What does VOL (Procurement and Contract Rules for Supplies and Services) mean?
For decades, the Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Leistungen (VOL, Procurement and Contract Rules for Supplies and Services) was the central set of rules for awarding and performing public supply and service contracts in Germany. It was the counterpart to the VOB, which applies to construction work. The VOL had two parts: VOL/A governed the procurement procedure, and VOL/B contained the general contract conditions for performing services.
With the major 2016 procurement law reform, VOL/A was replaced above the EU thresholds by the Public Procurement Ordinance (Vergabeverordnung, VgV). Below the thresholds, the Sub-Threshold Procurement Ordinance (Unterschwellenvergabeordnung, UVgO) replaced VOL/A Section 1 in 2017. Both sections of VOL/A have therefore been replaced by more modern sets of rules, and VOL/A has lost its practical importance as procurement procedure rules.
VOL/B, by contrast, is still in force and is still used as the standard contract framework for supply and service contracts. It governs the contractual relationship between the client and the contractor and contains provisions on the scope of work, payment, performance deadlines, acceptance, warranty rights and termination. Many contracting authorities still agree on VOL/B as part of the contract.
Relevance for bidders
For bidders, it is important to understand that VOL/A no longer applies as procurement procedure rules and has been replaced by the VgV or the UVgO. Older references to VOL/A in tender documents or specialist literature should be read accordingly. The procedural rules are now in the VgV (above the thresholds) and the UVgO (below the thresholds).
VOL/B, however, is still relevant and should be known to bidders, because it is often part of the contract conditions. Bidders should know the VOL/B rules on deadlines, liability, contractual penalties and warranty so they can assess their contractual risks correctly. The provisions on acceptance (Section 13 VOL/B) and on warranty rights (Section 14 VOL/B) are of great importance in practice.
Legal framework
The VOL was published by the German Committee for Supply and Service Contract Procedures (Deutscher Vergabe- und Vertragsausschuss für Lieferungen und Dienstleistungen, DVAL). The last version of VOL/A dates from 2009. Above the EU thresholds, VOL/A Section 2 was replaced by the VgV (in force since April 18, 2016). Below the thresholds, VOL/A Section 1 was replaced by the UVgO (in force since February 7, 2017). VOL/B in its 2003 version remains applicable as a contract framework, and many awarding offices include it in their contracts by default.