Contract award
Contract award is the decision and legal step by which a contracting authority selects a supplier for a contract. The notices and timing differ by regime: under the Act the award notice normally precedes signing, while the details notice confirms entry afterwards.
Reviewed
Award under the current Act
Under the Procurement Act 2023, the authority assesses tenders against the published award criteria and decides which tender is the most advantageous. It normally sends assessment summaries to participating suppliers and publishes a contract award notice before entering the contract. The award notice signals the intention to contract and, where required, starts the standstill period. After the contract is entered into, the authority publishes a contract details notice. These are separate events.
This sequence differs from the PCR 2015 vocabulary, where a contract award notice was commonly used to announce that the contract had been awarded after the decision. Legacy procurements retain their previous notice rules. A call-off, direct award, light-touch contract or devolved procurement may have additional exceptions.
What suppliers should check
Keep the assessment summary, tender documents and award notice together. Check the winning supplier, your scores and reasons, the standstill end date, any voluntary period and the contract value. If the reasons reveal a scoring or procedural error, raise it promptly and obtain specialist advice about remedies. Do not confuse publication of an award notice with contract signature.
For example, an authority can select Supplier A on Tuesday, publish the Act contract award notice on Wednesday and sign after the required standstill. The contract details notice appears only after signature. A supplier that sees the first notice still has a short opportunity to review the decision; it has not yet seen proof that the contract exists.