Contract Notice
A contract notice (hankintailmoitus) is the official announcement published by a contracting authority to inform the market about a procurement opportunity. It is the starting gun for virtually every competitive procurement procedure in Finland. For EU-level procurements (above the EU thresholds), the notice must be published on both the Finnish Hilma platform and the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily (TED). For national procurements below EU thresholds, publication on Hilma alone is sufficient. Finland publishes approximately 18,000-20,000 contract notices per year on Hilma, covering everything from office supplies to billion-euro infrastructure projects. For suppliers, monitoring contract notices is the foundation of public sector business development. Missing a relevant notice means missing the opportunity entirely, since the submission deadlines are strict and non-negotiable. Setting up systematic monitoring — through Hilma alerts, TED eTendering, or commercial tender alert services — is essential for any company serious about public procurement in Finland.
Definition
A contract notice is a standardized public announcement that formally initiates a procurement procedure. It is regulated by Sections 58-62 of the Finnish Public Procurement Act (1397/2016), implementing Articles 48-52 of EU Directive 2014/24/EU. The contract notice must contain essential information including: identification of the contracting authority; description of the subject matter (including CPV codes); estimated contract value (optional but common); procedure type (open, restricted, negotiated, etc.); suitability requirements and exclusion grounds; award criteria and their weightings; tender submission deadline and method; contract duration; whether the procurement is divided into lots; whether variants are accepted; and required languages for tenders. For EU-level procurements, the notice must be transmitted to TED using the standard eForms format before it can be published nationally. The notice may not be published on Hilma or any other channel before it is published on TED — this rule ensures that all EU suppliers have simultaneous access. For national procurements below EU thresholds, the notice must be published on Hilma using the national notice format. The contract notice differs from the request for proposals (tarjouspyyntö) — the notice is a summary announcement that attracts attention, while the RFP contains the full detailed requirements. Both documents must be consistent; any discrepancy between the notice and the RFP creates legal risk. Since 2023, all Finnish procurement notices use the EU eForms standard, which replaced the older standard forms.
Practical Example
A Finnish ministry decides to procure translation services (CPV 79530000) with an estimated total value of EUR 280,000 over a four-year framework agreement. The procurement officer prepares the contract notice using the eForms template in the Hilma system. The notice specifies: open procedure; suitability requirements including minimum turnover of EUR 100,000, professional translators with certified qualifications, and at least five public sector translation references; award criteria weighted 70% quality (translation test 40%, translator qualifications 30%) and 30% price; tender submission deadline of 35 days; and electronic submission via the Cloudia procurement platform. The notice is transmitted to TED first, and published on Hilma the following day after TED publication is confirmed. Simultaneously, the full RFP package — including detailed specifications, pricing templates, the translation test brief, and draft contract terms — is made available electronically through Cloudia. Suppliers across the EU can find this notice through TED keyword alerts or Hilma's search function, download the procurement documents, and prepare their tenders.
Common Mistake
Suppliers who only monitor one channel may miss opportunities or react too slowly. For EU-level procurements, the contract notice appears on TED before it can appear on Hilma or any other national platform. Monitoring TED gives you the earliest possible access, sometimes one to two days before the Hilma publication. Conversely, national procurements below EU thresholds only appear on Hilma and never on TED. A comprehensive monitoring strategy covers both platforms. Set up saved searches with your relevant CPV codes on both Hilma (hankintailmoitukset.fi) and TED (ted.europa.eu), and configure email alerts. Review new notices at least every other business day, since tight deadlines (as short as 15 days for accelerated procedures) leave no room for delayed discovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find Finnish public procurement notices?
All Finnish public procurement notices are published on Hilma (hankintailmoitukset.fi), Finland's official electronic notification system maintained by the Ministry of Finance. The platform is free to use and available in Finnish, Swedish, and English. You can search by keyword, CPV code, contracting authority, region, or procedure type. Email alerts can be configured to notify you when new notices matching your criteria are published. For EU-level procurements (above EU thresholds), notices also appear on TED (ted.europa.eu), the EU's official procurement journal. TED covers all EU member states and is available in all EU languages. Commercial tender monitoring services such as Mercell, Cloudia, and others aggregate notices from multiple sources and offer additional features like deadline tracking and competitor monitoring. For the most complete coverage, use at least Hilma plus TED.
What is the difference between a contract notice and a prior information notice?
A prior information notice (ennakkoilmoitus, PIN) is an optional advance notice that informs the market about upcoming procurements the contracting authority plans to launch in the following 12 months. It does not start any procurement procedure and does not invite tenders. A contract notice (hankintailmoitus) is the formal announcement that starts the actual procurement procedure and sets the tender submission deadline. The two are related: publishing a PIN can reduce the minimum tender submission period in a subsequent open procedure from 30 days to 15 days, provided the PIN was published at least 35 days before the contract notice and contained all required information. PINs are useful for suppliers because they provide advance warning of upcoming opportunities, allowing you to prepare resources, form consortia, or obtain certifications before the formal procedure begins. The PIN is regulated by Section 60 of the Procurement Act.
What are the current EU threshold values for contract notices?
EU thresholds determine whether a procurement must be published on TED in addition to Hilma. The thresholds are updated every two years by the European Commission. For the 2024-2025 period, the key thresholds are: EUR 143,000 for central government service and supply contracts; EUR 221,000 for sub-central government (municipalities, hospitals, universities) service and supply contracts; EUR 5,538,000 for all public works contracts; and EUR 443,000 for social and other specific services (Annex E of the Directive). These values exclude VAT. The threshold applies to the estimated total value of the contract over its entire duration, including all options and renewals. Artificially splitting a procurement into smaller parts to avoid exceeding the threshold is prohibited under Section 31 of the Procurement Act. Below these thresholds, national procurement rules apply (Chapter 11 of the Act), and publication on Hilma alone is sufficient.
Related Terms
Open Procedure
Learn how the open procedure works in Finnish public procurement. Any supplier can submit a tender without pre-qualification under hankintalaki 1397/2016.
Request for Proposals
Understand the request for proposals (tarjouspyyntö) in Finnish public procurement. Key document that defines requirements and evaluation criteria.
EU Threshold
Learn about EU procurement thresholds in Finnish public procurement. The value limits above which EU-wide tendering rules apply under hankintalaki.
Hilma Platform
Learn about Hilma, Finland's official public procurement notice platform. How to find and respond to procurement opportunities on hankintailmoitukset.fi.
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