What it does not mean
It is a classification aid, not a complete specification, a supplier qualification, or proof that a buyer has demand for every matching service.
In practice in Portugal
BASE prints each contract's CPV codes with the part of the price each covers, for example “33600000-6: Produtos farmacêuticos (5121.2 €)”. A contract can therefore carry several codes.
Across the EU, any reference to a nomenclature in public procurement must use the CPV (Directive 2014/24/EU, Article 23(1)).
In practice in Spain
The LCSP uses the CPV to identify what a contract buys (Article 2(4)).
It matters when you prove experience: to decide whether past supplies, works or services are of “igual o similar naturaleza”, the pliego may use the CPV or another classification such as UNSPSC, CPC or CNAE, and if it says nothing the first three digits of the CPV apply (Articles 89(1)(a) and 90(1)(a)).
What you see on the notice
- BASE: the “CPVs” row of an announcement or contract, with the description of each code.
- PLACSP: “CPV code”, for example “72400000-Servicios de Internet.” on the record behind our Evidence page.
- TED: “Main classification (cpv)” in the procedure section and again in each lot.
How Sinal shows it
CPV prefixes can match your profile and filter the notice feed.
- The notice drawer shows up to three CPV codes as chips, with the description of the first.
- The feed has a CPV filter that accepts one or several prefixes, such as 72 or 7941; a code includes the codes beneath it.
Questions people ask
How many CPV codes are there?
The main vocabulary of the CPV lists 9,454 codes in 45 divisions, as set out in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008 (counted in the published text on 31 October 2026). A code has eight digits plus a ninth check digit: the first two identify the division, the first three the group, the first four the class and the first five the category (Annex I, structure of the classification). The text also has a separate supplementary vocabulary of alphanumeric codes, which adds detail to the main code.