The official layers
- Diário da República: a public tender (concurso público) is advertised there through a notice (CCP art. 130(1)). BASE lists these under its announcements search.
- BASE.gov.pt: contracts formed by direct award or prior consultation must be published on the public contracts portal (CCP art. 127), and information on the formation and execution of public contracts is published there (art. 465(1)).
- Official Journal of the EU: required when the tender notice must be published at EU level (CCP art. 131(1)), with the thresholds in the answer on EU thresholds.
The layer people miss
Direct award and prior consultation involve no open call: the authority invites the companies it chooses (CCP art. 112) and publishes the contract afterwards. For a small supplier, reading a nearby authority's contract history on BASE shows what it buys, from whom and at what price, which is a useful complement to the open notices.
A prior information notice (art. 34) tells the market that tenders are coming in the next 12 months.
Where can I see open public tenders in Portugal?
Open public tenders are advertised in the Diário da República (CCP art. 130(1)), and BASE lists them under its announcements search. When the notice must be published at EU level, it also appears in the Official Journal of the EU (art. 131(1)).