Contracting authority

Overview

A contracting authority is the public organization that publishes a notice — the buyer in a procurement procedure. In Tendersight, authority profiles aggregate every notice that organization published in indexed sources: ministries, municipalities, hospitals, universities, utilities, and other public entities.

Authority data is read-only market intelligence, like notices themselves. You cannot create, edit, or merge authority records. Tendersight syncs from official European sources (SEAP, TED, and national portals). Use authority profiles to understand buying patterns, incumbent suppliers, publication cadence, and procedure preferences before you commit pursuit resources.

On a Notice overview, the contracting authority name in key facts links to the same profile you reach from Analytics → Contracting authorities. Research and action are separate: analytics informs bid/no-bid; Create pursuit on the notice starts execution.

Tip: Before pursuing a buyer's new tender, confirm you have:

Opened the authority Statistics tab — seasonality and competition level
Reviewed Companies (top winning suppliers) for incumbent risk
Browsed Tenders for similar CPV and contract types
Set an alert with authority filter if you target this buyer repeatedly
Completed Team → Settings if you proceed to Create pursuit

Important: Authority profiles describe historical and current publications. They do not guarantee future spend or procedural choices. Always read the latest notice version and tender documents before bidding.

Authority vs notice vs pursuit

Term	What it is	Editable?
Contracting authority	The buyer organization in public data	No
Notice	A specific procurement publication by that authority	No
Pursuit	Your team's bid workspace on one opportunity	Yes

One authority publishes many notices over time. One notice links to one authority (buyer). Your team creates at most one pursuit per notice.

See Notice (Tender) for notice detail and Pursuit for bid workspace.

Where to find contracting authorities

Entry point	Path	What you get
Directory	Analytics → Contracting authorities	Searchable list with tender counts and values
Notice overview	Contracting authority name in key facts	Same profile as directory
Company connections	Analytics → Companies → company → Connections	Authorities a supplier wins with most
Market statistics	Analytics → Market statistics	Aggregated buyer activity by segment
Alerts	Opportunities → Alerts → ruleset rules	Authority filter on new matches
Custom dashboards	Widgets you configured	Authority-scoped charts (read-only)
Home assistant	Natural language search	Can surface authorities and linked notices

Standalone pursuit creation accepts a manual authority name — look up spelling in the directory first so your internal records stay consistent.

Authority profile structure

Click an authority from the directory or a notice link to open its profile. Inner tabs:

Tab	Article	What you use it for
Tenders (overview)	Authority tenders	Full publication list — same experience as overview route
Statistics	Authority statistics	Cadence, competition, types, top suppliers

The Tenders view and overview route show the same tender list — use it to scan open and historical procedures before opening individual notices.

Directory list and filters

Open Analytics → Contracting authorities for the Contracting authorities directory.

Typical filters and columns:

Filter / field	Purpose
Name search	Find a ministry, city hall, hospital
Fiscal identifier	Disambiguate similarly named bodies
Country	Scope to a national market
Export	Download current result set (per plan)
Tender counts / values (table)	Prioritize high-volume buyers

Row click → authority profile. Use export for offline account planning or CRM import — exported data remains read-only in Tendersight.

Tip: Pair directory research with Alerts: once you identify target authorities, add an authority rule to a ruleset so new publications surface in Opportunities → Alerts → Activity without repeating manual searches.

Statistics highlights

Authority statistics answers strategic questions in tabbed views. URL ?tab= deep-links a tab for sharing with colleagues.

Tab	Questions answered
Overview	When do they publish? How competitive are awards?
Breakdown	Notice types, contract types, value ranges
Trends	Seasonality, award criteria evolution over time
Companies	Top winning suppliers — links to market company profiles

How to use statistics in bid/no-bid

Signal	Interpretation	Next step
High publication volume in your CPV	Active buyer in your segment	Review open tenders; set alert
Few bidders per procedure (overview metrics)	Potentially less competition	Validate on individual notices
Same suppliers in Companies tab	Strong incumbents	Price and differentiation strategy
Seasonal peaks in Trends	Capacity planning	Align pursuit pipeline staffing
Shift toward specific contract types	Procedure preference	Tailor pursuit type and modules

Statistics inform whether and how to bid; the notice detail and pursuit modules hold your answers.

Key fields on authority records

Field	Use in your workflow
Name	Identification, alert filters, pursuit authority label (when copied from notice)
Country	Market scoping, cross-border bid rules
Fiscal identifier	Disambiguation vs similarly named entities
Tender history	Pipeline planning, repeat-buyer targeting
Aggregated statistics	Account strategy, executive summaries

On Notice overview, authority fields copy into pursuit context at creation — changing your pursuit notes does not change the authority record.

From research to pursuit — recommended workflow

Discover — directory search, market statistics, or notice key facts link.
Profile — read Statistics (overview + trends) and Companies for incumbents.
Scan tenders — open relevant notices; confirm latest version, deadline, lots.
Monitor — authority-filtered alert or periodic directory revisit.
Decide — bid/no-bid using value, competition, and team capacity.
Execute — Create pursuit on the notice (or standalone if unindexed); work in pursuit modules.

See First pursuit workflow and Getting started workflow.

Authority in alerts and dashboards

Feature	How authorities appear
Alert rules	Filter matches to one or more authorities
Alerts activity	Matched notices show authority in list rows
Market statistics	Buyer-side aggregations across the market
Custom dashboards	Widgets can chart authority-specific metrics
Company statistics	Won mostly with authority filter on companies directory

Alerts are often team-scoped; switch active team before creating shared monitoring. Authority data in widgets remains read-only.

Link to market companies

Authority Companies statistics tab links to market company profiles — the suppliers who win this buyer's contracts. Use this for:

Incumbent analysis before pricing
Consortium partner research (also see company Connections)
Cross-checking whether your team has won with this authority before (fiscal match on your company profile)

What you can do (and what you cannot)

You can

Browse and filter the authorities directory
Open statistics and tender history for any indexed authority
Navigate from notices, companies, and dashboards into authority profiles
Seed alert rules with authority filters
Export directory results (per plan)

You cannot

Edit authority name, fiscal identifier, or tender history
Create a custom authority record for private buyers not in public data
Create a pursuit from the authority profile alone — open a notice and click Create pursuit
Force a sync — updates arrive on Tendersight's schedule from official sources

For private RFPs without a synced authority, use New standalone pursuit and type the buyer name manually.

Permissions snapshot

Content	Typical access
Directory browsing	Often available signed in
Full statistics dashboard	Sign-in; subscription may apply
Tender list from profile	Same as notice access rules
Export	Per plan
Create pursuit from linked notice	Team member; pursuit limit on plan

Full matrix: Permissions and access.

FAQ

What is a contracting authority?

The public organization that publishes a procurement notice — the buyer, not the bidders.

How is an authority different from a notice?

The authority is the organization. A notice is one specific call for tenders they published. One authority has many notices over time.

Can I edit an authority profile?

No. Records sync from official sources. Update your pursuit notes if your internal naming differs.

How do I monitor one authority for new tenders?

Add an authority filter to an alert ruleset, or periodically open Authority tenders on their profile.

Why does the authority on my pursuit differ from the directory name?

Standalone pursuits use manual text. Notice-backed pursuits copy the name at creation time. The directory shows the synced canonical name from publications.

Can I create a pursuit from the authority page?

Not directly. Open a specific notice from the authority's tender list, then Create pursuit.

Where do I see who wins this authority's contracts?

Authority statistics → Companies tab, or individual Notice → Participants after award.

Do authorities appear in financial or technical offer modules?

The pursuit may show authority name from notice context. Offer modules use team settings and team products — not authority profile edits.

How do I research authorities in a country I do not usually bid in?

Filter Analytics → Contracting authorities by country, then use Statistics and Tenders before committing pursuit resources.

Contracting authorities directory
Authority tenders
Authority statistics
Notice (Tender)
Notice overview
Company (market)
Alerts list
How information flows