Step 1
After the award decision: standstill and your rights
I've just received the award decision. What must the buyer tell me, and how long do I have?
Guide
After the award
What you can ask, what you can challenge, and what can still change once the contract is signed.
Guides
3
Insights
0
Last checked
10 Oct 2026
The award decision starts two clocks: the standstill, during which the contract can't be signed, and the deadline for challenging the decision. The first guide covers those days, and what the buyer has to tell you about why you lost. Read it on the day a decision arrives.
If you think the award was unlawful, the second guide sets out what EU law guarantees in every Member State: interim measures, setting aside, damages, and ineffectiveness for contracts awarded without a notice or signed too early. It also marks where EU law stops. Review bodies, deadlines beyond the minimums and fees are national, and we don't state rules we haven't checked.
Signature isn't the end of the rules. The third guide explains when a contract can be changed without a new tender, whether you are the contractor asked to agree a change or a rival watching a contract grow. How the tender was scored in the first place is in Evaluation & award.
Guides in reading order
Step 2
Challenging an award decision: EU remedies
I think the award was unlawful. What can a review body do, what must national law allow, and what changes once the contract is signed?
Guide
Step 3
Changing a public contract after signature
The buyer wants to change the contract, or a rival's contract was changed. When is that allowed without a new tender?
Guide