How to Find Government Tenders
Finding government tenders is the first step to winning public contracts. Governments publish procurement opportunities on official portals, but these are scattered across dozens of platforms with different search interfaces, languages, and classification systems. This guide covers where to look, how to search, and how to automate the process.
Where are government tenders published?
Government tenders are published on official procurement portals. In the EU, contracts above directive thresholds appear on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). In the US, federal opportunities are listed on SAM.gov. The UK uses Contracts Finder (below threshold) and Find a Tender (above threshold). Most countries have their own national portals: BOAMP (France), DTVP (Germany), TenderNed (Netherlands), MERX (Canada), AusTender (Australia), and many more. Sub-threshold contracts—often the majority by volume—appear only on national portals.
How to search for tenders manually
Each portal has its own search interface. TED supports CPV codes and NUTS regions. SAM.gov uses NAICS codes and keyword search. National portals vary in sophistication. To search manually, visit each relevant portal, enter your keywords and filters, and review the results. Repeat daily across every portal you want to monitor. This process typically takes 5–10 hours per week for comprehensive coverage.
Common mistakes when searching for tenders
Searching too few portals is the most common mistake—you miss sub-threshold opportunities on national portals if you only check TED or SAM.gov. Using overly narrow keywords excludes relevant tenders described with different terminology. Searching inconsistently (skipping days, forgetting portals) creates gaps. Not tracking deadlines leads to missed submission windows. Two additional mistakes are commonly overlooked. First, ignoring framework agreements: frameworks are multi-year procurement vehicles (up to 4 years in the EU under Directive 2014/24/EU) that establish pre-approved supplier panels. Winning a framework position gives you access to call-off contracts without full re-competition—but many teams skip framework notices because they don’t lead to an immediate contract. Second, not monitoring award notices: even when you don’t bid, tracking who wins contracts in your sector reveals pricing benchmarks, incumbent suppliers, and buyer preferences. TED publishes contract award notices for every above-threshold EU procurement, and SAM.gov publishes award information for US federal contracts—both are free intelligence that many teams ignore.
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Automating tender discovery
Automated tender monitoring solves every problem with manual search. Services like Jorpex continuously monitor 50+ procurement portals and apply your keyword, region, and value filters. Matching tenders are delivered to Slack or email in real time. You get comprehensive coverage across all portals, consistent monitoring with no gaps, and zero manual search time.
Getting started with Jorpex
Sign up, describe what your company does using keywords, select your target regions and contract-value range, connect Slack, and you’re done. Jorpex handles the rest—monitoring 50+ sources 24/7 and delivering matching tenders to your team. No procurement expertise or classification code knowledge required.