🇨🇭 Switzerland · Government procurement
How to find and win government tenders in Switzerland.
Switzerland centralises public procurement notices on simap.ch, the country's interoperable platform used by federal, cantonal, and municipal contracting authorities. Switzerland is not an EU member but is party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and bilateral treaties, making its market accessible to a broad range of international suppliers. This guide covers the simap.ch workflow from registration to award.
Four steps to your first Swiss government contract.
1
Register a supplier account on simap.ch
Create a free account at simap.ch to access tender documents and electronic submission. Swiss companies will use their UID (Unternehmens-Identifikationsnummer); foreign companies register with an equivalent business identifier.
2
Search tenders by procurement category, authority, and threshold
Filter notices by CPV code, contracting level (federal, cantonal, municipal), publication date, and contract value. Switzerland uses WTO GPA thresholds, which differ from EU thresholds; check applicable rules for each notice.
3
Download specifications and submit a compliant bid
Retrieve the Ausschreibungsunterlagen (tender specifications) from simap.ch. Switzerland conducts procurement in the relevant national language of the authority (German, French, or Italian). Submit your offer electronically before the closing date.
4
Track award decisions and lodge a challenge if needed
Contract awards are published on simap.ch. Unsuccessful bidders can request reasons for the decision and, within statutory deadlines, challenge decisions before the relevant cantonal or federal review body.
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Search Switzerland government tenders
simap.ch (System for the Electronic Publication and Management of Public Procurement) is operated jointly by the Swiss Confederation and the cantons. It is the mandatory notice channel for most federal procurement and widely used by cantonal and municipal authorities, though some cantons also publish on their own platforms. Switzerland operates under the revised Federal Act on Public Procurement (BGBM/LMP), in force since 2021, which aligns closely with the WTO GPA.
Switzerland is party to the WTO GPA, making it accessible to suppliers from GPA signatory countries including EU member states and many others. Swiss domestic law also permits cantonal authorities to restrict certain below-threshold contracts to Swiss companies. Submissions are typically required in German, French, or Italian depending on the contracting authority's linguistic region.
simap.ch consolidates most Swiss federal and many cantonal notices, but coverage is not universal at municipal level. Sell to State indexes publicly available Swiss government procurement data, with plain-English search and saved tender searches with a daily email alert.
Frequently asked questions
What is simap.ch?
simap.ch is Switzerland's official interoperable e-procurement platform, jointly operated by the Confederation and the cantons. It publishes public tender notices from federal and many cantonal and municipal contracting authorities.
Can international suppliers bid on Swiss government contracts?
Yes. Switzerland is a WTO GPA signatory, so suppliers from other GPA countries — including all EU member states — can bid on above-threshold contracts. Some below-threshold contracts may be restricted to Swiss or domestic suppliers depending on cantonal rules.
Is simap.ch free to use?
Yes — registering on simap.ch and accessing published tender notices and documents is free of charge for suppliers.
How can Sell to State help me track Swiss tenders?
Sell to State lets you set up plain-English saved searches across Swiss government procurement data. Turn on the alert for the saved tender search: once a day, we email you the number of new open and awarded tenders that match it.
What Swiss procurement data does Sell to State cover?
Sell to State indexes publicly available Swiss government tender and award data. Search by buyer, supplier, contract type, or keyword across the Switzerland dataset.
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