How to bid on public tenders in Finland

Finnish public tenders are published on Hilma (hankintailmoitukset.fi), the national notice portal owned by the Ministry of Finance, and notices above the EU thresholds also appear on TED. Registered Hilma users can set up free email alerts (hakuvahti) by keyword, region and CPV code.

Bids are normally submitted electronically in the tendering system named in the notice, and in EU-level procedures the tender documents must be available online free of charge from the day the notice is published. Since 18 June 2026, authorities must also publish a post-award notice (jälki-ilmoitus) within 30 days for national-level contracts, which shows you who wins what.

Public procurement is governed by the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts (1397/2016), known as hankintalaki (the Procurement Act). The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) supervises it and the Market Court (markkinaoikeus) hears appeals. National thresholds sit well below EU levels, so smaller contracts are advertised too.

Contract type (excl. VAT)	National threshold	EU threshold 2026–2027
Supplies and services	EUR 60,000	EUR 140,000 (central government) or EUR 216,000 (other authorities)
Works	EUR 150,000	EUR 5,404,000
Social and health services	EUR 400,000	EUR 750,000
Other specific services	EUR 300,000	EUR 750,000

Concession contracts have a national threshold of EUR 500,000. The EU thresholds fell slightly on 1 January 2026, while the national thresholds did not change.

Parliament approved a reform of the Procurement Act (government bill HE 2/2026, Act 519/2026) on 10 June 2026, and most of it took effect on 18 June 2026. Several changes aim to increase competition, which helps smaller and foreign suppliers.

• Lots: from 1 October 2026, contracts above the EU thresholds must as a rule be divided into lots. A decision not to divide must be justified and can be appealed.
• Single bids: from 1 October 2026, an open EU-level procedure that receives only one bid must as a rule be cancelled and re-tendered once, unless the authority did a market survey or divided the contract into lots.
• Market surveys: above an estimated EUR 10 million excluding VAT, authorities must survey the market or assess alternatives while planning, which can give suppliers a chance to give input early.
• In-house awards: from 1 July 2027, direct awards to an in-house limited company require at least 10 percent direct ownership.
• Exclusion: new mandatory exclusion grounds were added, together with a discretionary ground for suppliers that pose an obvious security risk.

The contracting authority decides the bid language and must state it in the notice. Finland has two official languages, and Hilma notices are published in Finnish or Swedish, so expect to work with documents in at least one of them. If a notice also exists in another language, the tender documents must say which version is legally binding.

Above the EU thresholds, the authority must require the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), completed electronically, as preliminary evidence. As a rule only the winning bidder then supplies certificates, and if your home country does not issue a certain certificate, a sworn or solemn declaration must be accepted.

The key Finnish requirement is the Contractor’s Liability Act (tilaajavastuulaki, 1233/2006), under which the client, public bodies included, must check its contractors before signing. It covers agency work lasting more than 10 working days and subcontracts of EUR 9,000 or more excluding VAT where the contractor’s workers work at the client’s premises or sites in Finland, and the client will ask for:

• prepayment, employer and VAT register status and a trade register extract;
• a tax debt certificate and proof of pension insurance and payments;
• the applicable collective agreement or main terms of employment, occupational health care arrangements and, in construction, accident insurance.

Foreign companies may use equivalent home-country documents. Posting workers requires a posting notification, a representative in Finland and proof of social security status such as A1 certificates, and on construction sites every worker needs a Finnish tax number.

The critical deadline is 14 days, which is the time limit for appealing to the Market Court and, above the EU thresholds, also the standstill period before the contract can be signed. It runs from receipt of the decision with appeal instructions, and a decision sent by post counts as received on the seventh day.

• A request for procurement correction (hankintaoikaisu) to the authority, also due within 14 days, does not extend the appeal deadline.
• Mini-competitions under framework agreements use a 10-day standstill.
• Unpaid taxes or social security contributions in Finland or your home country, confirmed by a final decision, lead to mandatory exclusion unless paid or settled.

In open EU procedures the minimum bid period is 35 days, or 30 days when bids are submitted electronically, which is short when translation is involved.