Public Procurement
Full-service public procurement lawyers for all tender procedures
Experienced attorneys handling all aspects of public procurement law
Whether you’re a public or private contracting party, you know the risks that come with the procurement process. With procurement rules subject to frequent change and increasing complexity, you need a team that ensures that your business or organisation complies with all procurement rules, on time and with attention to even the smallest details. This is why public bodies and utilities operators trust us to prepare and carry out their tender procedures.
We also make sure that private bidders wishing to participate in public tenders have a seat at the table: we secure the compliance of your bid, negotiate with contracting authorities, and, if necessary, work to protect you by challenging unfair tender provisions and award decisions.
“We have worked with Wolf Theiss’ procurement practice and administrative law for many years and are more than happy with their team. Every single lawyer in the team is eminently qualified and efficient. We greatly appreciate their clear and on-point advice and their responsiveness. What in-house peers should know about the team is that they have in-depth sector-specific knowledge in any field and are able to grasp the essential needs of your business in no time. They also have a very sizeable team so that you always feel well taken care of as a client and can quickly build up a productive business relationship. In our view, the Wolf Theiss procurement team is without doubt the best choice in the Austrian market.”
– The Legal 500
What makes our team the best public procurement lawyers for you?
Our regional, integrated firm offers distinct advantages spanning the full spectrum of legal services.
- An established international law firm with 60+ years of experience in Austria and CEE/SEE
- A fully integrated team of jurisdiction-specific qualified lawyers across our offices in 13 countries.
- Collaboration and innovation across multidisciplinary teams and offices
- Excellent client satisfaction – responsive, client-oriented, and consistent
- Experience with complex and cross-border matters covering the full spectrum of legal services
- Knowledge and expertise to add value to deals across industries
Leading the legal field
Our lawyers are involved in key transactions and matters across the region, bringing their industry expertise and specialised business knowledge to add value to our clients’ work.
Advised hospital association on tender for critical project management platform
Provided strategic advice for public transport services
Advised cultural institutions on tender procedures for worldwide art transport
Expert advice for strategic tender planning, documentation and review proceedings
Comprehensive advice for Vienna hospitals
Our team is advising the Vienna Hospital Association on all aspects of the investment and restructuring programme of all Vienna Hospitals (all hospital and health care infrastructure by the City of Vienna) over the next five years. The programme includes a variety of projects from completely new hospitals to large refurbishment projects during ongoing hospital operations.
To manage this huge infrastructure programme (with estimated construction cost of well over one billion euros), the City of Vienna Hospital Association founded Wiener Gesundheitsverbund Projektentwicklungs- und Baumanagement GmbH (“PBG”), a special purpose vehicle wholly owned by the City of Vienna, incorporated to manage all hospital /healthcare infrastructure construction in Vienna for the next 10 years.
Following the incorporation, the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund conducted a tender for all legal consulting services to the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund and the PBG for the next five years, and Wolf Theiss emerged as the winner of this tender (as first ranked panellist in a panel of three).
Most recently, we advised the client on a tender for a project management software/platform which in the future will be the main documentation and communication hub for all projects under the programme.
Reorganisation of public transport services ordering system
We provided comprehensive strategic advice to Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (VOR) GmbH in connection with numerous matters regarding the reorganisation of the ordering regime for (subsidised) public passenger transport services as well as advised on “Intelligent Transport Systems” and elaboration of a General Rule based on the PSO-Regulation.
Tender procedures for art institutions and museums
We advised numerous renowned cultural institutions and museum operating companies in connection with tender procedures for worldwide art transport and a Europe-wide negotiated procedure concerning the procurement of general planning services for the implementation of the project “Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, Silver Chamber – extension of showrooms”. We also advised the Albertina Museum with regard to a tender procedure concerning security services and other matters.
Areas of specialisation
Full-service provider
If you represent a contracting authority, you can trust our public procurement lawyers through all stages of an infrastructure project: from tenders for architectural work to procuring project management and controlling services, planning services, construction and infrastructural works (from general contractors to specialised firms) to tendering technical and infrastructural facility management services.
Strategic tender planning
Before the tender procedure even starts, we deploy our expertise and vast market experience to support contracting authorities. We will work with you to develop the tender strategy for the entire project and customise the individual tender procedures with an eye to determining the estimated contract value, adequately distributing the purchase in lots, choosing the best procedure, and developing suitable criteria for eligibility, selection and awarding.
Drafting tender documents
We view our procurement work as an opportunity to collaborate with you and your organisation. This includes drafting all necessary tender documents in concert with the technical advisors of the project. And we mean all of them: procedural provisions, scope of work and evaluation matrices, supply, service and construction contracts, possible financing contracts, maintenance contracts and more. This is what we mean with our comprehensive approach; in doing so, we can rely on the know-how and experience of our commercial contract specialists.
Acting as awarding entity
We can act as the awarding entity and conduct tender procedures for you so that you can focus on your day-to-day business. This means that we – on your behalf – announce the tender, manage inquiries, open and assess RFPs and bids, support the technical and commercial assessment of bids, manage defect remedy and correspondence with bidders, draft result-oriented assessment records and the award proposals.
Documentation
Reviews and audits can come at any moment during or after the procurement process. The comprehensive and audit-proof documentation of all tender procedures is part of our approach, should you ever need to appear for review proceedings before the administrative courts or for an ex-post audit from supervisory and auditing bodies. Our public procurement lawyers draft and maintain the documentation in user-friendly electronic form, adhering to your particular requirements in language that is easy to read and search.
Tender review proceedings
When national and international courts and authorities initiate public procurement review proceedings, we’re on your side, along with the decades of experience we’ve amassed in successfully representing contracting authorities and bidders. We will work to develop a customised strategy for you, including the choice of witnesses, technical experts and other means of evidence.
Advising bidders in tender procedures
With us, you don’t have to fear the spotlight of public tender procedures. We will work with you to focus on recognising and preventing discriminatory tender conditions at an early stage of the process. We will ensure that your bid or RFP complies with the legal, technical and economic tender provisions to prevent incompliant bids and RFPs that could lead to the exclusion of your bid from the tender procedure.
Compliance
We support public contracting authorities and private enterprises in implementing Compliance Management Systems and in planning and implementing self-cleaning measures so that you can be re-admitted to public tenders. Learn more about our Compliance Practice.
What others say about us
“Legal expertise in procurement law. Technical expertise. Market knowledge. Fast response times. Commercial thinking.”
– IFLR1000
“Big public procurement group with high expertise and sufficient resources.”
– The Legal 500
Get in touch
Whether you need an international team with extensive experience, Wolf Theiss can support your business goals through our profound legal practice.
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Wolf Theiss - Leading Lawyers in CEE&SEE
Accessibility Statement
- www.wolftheiss.com
- 30 September 2023
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability. To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more. This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments. If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following emailScreen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:- Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
- Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
- Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
- Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
- Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
- ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
- Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
- Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
- Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
- Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
- Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
- Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
- Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
- Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
- Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.