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Procurement procedures

Division into lots (Losaufteilung)

Division into lots means splitting a public contract into several lots to promote competition and make access easier for small and mid-sized companies.

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What does division into lots mean?

Division into lots is a basic principle of German public procurement law. It requires contracting authorities to split contracts into lots as a rule, by quantity and by trade. The goal is to strengthen competition and, above all, to let small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) take part in public tenders. Without division into lots, many contracts would be so large that only a few large companies could bid.

There are trade lots (Fachlose) and partial lots (Teillose). Trade lots split a contract by trade or specialty. On a construction project, for example, the shell work, the electrical installation and the plumbing are each tendered as a separate lot. Partial lots, by contrast, split similar services by quantity, for example by region or by volume. Both forms can also be combined.

The contracting authority may only skip the division into lots if economic or technical reasons require it. These reasons must be documented and recorded in the procurement file (Vergabevermerk). In practice, strict standards apply to justifying a single overall award, because division into lots is a key tool in procurement law for supporting mid-sized companies.

Relevance for bidders

For bidders, division into lots makes it possible to bid on the specific lots that match their range of services and their capacity. Mid-sized companies can take part in contracts that would exceed their capacity as a whole. At the same time, larger companies can submit bids for several lots or for all of them.

In tenders split into lots, bidders should keep in mind that the contracting authority often limits awards, meaning it caps the number of lots a single bidder can win. In some cases, bidders can also submit bids for the whole contract or for combinations of lots in addition to bids for single lots, if the tender documents allow this.

Legal framework

Since July 1, 2026, the duty to divide contracts into lots has been set out in Section 97a GWB (German Act against Restraints of Competition) as one of the principles of procurement law. Before that, it was in Section 97(4) GWB. For infrastructure projects funded from the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality (Sondervermögen Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität), Section 97a(3) GWB also allows an overall award for reasons of time. Above the EU thresholds, Section 30 VgV (Public Procurement Ordinance) specifies the rules for awarding lots. Below the thresholds, Section 22 UVgO (Sub-Threshold Procurement Ordinance) governs the division into lots. For construction work, the corresponding rule is in Section 5 VOB/A. At EU level, division into lots is provided for in Article 46 of Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU. Violations of the duty to divide into lots can be challenged in review proceedings.

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Division into lots (Losaufteilung) in practice.

Related terms

Direct award
A direct award is the informal award of a public contract to a single company without a formal procurement procedure, below certain value limits.
Document request period (Anforderungsfrist)
The document request period is the period within which companies can request the procurement documents from the contracting authority.
Contract volume
Contract volume refers to the estimated total value of a public contract and determines which procurement rules apply.
Thresholds
Thresholds are the contract value limits set by law above which public contracts must be tendered under the stricter EU procurement law.
Bill of quantities
The bill of quantities describes in detail the work to be performed in a tender and forms the basis for pricing the bid.
Framework agreement
A framework agreement is a contract between a contracting authority and one or more companies that sets the terms for future individual contracts over a specific term.
Innovation partnership
The innovation partnership is a procurement procedure for the joint development and subsequent procurement of innovative products, services or works.
Contract types
Contract types refer to the classification of public contracts into supply, service and works contracts under procurement law.
Negotiated award (Freihändige Vergabe)
The negotiated award is an informal below-threshold procurement procedure in which the contracting authority can negotiate the contract award directly with companies.