The Federal Procurement Act ("BVergG") was comprehensively amended on March 1, 2026, following the publication of the Public Procurement Act 2026 (BGBl I No 8/2026) on February 27, 2026. As of March 1, 2026, significant changes have been implemented that will have a considerable impact on daily procurement practices. 

The following aspects are of particular relevance in practice: increased flexibility in determining the best bidder, the reorganization of the suitability assessment date, the clarification of the contestability of framework agreements, the reform of the flat-rate fee system, and the expansion and harmonization of the grounds for exclusion, including the new self-cleaning regulation. 

The amendment should therefore be understood less as a selective change and more as a structured modernization of public procurement law. An early legal analysis of the specific implications can help to avoid risks under public procurement law. 
Please find below a summary of the most significant changes. 

Increased thresholds 

The thresholds, which were previously subject to the Threshold Regulation (“Schwellenwerteverordnung”), have now been codified into permanent law. In the sub-threshold area, thresholds have been raised significantly in some cases, particularly for restricted procedures without publication and direct awards with publication in the construction sector. 

Digitization and transparency

National notification and disclosure requirements have been harmonized with European requirements. However, please note that standard electronic forms ("eForms") will only be mandatory at the national level as of October 1, 2026. 

Framework agreement

 The conclusion of a framework agreement is now classified as an award, which triggers a standstill period and thus constitutes a separately contestable decision (Section 2(15)(a)(jj) BVergG). This amendment clarifies that the conclusion of a framework agreement must be communicated to all bidders remaining in the procedure and that it is possible to challenge (also) the ranking, which is particularly relevant in the case of calls for tenders based on the cascade principle. 

However, there is no standstill period for individual calls under the framework agreement (Section 144 (1) BVergG). In such cases, only a declaratory procedure can be considered.

Flat-rate fee system 

The fee system has been simplified overall. The amount of the flat fee in review and determination proceedings is based on the estimated contract value and is divided into six fee categories—from EUR 400 to EUR 50,000 (Section 340(3) BVergG). Applications for a preliminary injunction are uniformly charged at EUR 100 (Section 340 (2) BVergG). 

Additionally, public contracting authorities are obligated to incorporate all requisite information within the tender documents to enable tenderers to calculate the flat fees for a review procedure (Section 91 (1) BVergG). 

Subcontractor replacement and publicity of revocation 

Unsuitable subcontractors must be rejected; however, the bidder must be given the opportunity to replace them, provided that this does not result in any significant changes to the bid (implementation of the ECJ ruling "Rad Service").

In the above-threshold area, the revocation decision must be formally announced (published) in the future, while in the below-threshold area, notification to the remaining entrepreneurs is sufficient (Section 150 (2) BVergG).

Flexibility regarding the date of eligibility 

Previously, tenderers had to meet the selection criteria by the application submission deadline (for two-stage procedures) or when the bids were opened (for open procedures). Therefore, despite submitting a self-declaration intended to streamline the procurement process, tenderers were still required to obtain all the necessary proof of suitability before the deadline, in order to avoid being excluded from the procedure due to not being able to prove that they had continuously met the selection criteria. The legislature has now clarified that suitability must be demonstrated by the following dates at the latest (Section 79(2)(1) to (3) BVergG):

• At the time of expiry of the deadline set for the submission or completion of evidence,
• at the time of the contracting authority's access to a directory in accordance with Section 59 (5) BVergG, or
• at the time of expiry of the deadline set for remedying the defect relating to the selection criteria.

This simplification does not apply to proof of authorisation to pursue the relevant professional activity. 

Strategic procurement and more flexible determination of the most economically advantageous tender

The current amendment to public procurement law strengthens the use of public procurement law to achieve socio-political goals in the areas of climate protection, social justice, and innovation. A key lever for this is the expansion of the general procurement principles in Section 20 (5) of the Federal Procurement Act (BVergG): In addition to the previous "environmental compatibility," "sustainability" is now explicitly enshrined as a legal guiding principle. In addition, new specific environmental protection goals are coming into focus, in particular the "reduction of land use" to combat soil sealing and the "priority of life cycle costs." In order to be legally effective, these ecological aspects should primarily be anchored in the definition of the subject matter of the contract, or alternatively be taken into account through specific suitability and award criteria or as conditions of performance in the contract.

The "horizontal approach" (Section 91(5)(2) to (6) BVergG) is particularly relevant in practice, as it stipulates that certain services (e.g., in the health, social, cleaning, and security sectors or for food) require the consideration of additional quality aspects. However, contracting authorities will in future be free to choose at which stage of the procurement procedure they take these quality aspects into account. They will no longer be obliged to include them in the award criteria, which are often subject to challenge. Instead, they will be able to choose flexibly whether to specify environmental or social aspects in the service description, the technical specifications, the suitability criteria, or, optionally, as conditions of performance in the contract. In the event that multiple phases are consolidated, the prohibition of double scoring is the only applicable regulation: the same criterion cannot be considered more than once.

Extension of grounds for exclusion 

The amendment harmonized the criminal offenses in the different federal procurement laws (BVergG, BVergGKonz, and BVergGVS) with regard to the grounds for exclusion. The following grounds for exclusion were added or specified in more detail:

• The grounds for exclusion for final convictions have been expanded to include additional criminal offenses, such as anti-competitive agreements, betrayal of state secrets, and abuse of official authority.
• "Exclusion from public procurement": A tenderer must now be excluded if the contracting authority becomes aware of a final decision by a court or authority in Austria or another EEA country that excludes an undertaking from participating in public procurement procedures (Section 78(1)(12) BVergG). Self-cleaning is excluded in these cases (Section 83(4) BVergG).

Continuous self-cleaning 

Entrepreneurs now have the opportunity to demonstrate their reliability during ongoing investigations (e.g., in antitrust proceedings), if they demonstrate ongoing, active cooperation with the authorities and the contracting authority to comprehensively clarify the facts of the case. Compensation for damages is not required at this stage, as the extent of the damage is often still unclear (Section 83 (2a) BVergG). 

There is no need to wait for the conclusion of the preliminary investigation, which brings the law into line with the leniency programme in competition law.  

Conclusion

The Public Procurement Act 2026 does not fundamentally change the structure of public procurement law, but it does shift its focus to include more strategic control, and more transparency, more compliance.

Notably, the stronger strategic focus of public procurement, increased flexibility in selecting the most suitable bidder, expanded transparency requirements and adjustments to legal protection will have a significant impact on procurement practices.

Both contracting authorities and undertakings are therefore required to adapt their internal processes, documentation standards, and strategic procurement approaches accordingly.