Contract value
thresholds
Details of our thresholds when
tendering and awarding contracts for goods, services or
works.
Low Value (normally under £5,000) - For
anything other than incidental items of very low value we purchase
on a best buy basis.
Medium Value (normally between £5,000 and £50,000)
- we obtain a minimum of three written quotes and purchase on a
best buy basis.
High Value - All contracts with a value of over
£50,000 will generally be exposed to a formal competitive tendering
process. Such contracts will often be advertised on this website
under current contract opportunities and, if appropriate, a trade
journal.
Tenders will be evaluated in terms of value for money and not
simply lowest price.
Procurements that exceed the thresholds determined by the European
Procurement Regulations, with the exception of some exempt
services, must be advertised in the OJEU (Official Journal of the
European Union).
When tendering and awarding contracts for goods, services or works
we must observe the requirements of the EU Public Procurement
Rules. These stipulate that contracts valued in excess of specified
amounts (see below) must be publicly exposed to competition within
the European Union.
Procurements that exceed these thresholds, with the exception of
some exempt services, must be advertised in the OJEU (Official
Journal of the European Union).
- Works contracts: *£3,497,313
- Supplies contracts: *£156,442
- Services contracts: *£156,442 (in the case of services,
advertisement is required for certain types of priority
services)
* These figures are set by the European Union and are subject to
change every two years
OJEU is available in electronic form via the internet on
Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)