Knowledge base › Working together and starting small
Before a tender starts, a contracting authority sometimes asks the market for advice. This is how to find these consultations and use them.
Checked on 15-09-2026
Before a contracting authority puts a contract on the market, it sometimes wants to know first what the market can offer. In a market consultation it invites interested companies to think along in advance about feasibility and conditions. PIANOo describes the aim as gaining insight into market structures, prices, innovations and developments, so that the authority can define its request more precisely. PIANOo distinguishes the market consultation from broader market research (marktverkenning), which an authority carries out during preparation.
Market consultations can be found on TenderNed. TenderNed describes them like this: a contracting authority asks companies for advice without obligation. Authorities also publish prior information notices, announcing that they plan to put one or more contracts on the market. With a saved search, with or without an account, you are notified when something appears that matches your search.
Taking part gives you no head start in the later tender, and no disadvantage either. PIANOo reminds contracting authorities that a participant may not end up in an advantaged or disadvantaged position, and that market parties cannot derive rights from the information they receive in the consultation. The results are made public, for example through TenderNed.
So why take part? Because a consultation is the moment when the requirements are not yet fixed. If a turnover requirement is too high for companies of your size, if the contract is too large to perform without a partner, or if a division into lots would suit the market better, you can say so here with business arguments. Keep in mind that the results become public, so do not share information you would not want competitors to see.
What this means for you: set up a search on TenderNed for your field and region and include market consultations and prior information notices. Answer a consultation briefly and concretely: what is feasible for a company of your size, which requirements exclude smaller companies, and what you would divide differently. This way you learn how the contracting authority thinks, before the actual tender appears.
These articles explain how public tendering works; they are not legal advice. If you are unsure about a specific tender, ask your question through the clarification round or consult a lawyer.
Tell us what your company does; you will see straight away which open tenders fit. Free and without obligation.