Part III

Part III of the Norwegian public procurement regulation (anskaffelsesforskriften) governs procurements above the EEA thresholds and contains the strictest procedural requirements in the Norwegian framework. This part transposes EU Directive 2014/24/EU into Norwegian law, and procurements under Part III must be published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) — opening them to suppliers across the entire EEA. For suppliers operating in European public procurement, Part III is the most directly comparable to the procedures set out in the EU directive itself.

How does Part III work?

Part III covers Sections 12-1 through 29-2 and provides contracting authorities with more procedural options than Part II. In addition to the open procedure and restricted procedure, authorities may use:

• Competitive procedure with negotiation — when the need cannot be met without adapting available solutions
• Competitive dialogue — for particularly complex procurements where the authority cannot define the requirements alone
• Innovation partnership — for developing products or services not yet available on the market

The choice of procedure is regulated in Chapter 13, and the conditions for using negotiation or dialogue are stricter than in Part II. The authority must always justify its choice if it does not opt for an open or restricted procedure.

Key requirements in Part III

Part III imposes requirements including:

• TED publication — the procurement is advertised across the entire EEA
• Detailed tender documents — with requirements specifications, qualification requirements, and award criteria
• Mandatory standstill period — between the award decision and contract conclusion
• Climate and environmental weighting — in Norway, a minimum 30% weighting in award criteria

These procedural requirements largely mirror those in EU Directive 2014/24/EU, as Part III is Norway's transposition of that directive. Tools like Cobrief alert suppliers automatically to new EEA-level notices, making it easy to identify relevant opportunities across the European market.

Part III represents the highest level of procedural requirements in Norwegian procurement law. For suppliers, this means stricter documentation obligations — but also access to larger contracts and a broader competitive market across all EEA member states.