BOAMP Guide: France Public Tender Search in English

What is BOAMP?

BOAMP (Bulletin Officiel des Annonces des Marchés Publics) is France's official public procurement bulletin, published by DILA (Direction de l'information légale et administrative) — the same state-owned publisher that runs the Journal Officiel. BOAMP is the legal-of-record for public tender notices above the dematerialization threshold, and has been operating in electronic form at boamp.fr since the early 2000s.

BOAMP is not, strictly speaking, a transactional platform. It is a publication bulletin: contracting authorities post notices there to satisfy their legal transparency obligations. The actual tender dossier (DCE — Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises) and bid submission typically happen on a separate buyer profile (profil d'acheteur). For central-government ministries, that platform is PLACE (Plateforme des Achats de l'État). For local authorities, common profils d'acheteur include Maximilien (Île-de-France region), AWS-Achat, e-marchespublics, and Klekoon.

What BOAMP publishes:

Avis de marché — contract notices for open, restricted, and negotiated procedures
Avis d'attribution — contract award notices, including winning bidder and value
Avis rectificatifs — corrections and amendments to previously published notices
Concessions — concession contract notices under separate regime
JOUE cross-publication — for tenders above EU thresholds, the same notice is also sent to TED (Tenders Electronic Daily, the EU's JOUE portal)

Key fact

French public procurement is one of the largest single markets in the EU — estimated at hundreds of billions of euros annually, representing roughly 7-8% of GDP when central government, collectivités territoriales, hospitals, and state-owned enterprises are combined. France consistently ranks alongside Germany as the top EU procurement market by volume.

Thresholds under the Code de la commande publique

Since 2019, all French public procurement rules are consolidated in the Code de la commande publique — a single code that replaced the older Code des marchés publics and the various ordonnances transposing EU directives. The code sets thresholds that determine whether a contract falls under the flexible MAPA regime or must follow a formalized procedure.

Thresholds are updated periodically (typically every two years to track EU threshold revisions). Vendors should verify current thresholds on the official site of the Direction des affaires juridiques (DAJ) or at economie.gouv.fr before bidding. The broad structure has been stable:

Tier	Approximate range	Regime
De gré à gré	Below EUR 40,000 (HT)	No formal publication required; buyer still must respect core principles
MAPA	EUR 40,000 to EU threshold	Marché à procédure adaptée — flexible procedure, publication on BOAMP and/or profil d'acheteur
Formalized — supplies/services (State)	Above current EU threshold for central government	Appel d'offres or other formalized procedure; JOUE/TED publication required
Formalized — supplies/services (local authorities)	Above current EU threshold for sub-central	Appel d'offres or other formalized procedure; JOUE/TED publication required
Formalized — works	Above current EU works threshold (several million EUR)	Appel d'offres or other formalized procedure; JOUE/TED publication required

Two practical notes: (1) MAPA thresholds have been raised several times since the Code took effect — vendors should verify current values rather than rely on memory. (2) The EUR 40,000 free-threshold applies only to the publication obligation; contracting authorities must still respect equal treatment and sound use of public funds even for small contracts.

Who buys on BOAMP and PLACE?

French public procurement spans four big buyer families: central government, collectivités territoriales, the hospital sector, and state-owned or public-service enterprises. Representative buyers include:

Ministères (State)

Defence, interior, justice, education, ecology — typically run through PLACE

Régions

Economic development, transport (TER), lycées, professional training

Départements

Social services, collèges, departmental roads, fire services (SDIS)

Communes & EPCI

Urban services, écoles, waste, water — largest volume by number of contracts

AP-HP and CHU

Hospital systems — medical devices, pharmaceuticals, IT, construction

SNCF

Rail rolling stock, infrastructure, station services, IT

RATP

Paris public transport — metro, bus, tram operations and infrastructure

La Poste & EPIC

Logistics, IT, facilities, banking infrastructure (La Banque Postale)

Central-government contracts are concentrated on PLACE, while collectivités territoriales are dispersed across dozens of profils d'acheteur. BOAMP remains the single place where a notice from any of these buyers is legally required to appear (above the publication threshold).

How to register and what documents you need

There is no single "BOAMP registration" — BOAMP is a publication bulletin you can read without an account. What vendors actually register for is the relevant profil d'acheteur (PLACE for central government, Maximilien for Île-de-France, etc.). Registration is free on every major platform.

What you will need during the bid process:

SIREN/SIRET — French company identifier (9 digits SIREN, 14 digits SIRET per establishment). Foreign bidders can use their national registration number at bid stage and obtain a SIRET at contract signing via the INPI guichet unique
DC1, DC2, DC4 — French candidature forms published by the DAJ. DC1 is the cover letter, DC2 the individual declaration, DC4 the subcontractor declaration
DUME (ESPD) — the European Single Procurement Document, accepted across the EU, increasingly used in place of DC1/DC2
ACL (Attestation de Compliance) / tax and social security certificates — proof that the company is up to date with URSSAF and tax obligations. Required at contract signing, sometimes earlier
Electronic signature certificate — an eIDAS-compliant certificate (RGS** or eIDAS qualified) is required to sign bids electronically on PLACE and most profils d'acheteur

Foreign companies note: The DUME is the single most useful document for cross-border bidders — it standardizes self-declaration across all EU procurement portals. French buyers cannot require a SIRET before contract signing; insisting on one earlier is incorrect practice under EU law.

Language glossary: French procurement terms

French tender notices are published in French. English translations are rare and unofficial. Learning the core vocabulary dramatically improves search and comprehension:

Marché public — public contract
MAPA — marché à procédure adaptée (adapted/simplified procedure below EU threshold)
Appel d'offres — call for tenders (the main formalized procedure)
Accord-cadre — framework agreement (single- or multi-supplier)
Marché subséquent — call-off contract under a framework
CCAG — Cahier des Clauses Administratives Générales (general administrative conditions — there are several: FCS, PI, Travaux, etc.)
CCAP — Cahier des Clauses Administratives Particulières (contract-specific administrative conditions)
CCTP — Cahier des Clauses Techniques Particulières (technical specifications)
DCE — Dossier de Consultation des Entreprises (the full tender dossier to download)
Pouvoir adjudicateur — contracting authority (classic buyer)
Entité adjudicatrice — contracting entity (utilities sector)
JOUE — Journal Officiel de l'Union Européenne, i.e. TED publications for above-threshold tenders
Date limite de remise des offres — deadline for bid submission

Hook lets you search French tenders in English — semantic matching finds the right notice even when the French title uses terminology you don't know.

Procurement procedures in France

The Code de la commande publique recognizes several procedure types, selected based on threshold and contract complexity:

MAPA — marché à procédure adaptée. Flexible regime below the EU threshold; the buyer designs the procedure within the bounds of the core principles. Most local-authority contracts fall here.
Appel d'offres ouvert — open call for tenders. Any qualified supplier can bid. The default above-threshold procedure for straightforward goods and services.
Appel d'offres restreint — restricted procedure. Two stages: candidature (short-listing) followed by invitation to bid for selected candidates.
Procédure avec négociation — procedure with negotiation. Used for complex requirements where the buyer wants to negotiate with short-listed candidates. Requires specific justification.
Dialogue compétitif — competitive dialogue. For particularly complex contracts where the buyer cannot define the technical solution up-front; iterative dialogue with candidates to design the solution.
Accord-cadre — framework agreement. A master contract with one or more suppliers from which individual marchés subséquents are called off over the framework term (typically up to 4 years).
Concession — separate regime for works and service concessions where the concessionaire bears operating risk.

Hook monitors French procurement for you

BOAMP publishes thousands of notices every week across central government, collectivités, and public-service enterprises — in French. Hook indexes BOAMP, PLACE, Maximilien, and the main profils d'acheteur, lets you search in English, and sends alerts when relevant contracts appear.

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How to search BOAMP effectively

BOAMP's native search supports filtering by CPV code, department or region, procedure type, contract nature (goods, services, works), and publication date. A few tips to find signal faster:

Use CPV codes (Common Procurement Vocabulary — the EU's classification system). CPV cuts through language barriers: the same code identifies "software development services" regardless of how the title is written in French.
Filter by department (01-976) or region to target specific territories — relevant when logistics or local presence matters.
Distinguish date de publication from date limite de remise des offres — the latter is the bid deadline and is what actually matters for pipeline planning.
Check avis d'attribution (award notices) to understand pricing patterns and identify incumbent suppliers you'll be competing against.
For central government, cross-reference BOAMP notices with the full DCE on PLACE (marches-publics.gouv.fr). For Île-de-France local authorities, check Maximilien.
Use the accord-cadre filter to find multi-year framework agreements — a single framework win can produce several years of call-off contracts.

The main limitation of BOAMP's search is that it is French-language and keyword-based. Hook's semantic search bridges that gap — query in English and get relevant French tenders, with structured metadata ready for your pipeline.

Common questions about French procurement

Can foreign companies bid on French public tenders?

Yes. France's Code de la commande publique follows EU procurement directives, so bidders from EU/EEA member states have equal access and there is no local-presence requirement for most procedures. Companies from outside the EU can typically bid on contracts above EU thresholds, though reciprocity rules and Buy European considerations can apply in defence, strategic sectors, and some utilities. Foreign bidders generally need a SIRET number only at contract signing stage, not at bid submission — a DUME (European Single Procurement Document) is accepted as self-declaration of eligibility.

What is the difference between BOAMP and PLACE?

BOAMP (Bulletin Officiel des Annonces des Marchés Publics) is the official publication bulletin — it is the legal journal where contracting authorities publish notices to satisfy transparency obligations. PLACE (Plateforme des Achats de l'État) is the transactional e-procurement platform used by central government ministries to run the actual tender process — downloading the DCE, submitting bids electronically, and exchanging messages with the buyer. Many notices appear on both: the summary on BOAMP, the full dossier and bid submission on PLACE. Local authorities often use other platforms (profils d'acheteur) such as Maximilien, AWS-Achat, or e-marchespublics.

What is a MAPA and when does it apply?

MAPA stands for marché à procédure adaptée — a simplified procedure available below the EU formalized-procedure thresholds. Contracting authorities have more flexibility in the MAPA regime: they design the procedure themselves while still respecting the core principles of freedom of access, equal treatment, and transparency. MAPA covers most local-authority and mid-sized contracts. Above the EU thresholds, authorities must use formalized procedures (appel d'offres ouvert, restreint, procédure avec négociation, dialogue compétitif) under stricter rules.

Do I need a SIRET number to bid in France?

Not to submit a bid, but yes at the latest before contract signing. A SIRET (14 digits, tied to a physical establishment) and SIREN (9 digits, tied to the legal entity) identify all businesses operating in France. Foreign companies without a French establishment can bid using their national registration plus a DUME, and only obtain a SIRET if and when the contract is awarded — typically via the INPI guichet unique or by registering a French branch/subsidiary if required for contract execution.

Which forms do I need: DC1, DC2, DC4, or DUME?

DC1 is the candidature letter (cover form). DC2 is the individual candidate declaration (capacity, turnover, non-exclusion grounds). DC4 is the subcontractor declaration. These are the historic French forms published by the Direction des affaires juridiques (DAJ). Since the EU introduced the ESPD, vendors can instead submit a DUME (Document Unique de Marché Européen), which replaces DC1 and DC2 with a standardized self-declaration accepted across the EU. Most modern French tender dossiers accept both, and many now prefer the DUME.

How Hook helps French and international vendors

Hook is an AI-powered search tool that indexes BOAMP, PLACE, and the main French profils d'acheteur. Instead of juggling a dozen buyer portals and a French-language search interface, you query in plain English.

Example queries Hook understands:

"Show me cybersecurity accords-cadres from French ministries closing this month"
"Which hospitals bought imaging equipment above EUR 500K in the last year?"
"Find IT services MAPA in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes"
"Upcoming SNCF framework renewals for rolling-stock maintenance"

Hook returns structured results — tender reference, pouvoir adjudicateur, title, estimated value, procedure type, and date limite — formatted for direct import into your CRM. No manual reformatting, no copy-pasting from PDF DCEs.

For vendors expanding across the EU, Hook combines France with Germany, Italy, Spain, and TED/JOUE into a single search layer — the same query returns results across all major European procurement markets.

Next: Read our guide to BOAMP and PLACE on Hook, explore France procurement on Hook, or browse more country guides.