tender

noun · Angebot / Ausschreibung

Tender does two jobs in English and German splits them. Where the authority invites, the word is Ausschreibung or Bekanntmachung; where the undertaking submits, it is das Angebot, and the person submitting is der Bieter. Getting the direction wrong turns an invitation into an offer, which matters because the offer is what the Zuschlag accepts.

Which translation, when

Ausschreibungthe invitation side: what the authority publishes is the Bekanntmachung, the contract notice, opening a Vergabeverfahren in one of the statutory procedure types; the documents handed out are the Vergabeunterlagen, containing the Leistungsbeschreibung and the contract conditions, and to tender for the contract is sich am Vergabeverfahren beteiligen or ein Angebot abgeben.

Angebotthe submission side: what the undertaking submits is das Angebot, and the undertaking itself is der Bieter, while a candidate at the earlier stage of a procedure with a preliminary selection is der Bewerber; the distinction runs through the whole Act, since information duties and deadlines attach differently to Bieter and Bewerber.

Bindefristwhy it is an offer in the legal sense: the Angebot is an offer in the sense of general contract law, binding for the period stated in the documents, and the Zuschlag accepts it, so an expired offer can no longer be awarded and the authority asks for an extension where the procedure runs long; the acceptance itself belongs to the award of contract entry.

Why

Tender is a word that looks harmless and causes constant trouble, because English uses it for both ends of the same procedure. An authority invites tenders; an undertaking submits a tender. German has no single word doing both jobs and never confuses them. On the invitation side the terms are die Ausschreibung for the process of inviting and die Bekanntmachung for the published contract notice that opens it, with the documents handed to interested undertakings called die Vergabeunterlagen, containing the Leistungsbeschreibung that defines what is wanted and the contract conditions that will govern the performance. On the submission side the term is das Angebot, and the undertaking submitting it is der Bieter. A further distinction has no natural English equivalent: where a procedure has a preliminary selection stage, the undertaking applying to take part is der Bewerber and only becomes a Bieter once it submits an offer, and the Act attaches different information duties and deadlines to the two roles, so a translation that renders both as bidder loses a distinction the deadlines depend on. Behind the vocabulary lies a point of substance. The Angebot is an offer in the ordinary contract sense and binds the undertaking for the period the documents state; because the Zuschlag is its acceptance, an offer whose binding period has run out can no longer be awarded, and authorities running long procedures ask bidders to extend. Rendering tender as Ausschreibung on the submission side therefore does more than misname a document, it removes the offer that the award needs.

Typical mistakes

Ausschreibung is the invitation and Angebot the submission, so using one for the other reverses the direction of the procedure.
A Bewerber applies to take part and a Bieter submits an offer, so rendering both as bidder loses a distinction the deadlines depend on.
The Angebot binds only for the period stated, so an expired offer can no longer be accepted by the award.

What matters

Translating German tender documents for a foreign bidder: the text should keep Ausschreibung and Bekanntmachung on the authority’s side, Angebot and Bieter on the undertaking’s, and carry the binding period through as a deadline rather than a formality.

Authority

§ 119 GWB

What the machine misses

The engine translates tender with a single German word in both directions, usually Ausschreibung, and German separates the invitation, die Ausschreibung and die Bekanntmachung, from the submission, das Angebot of the Bieter; the collapsed rendering can leave a document in which the undertaking appears to be inviting itself and the offer the award needs has disappeared.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

an invitation to tender	eine Ausschreibung
the contract notice	die Bekanntmachung
to submit a tender	ein Angebot abgeben
the period during which the tender is binding	die Bindefrist