Above or below threshold: which rules apply to your contract
Work out, in about a minute, which set of rules a contract falls under and what that means for how you will have to bid.
3 min read · 4 government sources, read 14 Sep 2026
“Threshold” is the line that decides how much process a buyer has to put you through. Below it, a council can run something close to getting three quotes. Above it, they are into a regulated procedure with fixed minimum timescales, published award decisions and a standstill period before anyone signs.
Knowing which side of the line a contract sits on tells you roughly how long the bid will take you and what your rights are if you lose.
The figures, from 1 January 2026
These are the amounts in Schedule 1 of the Procurement Act 2023, as amended for 2026. They are revised every two years to track the UK’s international obligations, so check the date at the bottom of this page before relying on them.
| What is being bought | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Goods, services or works: central government | £135,018 |
| Goods, services or works: everyone else | £207,720 |
| Works contracts | £5,193,000 |
| Light touch services | £663,540 |
| Concessions | £5,193,000 |
| Light touch concessions | £5,372,609 |
| Utilities: works | £5,193,000 |
| Utilities: light touch | £884,720 |
| Utilities: everything else | £415,440 |
| Defence and security: works or concessions | £5,193,000 |
| Defence and security: everything else | £415,440 |
The detail that catches people out: these include VAT
The guidance is explicit about it. A contract is a public contract where it “has an estimated value (including VAT) of not less than the threshold amounts”. So a £180,000 job for a council, plus VAT, is over the £207,720 line, even though the figure you quoted was under it.
Values on this site are shown excluding VAT unless a page says otherwise, because that is how buyers most often publish them. Where a buyer published both, you will see both on the notice.
Below threshold does not mean unadvertised
There is a second, much lower set of numbers. A contract below the main threshold but at or above these has to be advertised anyway, a “notifiable below-threshold contract”:
- £12,000 including VAT, for central government
- £30,000 including VAT, for everyone else
That is why a great deal of small work is findable at all, and it is the part of the market most worth watching if you are small. A buyer must publish the notice on the central digital platform before advertising it anywhere else, so it reaches this site at the same time it reaches anyone.
What actually changes above the line
- Minimum time to bid. Above threshold, a tender notice normally gives you at least 25 days. Below, the buyer sets the clock, and a fortnight is common.
- You will need a PPON and a share code. Registration on the central digital platform is expected for above-threshold competitions, and a bid without them can be rejected. There is a separate guide on getting one.
- You get told why you lost. Above threshold the buyer issues assessment summaries and there is a standstill period before signature, which is the window in which a decision can be questioned.
- The award becomes public. Who won, and for how much. Every one of those on this site came from that duty.
What to do with this
If you are deciding whether a bid is worth the effort, the threshold tells you what the effort will be. Below £30,000 it is usually a form. Above £207,720 you should assume several days of work, a set of policies you either have or do not, and a real chance of being asked for social value commitments you will be held to.
Notices where the buyer says the work suits a small firm are a good place to start.