New public procurement thresholds for 2020
Published on 13th Feb 2020
The European Commission has published the updated thresholds that apply to new procurement procedures commencing on or after 1 January 2020 under the following legislation:
- the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Public Contracts Directive 2014/24/EU)
- The Utilities Contracts 2016 (Utilities Directive 2014/25/EU)
- The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (Concessions Directive 2014/23/EU)
- The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Defence Contracts Directive (2009/81/EC)
This is a scheduled update that occurs every two years. The next threshold increase is expected at the beginning of 2022, although this might not be relevant to UK public contracts depending on what changes are made to public procurement law as a result of the Brexit deal. Save for the two figures marked with an asterisk, each threshold below has decreased in EUR, however the corresponding figures in GBP have increased due to the weakness in GBP. The figures marked with an asterisk remain the same in EUR but have increased in GBP, again due to the weakness in GBP.
The previous thresholds will continue to apply to any procurements that commenced (i.e. the contract notice or prior information notice was published on OJEU) before 1 January 2020.
Old and new thresholds
Public contracts
| Old threshold (1 January 2018 – 31 December 2019) | New threshold (1 January 2020 onwards) | |||
| EUR | GBP equivalent | EUR | GBP equivalent | |
|
Central government only Supply and service Design contests |
144,000 | 118,133 | 139,000 | 122,976 |
|
All other contracting authorities Supply and service Design contests |
221,000 | 181,302 | 214,000 | 189,330 |
| Works | 5,548,000 | 4,551,413 | 5,350,000 | 4,733,252 |
| Contracts for social and other specific services | 750,000 | 615,278 | 750,000* | 663,540* |
Concession contracts
| Old threshold (1 January 2018 – 31 December 2019) | New threshold (1 January 2020 onwards) | |||
| EUR | GBP equivalent | EUR | GBP equivalent | |
| Works or services | 5,548,000 | 4,551,413 | 5,350,000 | 4,733,252 |
Utilities contracts
| Old threshold (1 January 2018 – 31 December 2019) | New threshold (1 January 2020 onwards) | |||
| EUR | GBP equivalent | EUR | GBP equivalent | |
|
Supply and service Design contests |
443,000 | 363,424 | 428,000 | 378,660 |
| Works | 5,548,000 | 4,551,413 | 5,350,000 | 4,733,252 |
| Contracts for social and other specific services | 1,000,000 | 820,370 | 1,000,000* | 884,720* |
Defence and security contracts
| Old threshold (1 January 2018 – 31 December 2019) | New threshold (1 January 2020 onwards) | |||
| EUR | GBP equivalent | EUR | GBP equivalent | |
| Supply and service | 443,000 | 363,424 | 428,000 | 378,660 |
| Works | 5,548,000 | 4,551,413 | 5,350,000 | 4,733,252 |
