Insights
Commentary on tender procedures, contract performance and disputes, published with its sources and last review date.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes18 March 2026
May the Content of Work Experience Certificates, Laid Down by Statute, Be Altered by Secondary Legislation?
The provisions concerning the use in public tenders of work experience certificates obtained from works carried out under public-private partnership projects have been the subject of judicial review. By the Communiqué of 30 September 2020, the rates at which work supervision and work management certificates are assessed were amended and restrictions were introduced on the issue of certificates…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes09 March 2026
Are Demonstration Procedures Subject to Review by the Public Procurement Authority?
In goods and service procurement tenders, demonstration procedures allow it to be tested in practice whether the product or service offered meets the technical criteria set out in the tender documents. In practice, their conduct by contracting authorities within a broad discretion may give rise to legal disputes. In appeals concerning demonstration procedures, the Public Procurement Authority…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes27 February 2026
Sample Evaluation in Electronic Tenders May Create Serious Difficulties for Supplier Firms
In electronic tenders, sample evaluation is no longer merely an examination of technical conformity; procedural errors may give rise to serious administrative sanctions. Technical non-conformity of the sample leads to elimination of the tender, while failure to submit a sample, submission at the wrong stage, inconsistency with the EKAP declaration, or non-compliance with the required form of…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes26 February 2026
Where and Within What Time Limit Should an Application Be Made Against the Cancellation of a Tender?
Where a tender is cancelled under Public Procurement Law No. 4734, the remedies and time limits available to candidates, tenderers and prospective tenderers who suffer a loss of rights are laid down by the legislation. Those remedies are a complaint to the contracting authority, an appeal to the Public Procurement Authority, and proceedings before the administrative courts. Applications must…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes24 February 2026
Improper Exercise of Discretion in the Cancellation of a Tender
The power to cancel a tender conferred on contracting authorities under Public Procurement Law No. 4734 is not unlimited. It must be exercised in accordance with the public interest, the requirements of the service, the fundamental procurement principles and concrete grounds. Before the tender hour, a tender may be cancelled where matters exist that prevent it from being held and cannot be…
- ARTICLE4734Debarment and Defence12 January 2026
Ambiguity in the Regulatory Decisions of the Public Procurement Authority: the Definition of Prohibited Act or Conduct
Decision No. 2025/UH.II-2814 of the Public Procurement Board assesses the position that the uploading of an incorrect document to EKAP is not in every case to be treated as a prohibited act or conduct, and considers the limits of interpretation of regulatory decisions.
- ARTICLE4734Debarment and Defence07 January 2026
Withdrawal by the Ministry, on the Proposal of the Contracting Authority, of a Debarment Decision
Decision No. 2025/UM.I-2392 of the Public Procurement Board examines the process by which a debarment decision issued as a result of defective procedures of the contracting authority was withdrawn by the Ministry on the proposal of that authority.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes02 January 2026
Quality and Standard Certificates in Public Service Procurement Tenders
The stage at which, the legal character in which, and the limits within which quality and standard certificates may be required in service procurement tenders are among the subjects most frequently giving rise to disputes in practice. Within the framework of Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and the secondary legislation, this study addresses the legal character of such certificates, the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes12 November 2025
The Importance of the Criminal Record Certificate in Participation in Public Tenders
All tenderers participating in a tender must state in their tenders that, as at the date of the tender, they have not engaged in any act or conduct prohibited by Public Procurement Law No. 4734.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes03 November 2025
The Time Limit Problem in Complaints Concerning the Tender Documents of Negotiated Procedures Without Notice
A significant proportion of tenders under Public Procurement Law No. 4734 are conducted under the negotiated procedure without notice provided for in Article 21(b), 21(c) and 21(f). Negotiated procedure tenders are not the principal tender procedure under the Law. Tenders of this kind may be held where circumstances of unforeseeability, natural disaster or special conditions requiring urgency…
- ARTICLE4735Contract Disputes30 October 2025
Bankruptcy of One of the Members of a Joint Venture During the Public Procurement Contract Process
I - Introduction. Public procurement contracts are private law contracts concluded between contracting authorities within the scope of Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and contracting firms. These contracts are performed under the provisions of Public Procurement Contracts Law No. 4735. The parties to such contracts are the contracting authority and the contractor. Contractors may, according to…
- ARTICLE4735Contract Disputes27 October 2025
Consequences of the Bankruptcy of a Contractor Capital Company During the Public Procurement Contract Process
Public procurement contracts are private law contracts concluded between contracting authorities within the scope of Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and contracting firms. These contracts are performed under the provisions of Public Procurement Contracts Law No. 4735. However, in order to be able to perform the contract, contractors with whom a contract has been signed must maintain their…
- ARTICLE4735Financial Disputes23 October 2025
The Legal Position of Progress Payments and Securities Where the Contractor Declares Composition with Creditors in a Public Procurement Contract
Contracts under Public Procurement Contracts Law No. 4735 are private law contracts in which the rights and responsibilities of contracting authorities and contractors are determined on an equal footing. Accordingly, the provisions of the contract must be applied in a manner that preserves the equality of the parties and does not give rise to a loss of rights. During the contract process, the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes20 October 2025
Legal Procedures Facing Companies That Have Declared Composition with Creditors in Public Procurement Processes
The tender process under Public Procurement Law No. 4734 is a process governed by strict formal rules, designed to ensure that contracting authorities meet their requirements on the most appropriate terms and in the public interest. In this sense, persons submitting tenders must also meet the economic and financial standing and the professional and technical requirements laid down in the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes16 October 2025
May a Capital Company That Has Changed Its Type and Name Use a Work Completion Certificate in a Tender?
This article assesses, through an illustrative case, whether a capital company holding a work experience certificate may participate in a tender with that same certificate after changing its type and name more than once.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes17 September 2025
Is It Possible to Participate in Tenders with Work Completion Certificates Obtained Abroad?
This article examines the conditions under which Turkish national real persons who have undertaken work for the private sector abroad, and legal person contractors established under the laws of the Republic of Türkiye, may participate, on the basis of the documents they obtain from such work, in works tenders held in Türkiye under Public Procurement Law No. 4734.
- ARTICLE4735Contract Disputes15 September 2025
Determination of Non-Price Criteria Alongside Price in Works Contracts and an Illustrative Application
There is a risk that contracts for works tendered solely on the basis of the prices offered may be left unfinished by contractors acting in bad faith, or performed to a low standard. Where the economically most advantageous tender is determined solely on price, it is possible to win a tender by setting very high prices for the profitable parts of the contract and very low prices for the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes04 September 2025
Frequent Errors in the Abnormally Low Tender Inquiry in Service Procurement Tenders and Ways of Addressing Them
Public Procurement Law No. 4734 adopts the principle that the tender is to be awarded not to the lowest tender but to the economically most advantageous tender. In service procurements, the economically most advantageous tender is determined by calculating the threshold value from the estimated cost and the tenders submitted, using the EKAP threshold value calculation tools, and by carrying out…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes02 September 2025
The Limits of the Concept of Conduct Contrary to Business and Professional Ethics in Procurement Law
Certain restrictions laid down in the procurement legislation are misconstrued during tender evaluation, and this leads to participating tenderers being excluded. One procedure that contracting authorities frequently apply incorrectly is the exclusion of tenderers on the ground of conduct contrary to business and professional ethics in contracts performed for the same authority within the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes15 August 2025
What Are the Established Rules and the Common Misconceptions in Vehicle Rental Tenders?
The principal purpose of meeting the vehicle requirements of public services by way of service procurement is to reduce public vehicle expenditure to a minimum and to ensure that resources are used without waste and in a manner consistent with budgetary means. In this context, various restrictions have been introduced in respect of the vehicles to be rented. In this article, unlawful practices…