrives each morning.
The same radar covers 170+ countries and 1,627 mapped official platforms, plus the multilateral lenders. A company selling in Switzerland rarely sells only in Switzerland.
Frequently asked questions
01Where are public tenders in Switzerland published?
Public tenders in Switzerland are published across 4 sources TRINTA has mapped. The national channel is simap.ch. Beyond it, 3 more sources publish their own notices: 2 state-owned enterprises publishing their own notices and 1 defence buyer.
02Do Swiss state-owned enterprises publish their own tenders?
Yes. 2 state-owned enterprises in Switzerland publish notices on their own sites beside simap.ch. TRINTA counts them by category rather than listing them, because the full source map is part of the product, and reads them daily with the national platform.
03How does TRINTA monitor tenders in Switzerland?
TRINTA reads Switzerland's official sources every day, all 4 with a dedicated connector. The radar is built per client: it starts from the company's real catalogue, builds a multilingual keyword profile, scores every notice 0 to 100 for fit with the reasoning shown, and attaches the procedure documents. A short scored digest arrives each morning. The same radar covers 170+ countries, so a company selling in Switzerland can watch neighbouring markets with the same profile.
04How do I find public tenders in Switzerland?
On simap.ch, the platform the Confederation and the cantons operate together, where federal, cantonal and communal buyers publish the notices, awards and abandonments of open and selective procedures (PPA Art. 48 and IVöB Art. 48). Access is free. Swiss buyers also publish on TED: 4,274 award notices from January to September 2026.
05What are the procurement thresholds in Switzerland in 2026 and 2027?
For the federal administration, an open or selective procedure from CHF 230,000 for supplies and services and from CHF 8,700,000 for construction within the treaties, and from CHF 230,000 and CHF 2,000,000 outside them; an invitation procedure from CHF 150,000 and CHF 300,000, and a direct award below (PPA Annex 4). Cantons: open procedure outside the treaties from CHF 250,000, CHF 500,000 for main construction (IVöB Annex 2).
May a company from outside bid in Switzerland?
For one established in the EU, the instrument that decides it is wto agreement on government procurement, party since 1996. The WTO procurement agreement.
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