Responding to a SIMAP tender, step by step
From searching on simap.ch to the award decision: the steps, the documents to prepare and what gets a bid excluded. The rules quoted are those of the AIMP 2019, the agreement that governs public procurement by cantons and municipalities.
Updated on 26 October 2026 · This guide gives general pointers: only the tender documents are binding. Written for French-speaking Switzerland.• simap.ch is free, but you must register to download the documents and submit a bid.
• Start with the conditions for taking part: one missing or out-of-date document is enough to get a bid excluded.
• The submission period is generally at least 20 days, and 40 days for large contracts covered by international agreements.
• Price is not everything: quality is a mandatory criterion.
1Find the right contract
- On simap.ch, anyone can search without signing up: keywords, filters, and saved searches you can subscribe to so you hear about new notices.
- Every tender lists its CPV codes, the nomenclature that classifies goods and services. Note the ones for your line of business: they will help you sort the notices.
- Small contracts, awarded by invitation or directly, are not published. To be invited, make yourself known to public buyers before they launch.
The procedure depends on the contract value. AIMP 2019 thresholds, in Swiss francs excluding VAT, for contracts not covered by international agreements:
| Direct award | By invitation | Open or selective | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplies | under 150,000 | under 250,000 | from 250,000 |
| Services | under 150,000 | under 250,000 | from 250,000 |
| Construction, finishing work | under 150,000 | under 250,000 | from 250,000 |
| Construction, main structural work | under 300,000 | under 500,000 | from 500,000 |
In Geneva, where the former rules still apply, direct award for supplies stops at 100,000 francs. In an open procedure, any company can bid; in a selective procedure, you first submit a request to take part, then the buyer chooses who may bid.
2Create your supplier account
- Registration takes two steps: a personal login, then a supplier account for your company (name, address, contact).
- All simap.ch services are free. A buyer may, however, charge for sending documents.
- The platform was renewed on 1er July 2024, without carrying over old data: an account created before that date must be created again.
- Guides and videos for bidders are available on kissimap.ch.
3Read the documents before deciding to bid
The tender documents must state, among other things: the deadline and form of submission, the accepted languages, how long bids remain valid, the conditions for taking part and the supporting documents required, the award criteria and their weighting, the date bids are opened and how to appeal.
There are two kinds of criteria:
- Suitability criteria say whether your company can do the work: professional, financial, technical and organisational capacity, experience. They must be objectively necessary and verifiable. If you fail one, your bid will not be assessed.
- Award criteria pick the best bid: price and quality, and often other criteria (deadlines, life-cycle costs, sustainability, plausibility of the bid, after-sales service). Their weighting is published: it is your scoring grid.
Before investing days of work, compare these criteria honestly with your track record: that is your go / no-go decision.
4Ask your questions
- Questions are asked in the tender’s forum on simap.ch.
- The deadline for questions is set in each tender: note it on your first read.
- The rules require equal treatment of bidders at every stage of the procedure.
5Gather the supporting documents
The French-speaking Switzerland public procurement guide lists the supporting documents usually required. A missing one means exclusion:
- a sworn statement;
- an extract from the commercial register or a professional register;
- certificates of payment of social contributions (AVS, AI, APG, AC, family allowances, LPP), liability and accident insurance, taxes, withholding tax and VAT;
- compliance with collective labour agreements or standard employment contracts;
- equal pay for women and men;
- the list of your subcontractors, where applicable.
6Build your bid and your price
- Answer every criterion, in the order of the documents, with evidence: references, CVs, method, schedule.
- Do not change the tender’s conditions: a bid that departs clearly from them can be excluded.
- Obvious calculation errors are corrected by the buyer.
- An abnormally low price triggers a request for explanations: be ready to justify your calculation.
- After submission, a bid can only be corrected to clarify it or make it comparable, not to complete it.
7Submit on time
| Situation | Minimum submission period |
|---|---|
| Contract covered by international agreements, open procedure | 40 days from publication |
| Selective procedure: request to take part | 25 days |
| Selective procedure: bid | 40 days from the invitation |
| Contract not covered by international agreements | generally at least 20 days |
| Duly established urgency | 10 days |
- The bid is submitted in writing, complete and on time. Electronic submission is only possible if the tender allows it.
- A late bid is excluded. Check in the documents whether the date of receipt or the postmark counts.
8Opening of bids and decision
- Bids are opened by at least two representatives of the buyer. The record, with the bidders’ names and total prices, is given to you at the latest after the award.
- The award decision gives brief reasons: the winning company, the total price, the decisive advantages of its bid, and how to appeal.
- You can appeal to the cantonal administrative court within 20 days of notification. In Geneva, as long as the former rules apply, the period is 10 days, before the administrative chamber of the Court of Justice.
- An appeal does not automatically suspend the procedure; the contract can be signed once the appeal period has passed.
What gets a bid excluded
- failing a condition for taking part;
- a missing, unsigned, incomplete or out-of-date document;
- a late bid;
- major formal defects, or a bid that departs clearly from the tender;
- unpaid taxes or social contributions.
For a minor defect, the buyer may grant a short period to fix it: excessive formalism is not allowed. But do not count on it.
The AIMP in brief
The intercantonal agreement on public procurement (AIMP) sets the rules for tenders issued by cantons and municipalities. Its revised version, adopted on 15 November 2019, is aligned with the federal public procurement act. In April 2025, it applied in 21 cantons.
| Canton | AIMP 2019 |
|---|---|
| Vaud | in force since 1er January 2023 |
| Fribourg | in force since 1er January 2023 |
| Neuchâtel | in force since 1er January 2024 |
| Geneva | not yet in force: the former rules apply |
What changes for a company that bids: quality becomes a mandatory criterion alongside price, the contract goes to the “most advantageous offer”, sustainability becomes a principle, awards are published within 30 days with the total price, and the appeal period rises from 10 to 20 days.
Sources
- How to respond to a public tender (Swiss federal SME portal)
- Text of the AIMP 2019 (art. 12, 18-21, 26-29, 34-47, 51-56 and annex 2)
- French-speaking Switzerland public procurement guide, annex P (supporting documents)
- Conditions for taking part in Geneva et appeals in Geneva
- What is new in the AIMP 2019 (Canton of Vaud)
- simap.ch, how it works (Canton of Vaud)
