When people think of public procurement, they immediately picture the Bulletin des Adjudications, the e-Procurement platform, or TED. Yet a considerable share of Belgian public spending falls outside these official channels: contracts without mandatory publication, also known as below-threshold contracts. For businesses that can access them, it's a genuine competitive edge.
What are non-published contracts?
In Belgium, the Public Procurement Act of 17 June 2016 sets thresholds below which contracting authorities are not required to publish their contracts on official platforms. These thresholds vary by contract type:
- → Negotiated procedure without prior publication: for lower-value contracts (generally under €140,000 for services and supplies, €500,000 for works at EU level)
- → Low-value contracts: under €30,000 excl. VAT, the contracting authority can freely consult businesses without any publication formality
In practice, this means thousands of contracts — sometimes for significant amounts — are awarded every year without ever appearing on e-Procurement, the Bulletin des Adjudications, or TED.
The scale: billions of euros in invisible contracts
According to estimates, non-published contracts represent a substantial share of Belgian public spending. Municipalities, social welfare centres (CPAS), intermunicipal companies, schools, and hospitals award daily contracts for cleaning, supplies, minor works, or IT services without any formal publication.
of non-published contracts every year
purchasing daily below the thresholds
cleaning, IT, works, supplies, consultancy…
Why these contracts are strategically valuable
Non-published contracts offer several major advantages for businesses that can access them:
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Reduced competition
Since these contracts aren't published, only a handful of businesses are consulted. Fewer competitors = higher chances of winning.
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Simplified procedures
Administrative requirements are lighter: no systematic ESPD, simpler application files, shorter deadlines.
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Stepping stone to larger contracts
Winning a small contract from a municipality or hospital builds trust. You'll be better positioned for larger tenders from the same authority.
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Recurring and stable
Many of these contracts are recurring (cleaning, supplies, maintenance). Once established, you can build a steady revenue stream with the public sector.
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Ideal for SMEs
Amounts are suited to SME capabilities, without the turnover or reference requirements that can be prohibitive for larger contracts.
How to access these invisible contracts
This is where the challenge lies: by definition, these contracts are not published on the usual channels. Contracting authorities directly consult a few businesses they already know, or post on their own municipal website, often with low visibility.
To detect them, you either need to manually monitor hundreds of municipal and institutional websites — which is unrealistic — or use a specialised monitoring tool that automatically aggregates these sources.
That's precisely what GPC Gov does: our technology continuously scans Belgian contracting authorities' websites to detect contracts that aren't published on official platforms. You receive these opportunities in your daily monitoring feed, alongside contracts published on e-Procurement or TED.
Examples of non-published contracts
Here are some typical examples of contracts that bypass official platforms:
- • A municipality seeking a contractor for building cleaning (€25,000/year)
- • A social welfare centre (CPAS) tendering for office furniture supply (€15,000)
- • A school looking for a contractor for painting works (€28,000)
- • A hospital consulting for HVAC maintenance (€20,000/year)
- • An intermunicipal company seeking a provider for web development (€29,000)
Conclusion: don't leave these opportunities to your competitors
Non-published contracts are a largely untapped goldmine of opportunities. Less competition, simplified procedures, SME-friendly amounts, and a stepping stone to larger contracts: everything points to them being a powerful growth lever. The only challenge is detecting them — and that's exactly what automated monitoring from GPC Gov makes possible.