Public contracts - Hungary

Public contracts are governed primarily by the Public Procurement Act. The national procedure must apply to bidders who are settled in the European Union and to Community goods, in the event of public procurement procedures.

• Public Procurement Act
• Public Procurement Council regulations
• CSDG public contract portal

Types of public procurement

The Community and national limits for public procurement are published by the Public Procurement Council in the Public Procurement Bulletin.

• Information on public procurement limits for 2010 [208 KB]

The Public Procurement Act distinguishes four basic types of public procurement:

• The open public procurement procedure, for which any interested party may submit a bid.
• The public procurement procedure by invitation, for which those selected by the tenderer may submit a bid.
• The public procurement procedure by negotiation, where the tenderer negotiates the contract conditions with one or more bidders that it has selected.
• The fourth type of procedure is competitive dialogue, where the tenderer holds dialogue with the applicants that it has selected to participate, in order to define more clearly the subject of the public procurement, and the contract type and conditions. It then asks for a bid.

In addition to the above, the Act also regulates the types of procedure relating to special public procurement. These include procedures relating to framework agreements, accelerated procedures, construction concessions and architectural design.

Depending on the value of the public procurement, a public procurement procedure system may be used that reaches the Community limit, the national limit, or a simple system.

In connection with the organisations that it directs, the government may order a centralised procedure for public procurement, deciding upon its personal and material scope, the organisation authorised to put out the tender, and opportunities for becoming involved with the procedure. Detailed rules for the simplified procedure are defined in separate legislation.

• Regulation of the centralised public procurement system

Tendering procedure: step-by-step guide

Publication of the public procurement plan

Tenderers, and bodies authorised to put a contract out for tender in centralised public procurement, are obliged to prepare a summary annual public procurement plan on public procurements planned for the year in question, at the start of the financial year, and no later than 15 April. The public procurement plan must be published on the tenderer's website; if it does not have a website, then on the Public Procurement Council website.

• Public Procurement Council
• Sample public procurement plan document

For public procurement procedures that have a value equal to or greater than the Community limit, the announcement prepared on the basis of the tenderer's public procurement plan must be sent via the Public Procurement Council to the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, where it is published in the TED database. After its appearance in the database, the announcement is also published in the Public Procurement Bulletin by the Public Procurement Council.

The tenderer must send the notice via the Public Procurement Council to the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

There is a monitoring function linked to the publication of announcements in the Public Procurement Bulletin. The Public Procurement Council must be paid a checking fee for checking the notice and publishing it in the Public Procurement Bulletin and in the Official Journal of the European Union, as well as an editorial fee for publication.

• Public Procurement Bulletin
• TED database
• Decree on the Rules for Submitting and Publishing Announcements Relating to Public Procurement and Planned Tenders

Initiation of procedures

The open procedure starts with a call for tenders, which the tenderer is obliged to publish by means of the announcement. The tenderer is obliged to prepare documentation that includes the draft contract, among other things.

In accordance with the requirements defined in the call for tenders, the bidder must prepare and submit his bid. The bid must be submitted in writing and sealed, and before the deadline for submitting bids.

Further progress of the procedure

The tenderer is obliged to inform the bidder of all decisions. The bidders must be invited to the announcement of results.

If the public procurement procedure is successful, the contract must be concluded in writing in accordance with the call for tenders, the documentation and the content of the bid.

The law refers to the process of invitation and negotiation that starts with the publication of the announcement as a two-stage procedure, and this is also the case for competitive dialogue. These procedures consist of a participation stage (call for tenders, registration, evaluation, announcement of results) and a bidding stage.

Legal remedy

Those subject to a public procurement process may submit an appeal to the Public Procurement Arbitration Board which operates alongside the Public Procurement Council.

• Public Procurement Arbitration Board

Types of agreement concluded on the basis of public procurement procedures

There are 3 types of agreement concluded on the basis of public procurement procedures:

• Construction investment agreements must be concluded in the event of planning and performance activities relating to construction investments.
• Contracts for the acquisition of goods must be used when buying or selling products, leasing them on, renting them out or for other forms of acquisition involving buying, selling and renting.
• Contracts for the acquisition of services include contracts aimed at the provision of services.

National public procurement authorities

The Public Procurement Council, among other things, assists in shaping public contract policy, contributes to the development and propagation of lawful behaviour in public procurement, monitors compliance with the legal provisions, keeps records of public procurement tenders and tenderers, prepares guidelines to promote the application of the public procurement rules, publishes and inspects announcements, performs monitoring and legal-remedy functions, keeps registers of names, and maintains international contacts.

• Public Procurement Council