Public procurement

Every year, the public sector purchases goods and services and building and construction work totalling more than NOK 700 billion. Public procurement is a significant source of income for many suppliers. The importance of winning tenders is of great significance for value creation in many companies.

The public sector is obliged to hold a competition when purchasing goods or services over NOK 100,000. The competition must comply with the procurement regulations. Mainly the Public Procurement Act (LOA) and the Public Procurement Regulations (FOA). The regulations come from EU law and are comprehensive.

The purpose of the Act is to promote the efficient use of society's resources, cf. section 1 of the Act, and to ensure equal treatment of suppliers. The rules are also intended to ensure that the public sector acts with integrity, and that the general public has confidence that public procurement takes place in a «socially beneficial manner». Public contracting authorities are obliged to act in accordance with the fundamental principles of competition, equal treatment, predictability, verifiability and proportionality.

Competitions of a certain size must be advertised nationally, and possibly also throughout the EU for larger competitions. The public sector may also carry out preparatory investigations and have a dialogue with suppliers before the competition, as long as this takes place within the regulatory framework.

It is important to remember that the public sector's choice is influenced by the fact that the public sector must comply with the fundamental principles. In the event of disagreement, a supplier can complain to the public body, but also to the courts and to KOFA. Complaints can involve stopping the process, claims for invalidity, claims for compensation to cover costs or compensation for the loss incurred by unfairly not winning the competition.

When advising parties to a procurement, we can assist with all phases of a procurement competition. Our procurement team is experienced in assisting suppliers and clients at all stages of the procurement process.