How to Find Government Tenders in Switzerland

Switzerland's procurement market is structured around a federal system with three distinct levels: the Confederation (Bund), 26 cantons, and over 2,100 municipalities (Gemeinden). Total public spending exceeds CHF 40 billion annually, split roughly 30% federal, 40% cantonal, and 30% municipal. Unlike EU member states, Switzerland is not bound by EU procurement directives. Instead, it follows the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) for international procurement and its own national legislation for domestic purchases. The 2021 revision of the BöB modernized federal procurement, introducing sustainability criteria, innovation partnerships, and electronic procedures — bringing Swiss rules closer to international best practice while maintaining Swiss independence from the EU framework.

Swiss procurement law operates on two pillars. At the federal level, the Federal Act on Public Procurement (BöB in German, LMP in French), revised in January 2021, governs all purchases by federal agencies, ETH institutions, and federal enterprises. The revised BöB introduced key innovations: quality-over-price evaluation as the default, mandatory sustainability criteria, new procedures like innovation partnerships and competitive dialogue, and provisions for e-procurement. At the cantonal level, the Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen (IVöB) harmonizes procurement rules across cantons. The revised IVöB 2019, which cantons are progressively adopting, mirrors many BöB provisions. However, implementation timelines vary — some cantons adopted the revised IVöB in 2022, while others are still transitioning as of 2026.

simap.ch is Switzerland's central procurement platform, operated by the Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (BBL). All federal tenders above CHF 150,000 for goods and services and CHF 300,000 for construction must be published on simap.ch. Most cantons also publish their above-threshold tenders here, making it the single most important portal for Swiss procurement. The platform supports all four national languages and offers free registration, tender document downloads, and an email alert system. Beyond simap.ch, certain entities publish separately: Armasuisse handles defence procurement, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Swiss Post manage their own procurement processes, and some municipalities publish only on cantonal platforms. For GPA-covered tenders, notices also appear on TED through bilateral notification arrangements.

Swiss procurement thresholds differ between federal and cantonal levels. At the federal level under the BöB, the WTO GPA thresholds apply: CHF 230,000 for goods and services and CHF 8.7 million for construction works. Below these thresholds but above CHF 150,000 (goods/services) or CHF 300,000 (works), federal entities must still publish on simap.ch using national procedures. Below CHF 150,000, simplified invitational procedures apply. Cantons set their own thresholds under the IVöB, typically ranging from CHF 50,000 to CHF 150,000 for the publication requirement. Procedures include open tender (offenes Verfahren), selective tender (selektives Verfahren), invitational procedure (Einladungsverfahren), and direct award (freihändiges Verfahren). The 2021 BöB also introduced competitive dialogue and innovation partnerships for complex procurements.

Switzerland's procurement market reflects its advanced economy. Pharmaceuticals and life sciences drive procurement at university hospitals, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic), and cantonal health systems — the sector benefits from Switzerland's global leadership in pharma R&D. Financial services and IT procurement is substantial, with the federal administration, Swiss National Bank, and FINMA regularly tendering for technology modernization. Infrastructure spending covers major rail projects (SBB invests CHF 6+ billion annually in network expansion), road maintenance, and tunnel engineering. Clean energy and sustainability is a growing sector following Switzerland's 2050 net-zero strategy, with procurement for solar installations, building retrofits, and EV charging infrastructure increasing across all government levels.

Switzerland's GPA membership means companies from all GPA signatory nations — including the EU, US, UK, Canada, Japan, and South Korea — have guaranteed access to above-threshold Swiss procurement. EU companies benefit additionally from the bilateral Agreement on Certain Aspects of Government Procurement. However, several practical barriers exist. Language is the most significant: tender documents appear in the official language of the issuing authority. A tender from Zurich will be in German; from Geneva, in French; from Lugano, in Italian. Foreign companies should register on simap.ch early, as document access requires a platform account. Consider partnering with a local Swiss firm for initial bids — Swiss contracting authorities value local references and knowledge of Swiss standards (SIA, VSS). Note that Switzerland uses its own technical standards alongside ISO, and construction follows SIA norms rather than Eurocodes.

Monitoring simap.ch across four languages, tracking cantonal portals, and watching TED for GPA-covered opportunities is resource-intensive — especially when Switzerland is one of several target markets. Jorpex monitors simap.ch and Swiss procurement sources alongside 50+ portals worldwide. Configure keyword filters for your services, set geographic filters to Switzerland or specific cantons, and define contract-value ranges in CHF. Matching Swiss tenders arrive in Slack or email summarized in your preferred language — even when the original notice is in German, French, or Italian. For companies targeting both Swiss and EU markets, a single Jorpex feed replaces logging into simap.ch, TED, and national portals separately each morning.