Insights
Commentary on tender procedures, contract performance and disputes, published with its sources and last review date.
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 the nature of the work subject to the contract, be joint venture capital companies.
30 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 economic and financial standing at the level declared in the tender and must not become bankrupt. Since the bankruptcy of a capital company during the contract process would adversely affect the meeting of public requirements on appropriate terms and in good time, this situation is addressed in detail in the procurement legislation.
27 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 contractor is required to perform its obligation in accordance with the terms of the contract, and the contracting authority has a duty to discharge its responsibility to make progress payments in respect of the work performed within the applicable period.
23 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 procurement legislation.
20 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.
16 October 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.
17 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 loss-making parts. The contractor may then perform the profitable parts and, leaving the remainder unperformed, cause the contract to be terminated and loss to the public purse. It therefore falls to contracting authorities to ensure that appropriate tenders capable of delivering the work are submitted, by determining non-price criteria alongside price.
15 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 an abnormally low tender inquiry in respect of tenderers whose tenders fall below the calculated threshold value. Although outside the scope of this article, there are also tenders in which, according to their characteristics, tenderers falling below the threshold value are eliminated directly without an abnormally low tender inquiry.
04 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 preceding five years. Business ethics determines the honest, fair and responsible conduct expected of real and legal persons in business life, while professional ethics denotes the principles applicable to a particular professional group. This article addresses what conduct contrary to business and professional ethics may consist of in tendered works.
02 September 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 frequently encountered in vehicle rental service procurements are examined in detail by our procurement lawyers and specialists, with explanations given in the context of an actual case.
15 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 administrative or technical specifications. Each member of a joint venture must submit these documents separately, while in a consortium each member must submit those relating to its own part. The authorisation certificates provided for in the Road Transport Regulation may also be among these documents.
08 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.
05 August 2025