Joint Procurement in Finland: Hansel, CPBs & Consortia

Buying together is recognised in the Finnish Procurement Act as a way to reduce the administrative burden of tendering: contracting authorities may use a central purchasing body's contracts or carry out a procurement jointly with other authorities. Purchases from a central purchasing body rest on Section 20 of the Act (1397/2016); other joint procurement, such as consortia, on Section 21.

For bidders, joint procurement cuts both ways. A single competition decides a large volume: winning can open sales to dozens or hundreds of authorities for years. Losing closes the same door, and the next chance may come only when the contract period ends several years later.

The share of joint procurement is growing. The tightened in-house entity rules in the 2026 reform push contracting authorities to look for synergy specifically in joint procurement, so bidders should know how it works.

A central purchasing body (CPB) is a contracting authority established specifically to run joint procurement: it competes framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems for its owners or its customers defined by law, and may also provide procurement support services. The activity must be permanent — a single joint competition does not make an organisation a CPB.

The best known is the state's CPB Hansel Oy, whose customers are defined by law and include central government as well as municipalities, wellbeing services counties, and parishes. In the municipal field, Sarastia and Sansia operate alongside regional procurement units such as the North Karelia procurement service.

Central government agencies are additionally bound by a joint procurement obligation: ordinary goods and services and shared information systems must be bought through Hansel's joint contracts, with deviations allowed only on grounds laid down by law. For a bidder this means state-sector sales in those categories effectively run through Hansel's competitions.

A contracting authority may only use a CPB it owns or whose customer it is by law. If the CPB requirements are not met, its contracts cannot be relied on — the responsibility lies with the authority, but uncertainty about contract validity affects the supplier too.

The only way to become a Hansel contract supplier is to win a Hansel competition. Upcoming and open competitions are published in Hilma and on Hansel's own site, and Hansel also publishes a tender calendar of upcoming frameworks. Framework periods are typically four years, so missing one competition can postpone the next opportunity by years.

Alongside frameworks, Hansel runs dynamic purchasing systems, which accept applications throughout their lifetime. For a supplier, a DPS is therefore the most flexible route to Hansel's customers: any company meeting the suitability requirements is admitted, and individual procurements are competed within the system.

Hansel's competitions are demanding but transparent: suitability requirements, award criteria, and contract terms are carefully prepared, and market dialogues are held before major competitions. Take part in the dialogues — they are where lot division is decided, which often determines an SME's chances.

Contracting authorities join a CPB's framework agreement in advance, and joining binds them: a committed customer is in principle obliged to make in-scope purchases through the framework. The call for tenders must name the committed and entitled customers and state the framework's estimated and maximum value.

For the bidder these details are the competition's most important market analysis: the customer list shows the real sales potential, and the maximum value tells you when the arrangement ends — once the maximum value or quantity stated in the contract notice is reached, the framework can no longer be used.

Within a framework, purchases are made — depending on the model — directly from a single supplier, in order of ranking, or through mini-competitions. The model is stated in the tender documents and determines whether customers are still competed for during the contract period. A DPS is lighter for authorities to join and open to suppliers throughout its lifetime — but only admitted suppliers can bid in its internal competitions, so apply early.

A procurement consortium (hankintarengas) is an arrangement between contracting authorities to run a competition together — for a single procurement or as standing cooperation. The term does not appear in the Procurement Act, but the arrangement rests on Section 21: participating authorities are jointly responsible for compliance to the extent they carry out procedure stages together.

The call for tenders shows whether one authority competes on behalf of the others or all compete together. Crucially for bidders, no new authorities can join after publication and only those named in the call may use the contract — the customer base is locked at publication.

A consortium may produce one joint award decision and contract, or one per authority. If each authority decides separately, appeals are directed at each decision separately — and ordering, invoicing, and contract management may work differently per customer. Clarify the practice before bidding, as it affects delivery costs.

Typical consortium competitions include municipalities' joint IT hardware, food, and care supply purchases and wellbeing services counties' joint supply tenders, where volumes are large and the procurement is divided into lots.

Price the volume correctly. Large volume pushes unit prices down, but the committed customer list tells you how certain the volume is. Treat the estimated value as an estimate — if customers do not order, the contract guarantees nothing.

Use lot division. Large joint procurements are often divided into lots by region or product group, and the 2026 reform reinforces the practice. For an SME the right strategy is usually to bid hard on the strongest lots rather than trying to cover everything.

Build references systematically. Suitability requirements in joint procurement are scaled to the volume, so reference requirements are tough. A joint bid or a capacity provider can close the gap — and a past delivery to even one consortium member is a valuable reference in the next round.

Track prior information notices and tender calendars. Joint procurements are prepared on long timelines, and joining market surveys and dialogues is the most effective way to influence requirements before the call for tenders is published.