Bidding for a public contract in Algeria: the file, guarantees and appeals

The texts in force in 2026

Law No. 23-12 of 5 August 2023 sets the general rules for public contracts: who buys, how the buyer chooses, the controls and the appeals. It leaves the detail to implementing texts, and its article 112 keeps the older regulations in force until those texts are published. As of 30 October 2026, we found no implementing decree for the law in the Official Journal (checked up to issue No. 75 of 25 October 2026). Presidential Decree No. 15-247 of 16 September 2015 therefore remains the reference for the detail of the procedure, from the contents of the envelopes to the appeal deadlines, except where it conflicts with the law.

One implementing text that matters to businesses has appeared since: the Finance Minister's order of 4 February 2026 on the public procurement portal (Official Journal No. 17 of 2 March 2026).

Who can bid

Public contracts are open to any economic operator: one or more individuals or legal entities, bidding alone or as a temporary group of companies (law, art. 3). The law sets three principles: free access to public procurement, equal treatment of candidates and transparent procedures (art. 5). An SARL, an EURL, an SPA, a sole trader or a craftsperson can therefore bid if they meet the conditions in the specifications.

The capacities a buyer asks for must relate to the subject of the contract and be in proportion to its size (art. 43). You may rely on the capacities of other companies (art. 44), for example a partner in a joint bid.

The classification certificate in construction and public works

For contracts in certain sectors, the business must hold a professional qualification and classification certificate (Executive Decree No. 14-139 of 20 April 2014). The interministerial order of 3 January 2024 sets out how classification works for building, public works, water resources, forestry works and passive telecommunications infrastructure. A newly created business that has not yet closed a financial year is classified on three criteria: its workforce with its management staff, its equipment and its share capital (art. 3).

Finding tenders

Publication is compulsory: in the Official Bulletin of Public Operator Contracts (BOMOP), in the approved print and online press, and on the public procurement portal, including for consultations below the thresholds (law, art. 46). At the start of each budget year, every buyer also publishes, on its website and on the portal, the list of contracts signed the previous year and its forecast programme of contracts to be launched (art. 95).

The public procurement portal

The Ministry of Finance runs the portal. Under the order of 4 February 2026, it publishes the texts, the notices, the forecast programmes, the contracts signed, the lists of excluded or banned operators and the price indices. Tender documents can be downloaded there free of charge. The portal also handles electronic submission of bids, electronic signature and time-stamping: each bid received produces an acknowledgement showing the date and time.

To use these functions, the business registers with a form that asks for its company name, legal form, registered office address, NIF (tax ID), trade register number and national identification number, along with the person authorised to act for it. The business is responsible for the use of its login details. Application files submitted through the portal are archived and reused in later procedures (law, art. 106).

Tender or consultation

The call for tenders is the rule and the negotiated procedure the exception (law, art. 37). An order whose estimated amount, all taxes included, does not exceed the procurement thresholds follows the consultation procedure (art. 18). Those thresholds are still the ones in article 13 of Decree 15-247: 12,000,000 DA for works or supplies, 6,000,000 DA for studies or services. The decree allows them to be updated by order (art. 22). We found no such order.

Your bid: three envelopes inside one plain envelope

Decree 15-247 (art. 67) requires three separate sealed envelopes: the application file, the technical offer and the financial offer. Each one shows the company name, the reference and subject of the tender, and the words dossier de candidature, offre technique or offre financière. The three go inside a sealed outer envelope with no company name, marked only to be opened solely by the bid opening and evaluation committee, followed by the tender number and subject.

The models for the declaration of candidacy, the declaration of integrity, the declaration of commitment and the letter of tender are set by order of the Finance Minister. Two rules lighten the file: the buyer must not require certified copies unless a text demands them, and it asks for originals only from the winning bidder. In a tender split into lots, it must not ask for the same documents once per lot, save for a justified exception.

The declaration of candidacy and the documents that prove it

In the declaration of candidacy, you state your position. Supporting documents are requested only from the winning bidder, who must supply them within 10 days at most of the request, and before the provisional award is published (Decree 15-247, art. 69). If a document is missing or contradicts the declaration, the offer is set aside and the buyer moves to the next one. False information discovered after signature leads to termination of the contract at the company's fault.

Guarantees: bid bond and performance bond

The law leaves the guarantees and how they are released to the specifications, by reference to the texts in force (art. 83). The rules below are those of Decree 15-247.

For works contracts below one of the decree's thresholds, the specifications may replace the performance bond with a 5% retention on each progress statement (art. 133). Art craftspeople and micro-enterprises under Algerian law working on the restoration of cultural property do not have to provide a performance bond.

Bidding alone or as a group

You can bid with other companies as a temporary group, either joint and several or joint. The buyer may require a joint and several group if the nature of the contract calls for it (law, art. 55).

The lead member is normally the majority member. It is named in the declaration of commitment and coordinates the work. A business, alone or in a group, may submit only one bid per procedure, and one person may represent only one candidate for a given contract (law, art. 44). Subcontracting is another route for a small business: the contract holder may subcontract up to 40% of the contract amount (art. 82).

What the law sets aside for small businesses and start-ups

• Reserved contracts: when a need can be met by small or very small businesses, or by labelled start-ups, the buyer must reserve the contract for them unless it justifies an exception. These needs may reach up to 20% of public procurement, in separate specifications or as a lot (law, art. 58).
• Labelled start-ups: the buyer may deal directly with a labelled start-up offering services in the digital field or in new technologies, if its solution is unique and novel (direct negotiated procedure, art. 41).
• Algerian businesses and SMEs: eligibility conditions and scoring must take their potential into account (art. 60). When national production can meet the need, the call for competition is national (art. 59).
• Preference margin: products of Algerian origin and businesses under Algerian law whose capital is mostly held by resident nationals receive a preference margin (art. 62), set at 25% by Decree 15-247 (art. 83). The specifications explain how it is applied.
• Craftspeople: services linked to craft activities are reserved for national craftspeople, unless the buyer shows this is impossible (art. 61).
• New micro-enterprises: if they cannot produce a first-year balance sheet, the buyer may only ask for a document from their bank on their financial position. It must not require references for similar contracts and takes diplomas into account (Decree 15-247, art. 87).

If your staff count puts you in one category and your turnover or balance sheet in another, turnover or balance sheet decides (Law No. 17-02, art. 11). For the start-up label, see our page on creating a start-up.

How your bid is assessed

1. 1

   Submission and opening of bids

   The specifications give the date and time limit for submission. It falls on the last day of the bid preparation period, moved to the next working day if that day is a public holiday or official rest day. Bids are opened in a public session the same day, and candidates are invited to attend (Decree 15-247, art. 66 and 70).

2. 2

   Checking applications

   The bid opening and evaluation committee checks your technical, professional and financial capacities before scoring the technical offers (law, art. 43 and 48). An application that does not comply is set aside.

3. 3

   Technical scoring

   Technical offers are ranked. Those below the minimum score set in the specifications are eliminated (Decree 15-247, art. 72).

4. 4

   Price comparison

   Only technically qualified offers are compared on price. The contract goes to the most economically advantageous offer, based on the announced criteria (law, art. 38 and 53). An abnormally low price must be justified, or the offer is rejected.

5. 5

   Provisional award

   The buyer asks the winning bidder for its supporting documents, which it must supply within 10 days at most, then publishes the provisional award notice. That publication starts the appeal period.

No negotiation is allowed in a call for tenders. The buyer may only ask you in writing to clarify your offer, and your answer cannot change it (law, art. 54). You remain bound by your offer for 90 days, plus the bid preparation period, from the opening of bids (art. 76).

Challenging a result: the appeal

In a call for tenders or a negotiated procedure after consultation, if you contest the provisional award, its cancellation, a declaration that the tender was unsuccessful, or the cancellation of the procedure, you can appeal to the competent procurement committee, without losing your right to go to court (law, art. 56). The deadlines come from Decree 15-247 (art. 82).

1. 1

   Read the provisional award notice

   It gives the winner's technical and financial scores, its NIF, and the committee that hears appeals.

2. 2

   Ask for your detailed results

   You have 3 days from the first day of publication to contact the buyer, who gives you the detailed evaluation of your application and offers in writing.

3. 3

   File the appeal within 10 days

   The period runs from the first publication of the notice in the BOMOP, the press or the portal. If the tenth day is a public holiday, it moves to the next working day. If the tender is declared unsuccessful or cancelled, the 10 days run from receipt of the registered letter that informs you.

4. 4

   Wait for the decision

   The committee decides within 15 days after the appeal period ends. When an award is under appeal, the draft contract cannot be submitted to the committee until 30 days after the notice was published.

What rules you out

Decree 15-247 (art. 75) excludes from public contracts, temporarily or permanently, operators who, among other cases:

• are not up to date with their tax and social security obligations
• cannot show that they filed their annual accounts
• made a false declaration
• are bankrupt, in liquidation, have ceased trading, are in receivership or in a composition with creditors, or face such a procedure
• refused to complete their offer or withdrew before the bid validity period ended
• appear on the list of defaulting companies, the list of banned operators or the national register of fraudsters.

The law adds that you must tell the buyer about any conflict of interest related to the contract (art. 70), and that a buyer may not award a contract to its former employees for 5 years, except in cases the texts provide for (art. 69).

After signature

• Payment: by advances, interim payments and a final balance. Late payment by the buyer gives you the right to late-payment interest (law, art. 80).
• Late performance: it leads to financial penalties, unless there is force majeure or the delay is not your fault (art. 84).
• Pledge: a public contract and its amendments can be pledged (art. 85).
• Subcontracting: 40% of the contract amount at most (art. 82).

What Neuron does, and does not do

Neuron does not prepare tender files or technical and financial offers, and does not follow public procurement procedures for clients. You can request the administrative documents yourself with our free guides. If your business does not yet have a registered office, domiciliation at Neuron in Dely Brahim costs 6,000 DA per month, with a notarised contract for one or two years.