# Tender validity period

The tender validity period is how long your tender binds you. Under Parts II and III it is 30 days after the tender deadline if none has been set.

Canonical URL: https://tendline.no/en/glossary/tender-validity-period

In Norwegian: [Vedståelsesfrist](https://tendline.no/ordliste/vedstaelsesfrist.md)

## Definition

The tender validity period (vedståelsesfrist) sets how long tenders are to be binding (§ 8-15 and § 20-6 of the Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften); the § references on this page are to the Regulations unless another instrument is named). Directive 2014/24/EU calls it the time frame during which the tenderer must maintain its tender. As long as it runs, you are bound by the prices and terms in your tender. The contracting authority may set the period, but must not set it longer than necessary. If the contracting authority has not set a tender validity period, a period of 30 days from the expiry of the tender deadline applies.

The rules are in Part II, which applies from NOK 1.3 million excluding VAT 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, and in Part III, which applies at or above the EEA thresholds for supply, service and works contracts, but not to special services or health and social services. The Regulations have no rule on the tender validity period in Part I, which is the only part that applies from NOK 500,000 up to NOK 1.3 million excluding VAT and to health and social services below NOK 8.7 million, or in Part IV, which applies to health and social services at or above NOK 8.7 million. Advice: look for the tender validity period in the tender documents, and ask the contracting authority if it is missing.

The tender must be in writing and binding, and a tender that cannot be regarded as binding must be rejected (§ 9-1, § 9-6, § 23-3 and § 24-8). According to DFØ (the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management), a supplier whose tender has been rejected is no longer bound by it.

Before the tender validity period expires, the contracting authority may ask the suppliers that have submitted tenders, and whose tenders have not been rejected or dismissed (forkastet), to extend it. After the period has expired, the contracting authority may, within a reasonable time, ask the same suppliers to maintain their tenders. Both are only allowed when they do not lead to a substantial change to the basis of the competition or to the supplier's original tender (§ 8-15 (3) and § 20-6 (3)).

## Why it matters for suppliers

A binding tender ties up capacity. Staffing, prices and agreements with subcontractors must hold for as long as the period runs, and longer if you agree to extend it. Advice: check before you submit that all of this holds for the whole tender validity period, and do not state a shorter validity period in your tender than the tender documents require. That can be treated as a deviation, and a tender that cannot be regarded as binding or that contains material deviations from the procurement documents must be rejected (§ 9-6 and § 24-8).

According to DFØ, you remain bound even after the contracting authority has announced that another supplier has been chosen, until the tender validity period expires or the contract is signed. If you are asked to extend the period, the Regulations do not require you to agree. Advice: answer in writing within the time limit the contracting authority gives, and say at once if your prices or capacity no longer hold. What happens when someone complains is covered in the questions below.

## Legal basis

Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften) § 7-6, § 8-15, § 9-1, § 9-6, § 10-1, § 20-6, § 23-3, § 23-11, § 24-8 and § 25-1 · Regulations on the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (klagenemndsforskriften) § 8 · Regulation on time limits under the EEA Agreement, Article 3

## Example

A county authority (fylkeskommune) runs an open procedure for cleaning school buildings worth NOK 12 million excluding VAT. That is above NOK 2.5 million, so Part III applies. The tender deadline is 1 March at 12:00, and the tender documents say that tenders are binding until 30 April. Your company comes second. Another supplier applies for interim measures (midlertidig forføyning) against the choice. The application was made within the standstill period (karensperiode) and has been served, so the county authority cannot sign until the district court (tingretten) has ruled. On 20 April, the county authority asks the suppliers whose tenders have not been rejected to extend the tender validity period to 30 June. According to DFØ, you are still bound until 30 April even though you were not chosen. You check that staffing and prices hold until the end of June, and agree. Had you said no, your tender would no longer have been binding after 30 April.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long is the tender validity period?

As long as the contracting authority has set it, and it must not be longer than necessary. If the contracting authority has not set a period, 30 days from the expiry of the tender deadline applies in competitions under Part II and Part III (§ 8-15 (2) and § 20-6 (2)). The period is counted in calendar days, and the day the tender deadline expires is not counted. If the last day of the 30-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the period ends at the end of the next working day (§ 7-6 and the Regulation on time limits under the EEA Agreement, Article 3). Part I and Part IV have no rule on the tender validity period.

### Am I bound by my tender after another supplier has been chosen?

Yes. According to DFØ, the notification of the choice of supplier (meddelelse om valg av leverandør) is not a binding acceptance, and it does not mean that the other tenders have been turned down. Suppliers are bound until the tender validity period expires or the contract is signed, and the contract is regarded as concluded when both parties have signed (§ 10-1 (4) and § 25-1 (5)). If your tender has been rejected, according to DFØ you are no longer bound.

### Must I agree if the contracting authority asks me to extend the tender validity period?

The Regulations do not require you to. They say that the contracting authority may ask the suppliers that have submitted tenders, and whose tenders have not been rejected or dismissed (§ 8-15 (3) and § 20-6 (3)). If you say no, you are not bound once the period has expired. An extension is only allowed when it does not lead to a substantial change to the basis of the competition or to your tender. If the period has already expired, the contracting authority may, within a reasonable time, ask whether you will maintain your tender, and that too is only allowed when it does not lead to a substantial change.

### What happens to the tender validity period if someone complains?

The Regulations have no rule that the tender validity period stops running when a complaint is made. A complaint to KOFA (the Complaints Board for Public Procurement) does not have suspensive effect (Regulations on the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (klagenemndsforskriften) § 8), but according to DFØ, KOFA gives priority to cases where the contracting authority waits to conclude the contract, and it is up to the contracting authority whether it waits. If the contracting authority waits for KOFA, or the conclusion of the contract has been halted because someone has applied for interim measures, the tender validity period can expire before the contract is signed. The rules on extending the period or maintaining the tender then apply. If you have not agreed to extend the period or to maintain your tender, you are no longer bound by it once the period has expired. How complaints and interim measures work is explained on the pages on the standstill period and KOFA.

## In Tendline

[Tendline checks that certificates are valid on the deadline day, so the tender is not rejected on formalities](https://tendline.no/en#how-we-work)

## Sources

- [Lovdata: Public Procurement Regulations (anskaffelsesforskriften), § 7-6, § 8-15, § 9-1, § 9-6, § 10-1, § 20-6, § 23-3, § 23-11, § 24-8 and § 25-1 (Norwegian)](https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2016-08-12-974)
- [Lovdata: Regulations on the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (klagenemndsforskriften), § 8 (Norwegian)](https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2002-11-15-1288)
- [Lovdata: Regulation implementing the EEA Agreement Annex XVI point 6 (Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71) determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits, Article 3 (Norwegian)](https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/1992-12-04-910)
- [DFØ: Guide to the Public Procurement Regulations, chapter 36 Concluding the competition (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/veileder-til-anskaffelsesforskriften/36-avslutning-av-konkurransen)
- [DFØ: Guide to the Public Procurement Regulations, chapter 35 Rejection (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/veileder-til-anskaffelsesforskriften/35-avvisning)
- [DFØ: Guide to the Public Procurement Regulations, chapter 44 Complaints and enforcement (Norwegian)](https://www.anskaffelser.no/veileder-til-anskaffelsesforskriften/44-klagemuligheter-og-handheving)
- [EUR-Lex: Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, Annex V part C point 21 (English terminology)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/24/oj/eng)

Last checked against the sources: 14 October 2026

## Related terms

- [Tender deadline](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/tender-deadline.md)
- [Award decision](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/award-decision.md)
- [Standstill period](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/standstill-period.md)
- [KOFA (Complaints Board for Public Procurement)](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/kofa.md)
- [Rejection of tenders](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/rejection-of-tenders.md)
- [Tender documents](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/tender-documents.md)
- [Open and restricted procedure (anbudskonkurranse)](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/open-and-restricted-procedure.md)
- [National tender competition (tilbudskonkurranse)](https://tendline.no/en/glossary/national-tender-competition.md)