# Framework agreement

A framework agreement sets the terms for later contracts, normally for at most four years. A place gives access to contracts, not revenue in itself.

Canonical URL: https://tendline.no/en/glossary/framework-agreement

In Norwegian: [Rammeavtale](https://tendline.no/ordliste/rammeavtale.md)

## Definition

A framework agreement (rammeavtale) is an agreement between one or more contracting authorities and one or more suppliers. It establishes the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular price and quantity. The purchases themselves come later, as contracts based on the agreement. In practice they are called call-offs (avrop). The Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften) do not use that word, but say that the contracting authority awards contracts under the framework agreement.

A framework agreement cannot normally last longer than four years. The contracting authority may go beyond that only where there are special circumstances, for example relating to the subject of the agreement, investment costs or the users' needs. The exception is interpreted narrowly. The same limit applies in Part II and Part III of the Regulations; procurements that follow only Part I (from NOK 500,000 up to NOK 1.3 million) and Part IV have no such rule in the Regulations, and under the Utilities Regulations (forsyningsforskriften § 22-1 (4)) the limit is eight years. Part III applies at or above the EEA thresholds for supply, service and works contracts, and Part II applies from NOK 1.3 million up to the EEA thresholds (except health and social services), and to special services (særlige tjenester) from NOK 1.3 million with no upper limit.

The agreement can be concluded with one supplier or with several. With one supplier, contracts are awarded on the terms of the agreement. With several suppliers under Part III, the contracting authority must follow an allocation key (fordelingsnøkkel) when the agreement sets out all the terms, but may decide that a renewed competition is held instead under specified conditions. If the agreement does not set out all the terms, the contracting authority must hold a renewed competition between the suppliers. Under Part II, objective rules set out in the procurement documents are required. See the page on call-offs.

The value is calculated as the maximum value of all the contracts the contracting authority expects to conclude during the term of the agreement, excluding VAT and including options, also options to extend the agreement. A likely pattern of use is not enough: the contracting authority must base the calculation on the highest likely value. This is the amount compared with the threshold values.

## Why it matters for suppliers

A place on a framework agreement gives you access to contracts under the agreement, not revenue in itself. The money comes with the contracts that are awarded, the call-offs. Advice: plan both the tender for the agreement itself and the work after you are on it.

The window is the contract notice. Only the parties to the agreement can get contracts under it, and DFØ (the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management) takes the view that new contracting authorities and suppliers cannot join an agreement once it has been concluded. Under Part III, only contracting authorities clearly identified in the contract notice or the invitation to confirm interest can use the agreement.

Advice: read these points in the tender documents before you decide: how many suppliers the agreement will have, how contracts are allocated (allocation key or renewed competition), the estimated value and the maximum value, the term, and which contracting authorities can make call-offs. When the maximum value is reached, the agreement has no further effect: the contracting authority cannot award more contracts under it, and you are not obliged to deliver more. A call-off beyond the scope of the agreement may be an illegal direct award, so you cannot count on purchases outside what the agreement describes.

## Legal basis

Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften) § 4-1 letter i, § 5-4, § 11-1 and § 26-1 to § 26-3

## Example

A municipality advertises a framework agreement for office supplies for four years and expects purchases of at most NOK 700,000 a year. The value used is 4 × NOK 700,000 = NOK 2,800,000 excluding VAT, and options to extend would come on top. That is above NOK 2.5 million, which is the EEA threshold for municipalities, so Part III applies, with a notice also in TED (Tenders Electronic Daily, the EU's journal for procurement notices) and fixed minimum time limits. Had the municipality expected purchases of at most NOK 500,000 a year, the value would have been NOK 2,000,000, and Part II would have applied. Three suppliers win a place on the agreement. The three are the only ones who can get purchases from the municipality under the agreement, and how much each of them gets depends on how the agreement allocates the call-offs.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does a place on a framework agreement guarantee revenue?

Not in itself. The framework agreement sets the terms for contracts to be concluded later, in particular price and quantity. If the agreement regulates all the deliveries the parties are obliged to perform, it is an ordinary contract. Under Part III, the contracting authority must state both the estimated and the maximum value or quantity; this follows from the EU Court's judgment in case C-23/20 (Simonsen & Weel), not from the wording of the Regulations. When the maximum is reached, the agreement has no further effect: the contracting authority cannot award more contracts under it, and you are not obliged to deliver more. How much you actually get depends on how the agreement allocates the contracts and whether it has provisions on volume. Read them in the tender documents.

### How long can a framework agreement last?

At most four years, unless there are special circumstances, for example relating to the subject of the agreement, investment costs or the users' needs. According to DFØ's guide, the reason for a longer term must be given in the contract notice, and the requirement becomes stricter the longer the agreement is. Contracts based on the agreement may, after a specific assessment, run longer than the agreement itself.

### How is the value of a framework agreement calculated?

The contracting authority uses the maximum value of all the contracts expected to be concluded during the term of the agreement, excluding VAT and including options, also options to extend the agreement. A likely pattern of use is not sufficient, according to DFØ. The contracting authority must use the highest likely value of all expected contracts over the whole term of the agreement. The value is compared with the threshold values. For you, this means that an agreement where the contracting authority expects at most NOK 700,000 a year for four years counts as an agreement of NOK 2.8 million.

### What is the difference between a framework agreement with one supplier and with several?

With one supplier, the contracting authority buys on the terms of the agreement and, under Part III, may, where necessary, ask the supplier in writing to supplement its tender. With several suppliers, the contracts under Part III are allocated by an allocation key or awarded after a renewed competition between the suppliers. The agreement may combine the two. The tender documents say which mechanism applies.

### What is the difference between a framework agreement and an ordinary contract?

A framework agreement sets the terms for contracts that are awarded later. If the agreement regulates all the deliveries the parties are obliged to perform, it is an ordinary contract, whatever the contracting authority calls it. A dynamic purchasing system is not a framework agreement either. It has its own rules in the Regulations.

## In Tendline

[Tendline sees which contracts expire at each contracting authority and follows them before they are announced](https://tendline.no/en#how-we-work)

## Sources

- [Lovdata: Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften), § 4-1, § 5-4, § 11-1 and § 26-1 to § 26-3 (Norwegian)](https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2016-08-12-974)
- [DFØ: Guide to the Public Procurement Regulations, chapter 37 Framework agreements (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/veileder-til-anskaffelsesforskriften/37-rammeavtaler)
- [DFØ: Guide to the Public Procurement Regulations, chapter 5 Threshold values and the parts of the Regulations (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/veileder-til-anskaffelsesforskriften/5-terskelverdier-og-de-ulike-delene-i-anskaffelsesforskriften)
- [DFØ: Thresholds for public procurement (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/anskaffelsesregelverk/terskelverdier-offentlige-anskaffelser)
- [EUR-Lex: Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, Articles 5 and 33 (English terminology)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/24/oj/eng)

Last checked against the sources: 13 October 2026

## Related terms

- [Call-off](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/call-off.md)
- [Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften)](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/public-procurement-regulations.md)
- [Threshold values](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/threshold-values.md)
- [Contract notice](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/contract-notice.md)
- [Direct award](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/direct-award.md)
- [KOFA (Complaints Board for Public Procurement)](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/kofa.md)
- [Award criteria](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/award-criteria.md)
- [Options](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/options.md)
- [Central purchasing body](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/central-purchasing-body.md)