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Amendment to a tender notice

An amendment changes a live procurement: documents, deadline or criteria. How UK and Irish buyers must publish one, and how to make sure you never miss it.

Primary market: United Kingdom

Updated on September 10, 2026

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An amendment, often called a corrigendum, is a change a buyer makes to a live procurement: a correction to the tender notice, an updated document in the tender pack, a longer tender deadline or a clarification of the criteria. It binds every bidder from the moment it is published.

How it works

Section 31 of the Procurement Act 2023 (verified 2026-09-10) allows a buyer in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to modify a tender notice or the associated tender documents during a competition, within the deadlines it sets for each procedure. The authority must revise and republish everything the change affects, and must consider revising the tender deadline and the other time limits in accordance with section 54. Some changes go further than the rules allow: if the amendment would alter the procurement so substantially that different suppliers might have come forward, the buyer has to stop, publish a procurement termination notice and start again.

In practice a corrected notice is published on Find a Tender, referring back to the original. Revised documents are loaded onto the eTendering portal, and everyone who downloaded the pack while logged in receives an alert. Answers to clarification questions are issued to all bidders at once and carry the same weight as a formal amendment when they change or refine the requirement. Irish buyers follow the same logic on eTenders, with a corrigendum notice where the original went to the EU Official Journal.

What it means for a bidder

An amendment you did not read is a serious risk: your tender may rest on a superseded specification, the wrong programme or an out-of-date pricing schedule. To avoid it:

  • Always download the documents while logged in, never anonymously, so you are on the notification list.
  • Watch the portal message board and your inbox until you submit, and check once more the day before the deadline.
  • Keep every version of the documents and note what changed between them.
  • If the amendment changes a quantity or adds work, reprice rather than adjusting by feel.

A late amendment that reshapes the requirement without extending the deadline is itself a possible breach, and can support a request for more time or, as a last resort, a procurement challenge.

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Example

A fictional English county council advertises an open procedure for school furniture, estimated at ÂŁ480,000 over two years. Ten days before the deadline a bidder points out that the pricing schedule has no line for the height-adjustable tables described in the specification. The council publishes an amended notice on Find a Tender, loads a corrected pricing schedule onto its portal and extends the deadline by twelve days.

Frequently asked questions

Does an amendment always extend the deadline?

No. Only a change that bidders need time to absorb requires more time. A typographical correction does not.

How do I find out an amendment has been published?

Through the portal notifications if you downloaded the pack while logged in, and by checking the notice itself on Find a Tender or eTenders.

Can an amendment be challenged?

Yes, where it breaches equal treatment or leaves an unreasonably short time to respond. A challenge must normally be started within 30 days of the day you knew or ought to have known of the problem.

Scoutee flags amendments published against the notices you are following.

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