Insights
Commentary on tender procedures, contract performance and disputes, published with its sources and last review date.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes08 August 2025
Common Misconceptions Concerning the Authorisation Certificates Required in Vehicle Rental, Personnel Transport and Freight Transport Tenders
In service procurement tenders such as vehicle rental, personnel or student transport, or the carriage of goods or freight, candidates or tenderers may be required, according to the nature of the work, to submit documents such as registrations, permits or licences meeting the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation, as specified in the tender notice, the pre-qualification notice, or the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes05 August 2025
Board Decisions Are Being Set Aside by the Courts: Points to Note in Preventing Loss of Rights
For persons who suffer a loss of rights, or who identify an unlawfulness, in tenders held under the Public Procurement Law, the final administrative remedy is the appeal to the Public Procurement Authority. That appeal is made to the Public Procurement Authority through EKAP, in accordance with the form, time limits and rules laid down in the Law and the secondary legislation.
- ARTICLE2886Public Real Estate25 July 2025
May the Spouse of a Tender Commission Member's Sibling Participate in the Same Tender?
Various restrictions have been introduced concerning the participation of relatives and in-laws of the public officials conducting and holding a tender in tenders held under Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and State Procurement Law No. 2886. These measures are important statutory arrangements adopted with a view to ensuring competition in tenders and the reliability of the administration. This…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes24 July 2025
Share Ledger Errors in EKAP Records: Points for Joint Stock Companies to Note
We observe that joint stock companies participating in public tenders are excluded from the evaluation and suffer a loss of rights because of errors made when recording their shareholding details and authorised representatives on EKAP. For that reason, joint stock companies participating in public tenders need first of all to be familiar with the EKAP registration procedures laid down in the…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes22 July 2025
Is a Work Experience Certificate Issued to Persons Who Are Both the Owner and the Contractor of the Work?
In tenders held under Public Procurement Law No. 4734, professional and technical qualifications may be required. The most important of these is undoubtedly the work experience certificate, since the reason such certificates are required in a tender is to ascertain whether the persons participating have prior experience of carrying out the work subject to the tender or similar work.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes17 July 2025
May Documents Not Specified in Article 7 of the Administrative Specifications Be Required to Be Submitted in a Tender?
In tenders held under Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and the secondary legislation, all qualification documents to be submitted by participating tenderers must be specified in the notice and in the administrative specifications. It has further been established that the qualification documents required by contracting authorities are to be requested in Article 7 of the administrative…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes10 July 2025
How Are Candidates and Tenderers That Have Changed Their Name or Type to Submit Work Experience Certificates Issued Under Their Former Details?
The former names of sole traders or capital companies may change for reasons such as a change of name or type, a division or a merger. In such cases, however, difficulties arise in submitting to a tender work experience certificates obtained in the past bearing the former name or type. In this article I provide the necessary information for those who have changed name or type for various reasons…
- ARTICLE4734Debarment and Defence08 July 2025
Beware of Forged Work Experience Certificates on EKAP
Work experience certificates, which are among the most important qualification documents for participation in a tender, may be forged and used in tenders through EKAP. Both contracting authorities holding tenders and tenderers wishing to participate must be attentive to this. In the article I set out information on forged documents in tenders and on the sanctions applicable to tenderers using…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes25 March 2025
Negotiated Procedure Tenders Without Notice, the Risk of Corruption, and Türkiye's Position in the International Rankings
The negotiated procedure is a tender procedure that may be used in the cases specified by Public Procurement Law No. 4734. However, unlike the open procedure, it is not a method in which all tenderers may submit a tender. In a negotiated procedure conducted without notice in particular, only tenderers invited by the contracting authority, numbering not fewer than three, may participate. Firms…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes13 March 2025
The Cancellation of a Tender for the Temporary Supply of Devices Against Kits and Its Cause
Errors made by contracting authorities in the tender documents for the procurement of laboratory kits, or for the procurement of kits together with the temporary supply of devices against kits, lead to the cancellation of the tender. There are important matters to which contracting authorities and those participating in the tender must pay attention in order for the work to be carried out without…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes11 March 2025
The Error That Led to the Cancellation of a Vehicle Rental Tender
Errors in the tender documents prepared by contracting authorities for vehicle rental services procured as a service lead to the cancellation of the tender. For that reason, there are important matters to which contracting authorities and those participating in the tender must pay attention in order for the work to be carried out without delay and in a sound manner.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes03 March 2025
The Nature and Drawbacks of Build-Operate-Transfer Contracts
It is possible for investments and services requiring high technology or substantial financial resources to be carried out under the build-operate-transfer model by all public institutions and organisations, including public economic enterprises.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes27 February 2025
Is Partial Acceptance Possible in Service Procurements?
Where contracting authorities do not properly prepare the tender documents for the services they procure on the market, performance of the contract or completion of the procurement becomes impossible. For that reason, the Public Procurement Authority has been empowered to issue secondary legislation, provided it is not contrary to Public Procurement Law No. 4734. In this article I set out…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes21 February 2025
The Question of Calculating Days in the Invitation to Contract
Procurement law is a distinct field of law grounded in determinative provisions as to form, time limits and procedure. For that reason, which procedure contracting authorities are to carry out, in what manner and within what period, is laid down by strict rules. Contracting authorities have a duty to comply with those rules. In this article I set out information on the legal position arising…
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes20 February 2025
The Question of Participation in Tenders by Persons Convicted of the Offence of Causing Injury
In this article I set out information on whether a person convicted of the offence of causing injury arising from an occupational accident at the workplace may participate in tenders. I also seek to address the subject concretely through an actual case.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes17 February 2025
The Question of a Contractor Providing Consultancy on the Subject Matter of a Tender Participating in the Tender for That Same Work
In this article I set out information on whether contractors providing consultancy on the subject matter of a tender may participate in the tender for that same work. I also address the subject concretely through an actual case and discuss the precautions that contracting authorities and tendering firms should take.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes14 February 2025
Significant Errors Made by Contracting Authorities When Requesting Abnormally Low Tender Explanations in Service Tenders
Article 5 of Public Procurement Law No. 4734, headed Fundamental Principles, provides that contracting authorities are responsible for ensuring transparency, competition, equal treatment, reliability, confidentiality, public scrutiny, the meeting of requirements on appropriate terms and in good time, and the efficient use of resources. In this context, contracting authorities are required to act…
- ARTICLE4734Debarment and Defence07 November 2024
Is the Participation in a Tender of Several Companies That Have Downloaded the Documents from the Same IP Address a Prohibited Act or Conduct?
This article assesses, from the standpoint of the procurement legislation, the downloading of tender documents by prospective tenderer companies from the same IP address. It also addresses matters that the tens of thousands of tenderers submitting tenders each year should avoid.
- ARTICLE4735Contract Disputes07 October 2024
Applying to the High Technical Board in Public Procurement Contracts
In contracts concluded under public tenders, contractors have doubts as to applying to the High Technical Board in disputes they encounter with contracting authorities. The subject of this information note is to explain how an application to the High Technical Board is to be made.
- ARTICLE4734Tender Process Disputes07 October 2024
What Can a Tenderer Do Where, as a Result of a Fundamental Mistake, It Has Submitted an Abnormally Low Tender in a Goods Procurement Tender and the Tender Has Been Awarded to It?
In service and works tenders, an abnormally low tender inquiry is carried out in respect of tenderers offering a price below the threshold value (well below market prices), and the tender is not awarded to a tenderer that is unable to provide an explanation. In goods procurement tenders, however, no procedure has been laid down for the calculation of a threshold value. For that reason, the tender…