The Government has moved ahead with measures to streamline public procurement and has now approved two key changes: removing the prior review of the execution design and ending the requirement to set a base price. The construction sector-one of the areas most affected by the legislative amendments-accepts that the measures could be beneficial, but is questioning how they will work in practice.
In the revision of the CCP (Public Contracts Code), “there is a clear concern to simplify procedures, raise the thresholds for direct award and prior consultation, promote digitalisation and make public procurement more agile”, says Nuno Garcia, Managing Director of GesConsult, an engineering firm.
However, the Decree-Law approved by the Council of Ministers on 25 June 2026-still awaiting publication in the Official Gazette-left out “several of the proposals for structural reforms put forward by the construction sector, identified as essential within the scope of public procurement”, according to Ricardo Gomes, President of AICCOPN, the association currently representing around 6,000 construction and property companies.
“Decision-makers should have gone further”
Bento Aires, President of the Order of Engineers – Northern Region, says the changes introduced are “generally positive”, while stressing that “the code continues to be a dense and complex document”. In his view, “procedural simplification is positive, but decision-makers should have gone further”.
From AICCOPN’s perspective, the Government did take on board some of the contributions submitted during the public consultation, such as “simplifying documentary requirements”-namely by removing redundant paperwork and implementing the “once only” principle, under which the State should not ask again for documents or information it already holds.
Ricardo Gomes also highlights what he sees as a fundamental shift from the current regime, “based on the notion of the base price as a maximum value”. In his view, this may align with what the construction sector has long advocated: “the reintroduction of the concept of the estimated contract value”, similar to the previous regime, replacing the logic of a maximum price.
Even so, he warns that the Government’s presentation does not show that “rigour and transparency are guaranteed in the objective economic criteria on which the calculation of the estimated contract value is based”.
AICCOPN’s President adds that the executive also considered elements such as “promoting innovation through greater recognition of industrialised solutions, BIM and variant proposals”. He also points to the inclusion of alternative dispute resolution solutions which, he says, “although they do not fully match the proposed solution of reinstating the mandatory attempt at conciliation as a necessary preliminary phase before going to court, the Government creates conciliation mechanisms and clarifies the arbitration regime”.
The challenge of practical implementation
Despite the legal amendments, the biggest test will be how the new rules are applied on the ground. “For example, there is talk of reducing formalities and simplifying procedures, but we are still trying to understand specifically which acts, procedures or requirements will actually disappear”, says Nuno Garcia.
He points to the “once only” principle and the strengthening of the option to use design-and-build delivery models as examples.
On design and build, he notes it is a model widely used in international markets and can deliver significant efficiency gains. Even so, he cautions that for it “to work properly, it requires a very well-prepared contracting authority, with functional, technical and performance requirements clearly defined from the outset”.
Another area he believes still requires careful consideration is the price revision regime.
“It remains important to find more stable and predictable mechanisms that protect both contracting authorities and contractors, reducing the need for successive legislative changes whenever the market experiences significant fluctuations”, says the GesConsult Managing Director.
Bento Aires also underlines that quality requirements will continue to be decisive-particularly in the procurement of engineering services-which “obviously have to be better paid”. He acknowledges the need to define criteria that “protect service providers when setting the base value, so that higher amounts are necessarily paid, requiring the introduction of effective protection mechanisms against abnormally low prices”.
State must lead by example
In his view, the State should set the standard and aim to be the best buyer, regulating and influencing both technical requirements and qualifications, as well as the payment of a fair value-something he argues has not been properly achieved in balancing what is purchased with the value attached to it.
Rise in litigation
AICCOPN argues that the most controversial issues identified by the sector as the main reasons behind delays and increasing litigation-disputes over costs and project timelines that often end up in court-are primarily due to “insufficient quality in the execution designs, often mediocre, out of date or with serious technical gaps”. Even so, it also points to other causes, including the “absence of binding response deadlines for contracting authorities, the ineffectiveness of mechanisms to restore the financial balance of the contract, labour shortages” and “systemic pre-contractual litigation, arising not only from the ease with which public tenders are challenged, but also from the rigidity of documentary rules”.
Nuno Garcia likewise warns that construction disputes rarely come down to a single issue. More often, litigation “arises from a combination of insufficiently developed designs, delayed decisions, contracts that are poorly aligned with the reality of delivering the works, and procedures prepared with limited technical maturity”.
He stresses that one of the most persistent problems remains the quality of the designs put out to tender. Even now, “we see contracts being launched with incomplete designs or with clashes between disciplines, leading to additional works, design revisions, delays and unavoidable arguments about costs and deadlines”.
Government bets on modernisation and process simplification
When presenting the Decree-Law revising the CCP, the Government emphasised that its main aim is to make procedures more flexible, while prioritising quality and innovation through the digitalisation and technological modernisation of processes. The main changes highlighted were:
Removal of the prior review of the execution design: the obligation for a review by an entity different from the design author is removed for higher-complexity or higher-value projects.
Ability for contractor-initiated design changes: the contractor may propose changes to the execution design, provided the design author agrees, with appropriate safeguards.
Tacit approval for subcontracting: if the contracting authority does not respond within 30 days to the subcontracting proposal submitted by the co-contractor, the proposal is deemed accepted.
End of the obligation to set a base price: the new concept of the “estimated contract value” removes the requirement to set a maximum admissible price in each procedure.
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