Setting up a supplier account on simap.ch, step by step

Login and company: two levels

A supplier account has two parts: your personal login and your company's profile. You first register as a person and then link yourself to your company (General Terms and Conditions of simap.ch, GTC, section 4.1).

simap.ch is the internet platform for public procurement run jointly by the Confederation and the cantons (PPA Art. 48 para. 1; IAPP Art. 48 para. 1). For cantons and communes, the IAPP, where their canton has joined it, contains the rules cited here under the same article numbers. These acts do not regulate the account itself; it belongs to the platform's rules of use.

1. Create your login and sign in

On simap.ch, click “Log in” and then “Register”. The form asks for your given name, family name, e-mail address and telephone; by registering you accept the GTC. The account is only active once you have confirmed your address through the link in the e-mail from simap.ch.

To sign in you need your e-mail address and password. simap.ch can also ask for a code, which you receive by e-mail. The login is personal. Anyone who passes on their password can be excluded from simap.ch (GTC, sections 4.4 and 7).

An account on the old platform is no longer valid: on the new simap.ch, in operation since July 2024, you must register again.

2. Join or register your company

Open the user menu at the top right and choose “Create organisation or request to join organisation”. Search for your company as a tenderer by name, UID or DUNS.

If it appears, click “Request to join organisation”. An administrator of the company checks the request and gives you access.

If it does not appear, click “Create new tenderer” and fill in the form. Have the UID ready: when you enter it, simap.ch fills in the company data automatically. You become the company's administrator, and the details are visible in the list of tenderers.

Without a UID you can create a provisional profile. You must then add the UID or DUNS within 6 months of creating it, otherwise the profile is deactivated.

3. Roles and profile

The administrator approves requests from other staff and edits the company's details. simap.ch advises appointing at least one additional administrator as a deputy.

As administrator, enter what your company offers under “My organisation”, in “Services”, for example CPV, BKP or NPK codes. Without these details, the filters of the list of tenderers do not find your profile.

4. Register interest and get the documents

The tender documents are generally made available at the same time and electronically, and access to these publications is free of charge (PPA Art. 48 para. 2). Not every tender provides them on simap.ch: the publication states where to get them (PPA Art. 35 let. s).

On simap.ch, sign in, choose your company's role in the menu on the left and open the tender. Click “Register interest”. You download the files in the “Documentation” tab, also as a ZIP file.

By registering interest you agree that your details may be passed to the contracting authority (GTC, section 4.6). If the tender sets a deadline for registering interest, no new registration is possible after it.

5. Questions, submission and search subscription

If there is a question round on simap.ch, you ask your questions in the “Questions and answers” tab. Only you and the contracting authority see your company name; the forum shows other participants “Anonymous”. So phrase the question in a way that cannot be traced back to you.

You can submit electronically if the tender or the documents provide for it and you meet the contracting authority's requirements (PPA Art. 34 para. 2). You upload the bid in the “Submissions” tab. It is only binding once you click “Submit tender”.

After a search, you create a subscription with “Save search subscription”, up to 10 per profile.

What the account costs

The basic offering of simap.ch is free of charge for all users (GTC, section 1). The online subscription for search subscriptions is currently not subject to a fee; simap.ch reserves the right to charge one and gives at least one month's notice (GTC for Online Subscription, section 6).

The law allows the platform's operator to charge fees to suppliers and other users (PPA Art. 48 para. 3). The publication of a tender also states where to get the documents and, if applicable, a fee to cover costs (PPA Art. 35 let. s).

Checklist

• Set up the account before you need it: meeting deadlines is your own responsibility (GTC, section 4.1)
• Appoint a second administrator
• Have every person work with their own login