PQQ definition and meaning in UK tenders

A PQQ is a pre-qualification questionnaire. That is the PQQ definition in full. A public buyer uses it to check your firm before they read a full bid. You prove you are a going concern, you hold the right insurance, you have done similar work, and you are not excluded. You are not yet arguing that you are the best team for the job.

If you sell research, evaluation, training, web, design or comms to UK public bodies, you will meet the letters on notices, in portal emails, and on forms labelled selection questionnaire or conditions of participation. The label changes. The job of the form does not.

This is information, not legal or procurement advice. For the statute, read the Procurement Act 2023.

What a PQQ is

PQQ meaning is pre-qualification questionnaire. In PQQ tendering the buyer runs two stages. Stage one is the PQQ. Stage two is the invitation to tender, sent only to the firms that pass.

A PQQ tender is that first stage, not the whole competition. Passing it gets you into the room. It does not win you the contract.

Buyers use it so they are not marking a pile of full bids from firms that could never deliver. You should like it when it is clear about the gates: insurance limits, turnover, qualifications, location. You should be wary when it asks for method and social value at the same time as pass or fail facts. That is a full bid wearing a PQQ badge.

Where it sits in a UK tender

A typical two-stage process looks like this:

1. Notice published.
2. You download the PQQ or selection questions.
3. You submit by the PQQ deadline, which is often earlier than the ITT deadline.
4. The buyer scores or pass/fails the answers.
5. Shortlisted firms get the ITT.
6. You write the real bid.

Open procedures skip the shortlist. You still answer selection questions, but everyone who is not excluded can submit a full bid. The questions look like a PQQ even when nobody calls them that.

Under the Procurement Act 2023, a buyer may set conditions of participation for above-threshold public contracts. Those conditions have to be a proportionate way of checking you can perform the contract. They cover legal and financial capacity, and technical ability. That is the PQQ in current statute, even if the document still says PQQ at the top.

For below-threshold contracts covered by the Act, a buyer in England cannot run a separate selection (PQQ) stage, with some exceptions (below-threshold contracts guidance).

What a PQQ usually asks

Most forms cover the same ground. Have the facts to hand before you open the PDF.

Section	What they want	What trips a small firm
Identity	Company number, VAT, persons of significant control	Trading name that does not match Companies House
Exclusions	Convictions, tax default, modern slavery	Leaving a box blank
Finance	Accounts, turnover, parent guarantees	A turnover test set far above the contract value
Insurance	Professional indemnity, public liability, employers’ liability	Limit too low, or a policy that expires mid-contract
Experience	Two or three similar jobs, referees	Case studies from a previous employer with no permission to use them
Policies	Health and safety, equality, data protection, environment	A request for a long manual you do not have
Staff	CVs, DBS, professional membership	Naming people who have not agreed to be named

Some buyers add carbon, Cyber Essentials, or a living wage question. Read the pass/fail list first. If you cannot meet a mandatory item, stop. Do not write the rest.

PQQ benefits (and the cost of one)

PQQ benefits for you are real, if the buyer uses the form as a filter rather than a second ITT.

• You learn the insurance and certificate bar before you spend an evening on method.
• You can walk away early when the contract is reserved for another region, or for a size you are not.
• You reuse answers: insurance schedule, policy list, three case studies.
• The buyer should not be scoring your delivery approach yet, so a short, true answer is enough.

The cost is time. A PQQ for a modest evaluation can still run to dozens of questions. For a two-person firm that is a lost billable day. Treat it as a go or no-go, not as a writing exercise.

Definition of social value, when it appears

The definition of social value in UK procurement starts with the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. Certain public authorities have to consider how the procurement might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area.

On a PQQ, social value often shows up as a policy question: do you have an approach, will you pay the living wage, do you take apprentices. That is usually pass/fail, or a yes with evidence.

At award stage, social value is scored. Central government must weight social value at least 10% on above-threshold contracts (PPN 002). From 1 January 2027 this applies to contracts of £1m or more, with 20% from £5m (PPN 026). Check the notice. That scored question is not a PQQ task. Do not dump your whole social value method into a selection form unless the question asks for it. A true, short statement of what you already do is better than a promise you cannot keep.

The PQQ supplement

A PQQ supplement is extra questions on top of the standard form. Typical extras: a two-page method, local delivery, named staff, or a mini case study. It is still selection, not the ITT, but it takes longer. If the supplement starts to look like a full bid, price your time before you start.

How to work a PQQ without a bid team

Keep a folder you can copy from:

• Insurance certificates and expiry dates.
• Last two years of accounts, or a statement if you are too new for that.
• Three case studies with a referee who has agreed to be called.
• Policy one-pagers you actually follow.
• Companies House number, VAT number, and the names you will put on the form.

Answer only what is asked. Use the buyer’s headings. If a question is pass/fail, a sentence and an attachment beat a story.

If you cannot meet a mandatory insurance limit or a reserved-area rule, do not submit. A thin PQQ still costs an afternoon, and a buyer may exclude a supplier that acted improperly, for example by giving incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information, and gained an unfair advantage (Schedule 7). True and short is safer than hopeful and vague.

Spot the gates before you open the form

The useful work happens before the PQQ. You need to know the notice is in your field, in an area you can serve, at a size you can deliver, with insurance and certificates you already hold.

That is the job Bidlark is built for. It finds UK public contracts a small firm could win and reads each against your insurance and certificates. You see a verdict (worth a bid, a stretch, or not this one) and the reasons, instead of discovering the £5m professional indemnity line on page 14 of the questionnaire.

Start with Spot my contracts: field, area, size, what you hold. You get a count from the last 90 days and three real examples. No account needed for that step. How the morning email and the verdicts work is on How it works.

Bidlark does not write, review or submit the PQQ, and it does not give legal advice. It is independent, not a government service. Nobody can promise a buyer will shortlist you. What you can do is spend the evening only on notices where the gates look like a fit.

If a notice is worth that evening, open the PQQ, copy from your folder, and tell the truth. To see how many notices in your field would have reached you, spot your contracts.