What is
Doffin
Doffin is the national notice database for public tenders in Norway. Government agencies, municipalities, and other public entities publish their procurements here.
How does Doffin work?
When a public entity needs to purchase something worth more than the national threshold of NOK 1.3 million, they must publish a notice on Doffin. Since 2023, Norway has used the European eForms standard, which provides a machine-readable structure and consistent data quality across the EEA.
Each notice is categorised with CPV codes (Common Procurement Vocabulary) that describe what is being purchased, and NUTS codes for the geographic area. Suppliers can therefore filter precisely.
Procurements above the EEA threshold are automatically forwarded to TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), the EU's common tender database, and published as a supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
A notice typically contains:
- A description of what is being purchased
- Requirements for suppliers (qualification criteria)
- How tenders will be evaluated (award criteria)
- Deadlines for submitting tenders
- Contact information
Doffin also supports prior information notices and indicative notices that alert the market about upcoming procurements, as well as voluntary ex ante transparency notices for planned direct awards.
Why is Doffin important?
Doffin ensures transparency in public tenders and makes it possible for all interested suppliers to participate in competitions for public contracts. The public sector purchases goods and services worth over NOK 800 billion annually, a substantial market for suppliers.
How to use Doffin?
To keep track of relevant notices, many suppliers use tender alerts that filter by CPV codes, geography, and value. They use tender search, delivered through a tender portal or tender service, and often combine it with tender data for market insight. Contracting authorities use an e-procurement tool (KGV) to manage the process from publication through to contract award.
As a supplier, you can:
- Search for relevant tenders
- Download tender documentation and other documents
- Monitor who wins contracts
Doffin is free to use. To make searching easier, you can use tools like Cobrief, which automatically finds and alerts you to relevant notices based on your company's profile.