Source: https://tendernation.io/guides/procurement-act-notice-types Guide # Procurement Act notice types: UK1 to UK17 explained for suppliers A supplier's guide to all 17 Procurement Act notices, grouped by stage, with what each one tells you and which ones an SME should act on. Updated 14 Oct 2026 The Procurement Act 2023 gives buyers 17 standard notices, numbered UK1 to UK17, that follow a contract from the first plan to the final payment: UK1 to UK3 come before a tender, UK4 is the tender itself, UK5 to UK7 cover the award, and UK8 to UK17 cover payments, performance, changes, endings and dynamic markets. For a supplier, the useful ones are the early notices (UK1 to UK3), the tender notice (UK4), and the notices that tell you a contract is about to come back to market (UK10 and UK11). Most notices are published on Find a Tender, which is the Central Digital Platform for the Act. The rules on what goes in each one are in the [Procurement Regulations 2024](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/692/contents), and the duty to publish each one is in a section of the [Act itself](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents). We link to the section for each notice below, so you can check the wording yourself. If you want the wider picture first, read our [Procurement Act guide for SMEs](/guides/procurement-act-2023-smes). ## All 17 notices at a glance "Mandatory" here means the Act requires the notice whenever its trigger applies. Plenty of notices only apply in some cases, so read the "when" column alongside it. Scottish devolved bodies follow Scotland's own rules, and procurements started before 24 February 2025 still use the old notices. ### Planning: before the tender CodeNameWhen it's publishedWhat it tells a supplierMandatory?UK1Pipeline noticeWithin 56 days of 1 April each year, so by 26 May ([section 93](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/93))Contracts over £2 million the buyer expects to advertise or award directly in the next 18 monthsYes, for buyers expecting to pay more than £100 million a year under relevant contracts. Others may publish oneUK2Preliminary market engagement noticeBefore the tender notice, either to invite you to engage or to report engagement already done ([section 17](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/17))The buyer wants to talk to the market: supplier days, questionnaires, meetingsYes, if the buyer runs market engagement. If it doesn't publish one, it must give reasons in the tender noticeUK3Planned procurement noticeAny time before the tender notice ([section 15](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/15))A specific tender is coming. If published 40 days to 12 months ahead, the buyer can use a shorter tendering periodNo, optional### Tendering: the competition CodeNameWhen it's publishedWhat it tells a supplierMandatory?UK4Tender noticeWhen a competitive procedure opens ([section 21](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/21))The contract is open for bids or requests to participate, with the deadline and procedureYes, for an open or competitive flexible procedure. Advertised below-threshold contracts need a below-threshold tender notice ([section 87](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/87))UK5Transparency noticeBefore a direct award, or before switching a failed competition to a direct award ([section 44](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/44))The buyer plans to award without a competition, to a named supplier, and whyYes, for direct awards (with narrow exceptions)UK13Dynamic market intention noticeBefore a dynamic market is set up ([section 39](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/39))A new dynamic market is coming that you could apply to joinYes, for buyers establishing oneUK14Dynamic market establishment noticeAs soon as reasonably practicable after it is set upThe market is live and taking membersYesUK15Dynamic market modification noticeAfter the market is changedThe rules, scope or conditions of membership have changedYesUK16Dynamic market cessation noticeAfter the market stops operatingThe route to that work has closedYes, except for private utilities### Award: who won CodeNameWhen it's publishedWhat it tells a supplierMandatory?UK6Contract award noticeAfter the award decision and before the contract is signed ([section 50](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/50))Who the buyer intends to award to. It starts the standstill period, usually eight working days ([section 51](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/51))Yes, for most awards, including direct awards and framework call-offsUK7Contract details noticeWithin 30 days of signing, or 120 days for light touch contracts ([section 53](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/53))The contract is signed: final value, dates and supplier. Contracts over £5 million must also have a copy publishedYes, including notifiable below-threshold contracts### Contract management: payment, performance and change CodeNameWhen it's publishedWhat it tells a supplierMandatory?UK8Contract payment noticeWithin 30 days of each quarter end ([section 70](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/70))Individual payments over £30,000 (including VAT) under the contractYes, but only for contracts whose procurement started on or after 1 April 2026UK9Contract performance noticeAt least every 12 months and at the end, where KPIs were set; within 30 days of a qualifying breach or failure to improve ([section 71](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/71))How the incumbent is rated against its KPIs, and any serious failuresYes, from 1 January 2026, for contracts over £5 million (which must have KPIs under [section 52](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/52)) and for breachesUK10Contract change noticeBefore the contract is modified ([section 75](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/75))Value, scope or term is changing, including extensionsYes, with exceptions, mainly small changes (10% or less of value for goods and services, 15% or less for works, or 10% or less of the term)UK17Payments compliance noticeWithin 30 days of the end of each six-month reporting period ([section 69](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/69))How quickly the buyer paid its invoices: average days, and the share paid within 30, 31 to 60, and 61 or more daysYes, from 1 January 2026### Termination: when things end CodeNameWhen it's publishedWhat it tells a supplierMandatory?UK11Contract termination noticeWithin 30 days of the contract ending, for any reason, including expiry ([section 80](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/80))The contract is over, and whether it ran its course or ended earlyYes, except for private utilitiesUK12Procurement termination noticeAs soon as reasonably practicable after the buyer decides not to award ([section 55](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/55))A tender or planned direct award has been cancelledYes, once a tender or transparency notice has gone outSources for the start dates and timings on UK8, UK9 and UK17: the GOV.UK short guide on [new legislative requirements under the Procurement Act 2023](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-short-guides/new-legislative-requirements-under-the-procurement-act-2023-html). The UK8 name comes from the [Government Commercial Agency](https://www.gca.gov.uk/)'s notice guidance for buyers. ## Four details about the newer notices **UK8 is published differently.** Section 70 and [regulation 38A](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/692/regulation/38A) call it "contract payment information", and the Government Commercial Agency calls it the UK8 contract payment notice. When we last checked Find a Tender's own list of notice types, in October 2026, it went straight from UK7 to UK9. UK8 also only covers procurements started from 1 April 2026, so expect very little UK8 data for a while. **The pipeline window is fixed.** Section 93 gives large buyers 56 days from 1 April, so 1 April to 26 May is when the year's UK1 notices land. If your target buyers spend over £100 million a year, late May is the time to check what they plan for the next 18 months. **The first UK17 notices are recent.** GOV.UK guidance says the first payments compliance notice had to be published between 31 March and 29 April 2026. The first reporting period legally ran from 1 January 2026, but buyers were advised to cover the full six months from 1 October 2025. After that, each reporting period is six months, with the notice due within 30 days of its end. Each notice has to be approved by the buyer's finance director or equivalent, by name ([regulation 38](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/692/regulation/38)). **A UK11 is published even when a contract expires.** Section 80 counts expiry as termination, so the notice is not a sign of trouble. What tells you something went wrong is the reason given, or a UK9 recording a breach before it. ## What to act on as an SME You can't read every notice. These are the ones worth an alert, roughly in order of how much lead time they give you. ### UK1, UK2 and UK3: get in before the tender is written These three are your head start. A UK2 is an open invitation to shape the specification before anyone writes a bid. A UK3 means a tender is coming, sometimes with a shortened bidding window once it opens. A UK1 gives you up to 18 months' warning on contracts over £2 million. Set alerts on the buyers and categories you want, and when a UK2 appears, respond to it. Market engagement is where you find out what the buyer is worried about. TenderNation imports Find a Tender daily, and Business plan users see UK1 to UK3 notices as **early signals**, separate from live tenders, with a weekly email. ### UK4: the live opportunity The tender notice has the shortest clock of any notice you will act on. Saved searches on [TenderNation's opportunities page](/opportunities) send alerts for new tenders that are still open for bids, so set them up first. Read the procedure type in the notice before you start: an open procedure and a competitive flexible procedure can look very different once you are inside them. ### UK5: know when a contract is going direct You can't bid on a UK5, and TenderNation marks it as not open for bids. It is still worth reading. It names the supplier the buyer plans to use and the legal ground for skipping a competition. If the same buyer keeps awarding directly in your area, that tells you to get on its radar before the next decision. If you think a direct award is unjustified, the standstill period after the UK6 is your window to raise it, and you should take legal advice quickly. ### UK6 and UK7: learn who wins, and when they'll be gone After you bid, the UK6 starts the standstill clock. TenderNation works out the standstill end date for you, counting bank holidays across the UK. If you lost, read your assessment summary alongside the winner's scores before the standstill ends. Even when you didn't bid, award notices tell you who wins in your market and how long their contracts run. Use [Who won it?](/tools/who-won-it) to look up past awards by buyer or keyword, and the [contract expiry finder](/tools/contract-expiry-finder) to see contracts ending in the next 18 months, so you can start on the re-tender before the UK4 appears. ### UK9, UK10 and UK11: spot re-tenders and weak incumbents These notices get less attention than tender notices, but they tell you when a contract may come back to market early or late. - A **UK10** that extends a contract pushes its re-tender back. Check it before you plan around the original end date. - A **UK11** for an early termination usually means the buyer needs a new supplier soon. - A **UK9** that rates an incumbent poorly against its KPIs, or records a breach, tells you the buyer may want a change next time. TenderNation reads these notices into its re-tender forecasts and "incumbent at risk" early signals, so a struggling contract in your sector surfaces without you checking every buyer. ### UK17: check the buyer pays on time Before you commit to a contract, check how the buyer pays. A UK17 tells you its average payment time and the share of invoices paid within 30 days. Our free [payment time checker](/tools/payment-time-checker) pulls these figures for public bodies, alongside payment practice reports for large companies, so you can see if a buyer (or a prime contractor you'd subcontract to) pays slowly. ### UK12, UK13 to UK16: worth knowing, rarely worth an alert A UK12 tells you a tender you were watching has been cancelled, so you can stop work on it. Dynamic market notices matter only if the buyers you sell to use dynamic markets. If they do, a UK13 or UK14 is your cue to apply to join, because you can't win contracts through a market you're not a member of. ## Where to find the notices All Procurement Act notices go on Find a Tender. Contracts Finder still carries older procurements and some lower-value work, so you need both for now. Our [Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender guide](/guides/contracts-finder-vs-find-a-tender) explains the split. If you'd rather not check both every day, [TenderNation](/opportunities) brings them together, sends the tender notices you care about as alerts, and keeps the early notices as signals so the next contract you could win doesn't get buried. ## Further reading - [Procurement Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents) - [The Procurement Regulations 2024 (legislation.gov.uk)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/692/contents) - [New legislative requirements under the Procurement Act 2023 (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-short-guides/new-legislative-requirements-under-the-procurement-act-2023-html) - [Procurement Act 2023: what SMEs need to know](/guides/procurement-act-2023-smes) - [How to write a tender](/guides/how-to-write-a-tender) Put this guide to work Search UK, EU and World Bank tenders in one place, get AI summaries and a fit score for each one, and track bids in a pipeline. Professional comes with a 14-day free trial, no card needed. [Browse live tenders](/opportunities)[Start free trial ](/register) 14-day free trial, no card required Browse by sector - [Construction work](https://tendernation.io/sectors/construction-work)332 - [Architecture, engineering & surveying](https://tendernation.io/sectors/architecture-engineering-surveying)123 - [IT services](https://tendernation.io/sectors/it-services)48 - [Business services](https://tendernation.io/sectors/business-services)165 - [Health and social work](https://tendernation.io/sectors/health-social-work)262 - [Sewage, refuse, cleaning & environmental](https://tendernation.io/sectors/sewage-refuse-cleaning-environmental)73 [All sectors ](/sectors) ## More guides [Procurement Act 2023: what SMEs need to knowWhat actually changed when the new rules went live in February 2025, and how small suppliers can use them to win more public work.](https://tendernation.io/guides/procurement-act-2023-smes)[How to find UK government tenders (2026 guide)Where UK public contracts are actually published, which portals matter, and how to build a search that catches the right tenders without drowning you.](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-find-uk-government-tenders)[How to win your first public sector contractA practical, step-by-step plan for small businesses going after their first government contract, from picking the right tender to using the feedback.](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-win-your-first-public-sector-contract)[Contracts Finder vs Find a Tender: what's the difference?The UK's two official tender portals explained: what each one covers, how the Procurement Act changed them, and why you probably need both.](https://tendernation.io/guides/contracts-finder-vs-find-a-tender)[How to write a tender: a step-by-step guide for UK SMEsA practical method for writing UK public sector tender responses that score well, with a before-and-after example, a social value section and a pre-submission checklist.](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-write-a-tender)[Free vs paid tender alerts in the UK: do you need to pay?The government tender portals are free and send email alerts. For some suppliers that's enough. Here's what they do, what they don't, and when paying makes sense.](https://tendernation.io/guides/free-vs-paid-tender-alerts)[How to bid for council contractsCouncils buy in value bands set by their own contract rules. Learn which band you are bidding in, where each is advertised, and what the council scores.](https://tendernation.io/guides/how-to-bid-for-council-contracts)[How to get on a council approved supplier listWhat "approved supplier list" means in 2026: frameworks, dynamic markets, minor works lists and accreditations like Constructionline, and how to join each one.](https://tendernation.io/guides/council-approved-supplier-lists)[Why you keep losing tenders, and how to fix itHow to get the feedback you are entitled to under the Procurement Act, read your scores against the winner's, and find what really keeps costing you contracts.](https://tendernation.io/guides/why-you-lose-tenders)[Can UK companies bid for EU tenders after Brexit?What the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement give UK suppliers, which EU contracts they cover, and how to find and bid for them on TED.](https://tendernation.io/guides/eu-tenders-for-uk-companies) [Compare TenderNation with other tools ](/compare)