Standstill Period
A mandatory waiting period after a public contract award decision is notified, during which the contracting authority must not sign the contract, so that unsuccessful bidders have an opportunity to challenge the decision.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Public procurement law requires a pause between telling bidders who has won a contract and actually signing it, precisely so that a disappointed bidder can bring a legal challenge before the deal becomes irreversible. Regulation 87 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provides that 'where regulation 86(1) applies, the contracting authority must not enter into the contract or conclude the framework agreement before the end of the standstill period.'
The length of the standstill period depends on how the award notice was sent: under regulation 87(2), 'where the contracting authority sends a regulation 86 notice to all the relevant economic operators by facsimile or electronic means, the standstill period ends at midnight at the end of the 10th day after the relevant sending date', while regulation 87(3) sets a longer period — the 15th day, or 10 days after the last operator receives it, whichever is first — where notice is sent only by other means. If a claim is issued within the standstill period, an automatic suspension typically prevents the authority from signing the contract until the court lifts it or the proceedings conclude.
Related terms
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.