Time limits
Time limits in Maltese public procurement
The time limits of the Public Procurement Regulations for tenders, notices and review, each with the provision it is read from, and a calculator that counts one of them from a date.
Updated 11 November 2026Draft – awaiting legal review
Count a time limit
Choose a time limit and the date of the fact it runs from. The count shows the first day, the last day counted and where the period ends.
A draft aid, not legal advice: the counting rule has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Check the date against the provision and the facts of your procedure.
How the days are counted here
- The day of the fact (the publication, the dispatch, the notice) does not count: the period starts on the next day.
- Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays count, unless the provision speaks of working days.
- A period that ends on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday ends on the next working day.
This is the rule of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71, by which the periods of the procurement directives are counted. The Public Procurement Regulations have no counting rule of their own, and whether this rule governs the periods that are Malta’s own, such as the ten calendar days to object before the Public Contracts Review Board, has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer.
Tenders and requests to participate
| Time limit | What | Counted from | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 daysminimum | Open procedure: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The publication (the dispatch of the contract notice at or above the Schedule 5 values) | regulation 116(1)(a) |
| 15 daysminimum | Open procedure after a prior information notice: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 116(2) |
| 15 daysminimum | Open procedure in a duly substantiated state of urgency: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the contract notice or the publication of the tender | regulation 116(3) |
| 5 daysreduction | The time limit of regulation 116(1) may be reduced by five days where tenders may be submitted by electronic means | — | regulation 116(4) |
| 20 daysminimum | Open procedure below the regulation 9(1)(a) threshold: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The publication of the tender | regulation 116(5) |
| 15 daysminimum | Open procedure below the regulation 9(1)(a) threshold, in extreme urgency | The publication of the tender | regulation 116(5) |
| 30 daysminimum | Restricted procedure: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The publication of the call for tenders | regulation 119(1) |
| 30 daysminimum | Restricted procedure: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the invitation to tender | regulation 121(1) |
| 10 daysminimum | Restricted procedure after a prior information notice: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the invitation to tender | regulation 121(2) |
| 5 daysreduction | The time limit of regulation 121(1) may be reduced by five days where tenders may be submitted by electronic means | — | regulation 121(3) |
| 15 daysminimum | Restricted procedure, accelerated: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 122(a) |
| 10 daysminimum | Restricted procedure, accelerated: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the invitation to tender | regulation 122(b) |
| 30 daysminimum | Competitive procedure with negotiation: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 125(1) |
| 30 daysminimum | Competitive dialogue: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 132 |
| 30 daysminimum | Innovation partnership: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 142 |
| 30 daysminimum | Dynamic purchasing system: minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate | The dispatch of the contract notice | regulation 175(3)(a) |
| 10 daysminimum | Dynamic purchasing system: minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders | The dispatch of the invitation to tender | regulation 175(3)(b) |
| 10 working daysmaximum | Dynamic purchasing system: assessment of a request to participate | The receipt of the request | regulation 177(3) |
| 2 working daysminimum | The electronic auction does not start sooner than two working days after the invitations are sent | The dispatch of the invitations | regulation 188(1) |
Information and notices
| Time limit | What | Counted from | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 daysminimum | Additional information on the specifications is supplied not later than six days before the time limit for the receipt of tenders | The time limit for the receipt of tenders | regulation 38(2) |
| 4 daysminimum | In an accelerated procedure (regulations 116(3) and 122) that period is four days | The time limit for the receipt of tenders | regulation 38(3) |
| 30 daysmaximum | Contract award notice: sent not later than thirty days after the conclusion of the contract or framework agreement | The conclusion of the contract | regulation 43(1) |
| 15 daysmaximum | Information to a candidate or tenderer on request: as quickly as possible and within fifteen days | The receipt of the written request | regulation 242(2) |
Review
| Time limit | What | Counted from | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 calendar daysmaximum | Objection before the Public Contracts Review Board against an award decision, a rejection or a cancellation | The day the decision was sent | regulation 271 |
| 10 calendar daysminimum | The contract is not concluded during the period allowed for the submission of appeals | The day the decision was sent | regulation 275 |
| 20 calendar daysmaximum | Appeal to the Court of Appeal from a decision of the Public Contracts Review Board | The day the decision was made public | regulation 284 |
Public holidays in 2026
The national and public holidays of the National Holidays and Other Public Holidays Act (Cap. 252), which the count treats as non-working days.
- 1 January 2026New Year’s Day
- 10 February 2026Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck
- 19 March 2026Feast of St. Joseph
- 31 March 2026Jum il-Ħelsien
- 3 April 2026Good Friday
- 1 May 2026Workers’ Day
- 7 June 2026Sette Giugno
- 29 June 2026Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul
- 15 August 2026Feast of the Assumption
- 8 September 2026Jum il-Vittorja
- 21 September 2026Jum l-Indipendenza
- 8 December 2026Feast of the Immaculate Conception
- 13 December 2026Jum ir-Repubblika
- 25 December 2026Christmas Day
Want your tender documents checked before publication? We will show you how Procurelex Verifika does it.
Request a demoGeneral information on the Public Procurement Regulations in force. Not legal advice.