CPV code finder

CPV stands for Common Procurement Vocabulary — the EU’s single dictionary for what a public contract is buying. Every contract notice published on eTenders (etenders.gov.ie, run under the Office of Government Procurement) and on the EU’s TED journal carries at least one CPV code. The code describes the subject matter, so a Galway cleaning firm and a Berlin cleaning firm both find the same kind of work under the same numbers.

The structure is simple. Each code has 8 digits plus a check digit, and it narrows as it goes: the first two digits are the division (45 = construction work), the third the group, the fourth the class, the fifth the category. So 45000000 is “construction work” at its broadest, while 45261910 is the far narrower “roof repair”. The full vocabulary runs to roughly 9,450 codes, but no supplier needs them all — most watch one or two divisions and a handful of detailed codes.

Why it matters: Ireland publishes roughly 6,850 tenders a year across €22bn+ of public spending, and CPV codes are the main filter between you and that firehose. When you register on eTenders you pick the codes that describe your work, and the platform emails you when a matching notice goes live. Pick well and the right tenders find you; pick badly and you either drown in near-misses or hear nothing at all.

These are the divisions Irish SMEs bid under most often. Each links to a live hub of the open eTenders and OJEU/TED notices currently classified under that division, refreshed daily — a quick way to see what’s actually being bought in your sector right now.

• 45
  Construction work tenders (CPV 45)

  Building, civil engineering, refurbishment and site works — the biggest division by volume.

• 72
  IT services tenders (CPV 72)

  Consultancy, software development, support, hosting and managed services.

• 90
  Sewage, refuse, cleaning & environmental tenders (CPV 90)

  Cleaning contracts, waste collection, environmental and remediation services.

• 79
  Business services tenders (CPV 79)

  Legal, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and related professional services.

• 71
  Architectural & engineering tenders (CPV 71)

  Design, engineering, surveying, inspection and technical consultancy.

• 85
  Health & social work tenders (CPV 85)

  Clinical services, home care, social care and allied health provision.

• 80
  Education & training tenders (CPV 80)

  Training delivery, adult education, e-learning and course development.

• 50
  Repair & maintenance services tenders (CPV 50)

  Planned and reactive maintenance of buildings, plant, vehicles and equipment.

• 48
  Software packages & information systems tenders (CPV 48)

  Licensed software products and information systems — distinct from IT services under 72.

• 55
  Hotel, restaurant & catering tenders (CPV 55)

  Catering contracts, canteen services, hospitality and accommodation.

The working method is short. Register as a supplier on eTenders (it’s free), then add the CPV codes that describe what you deliver to your profile. From then on the platform emails you when a notice carrying one of your codes is published. Most suppliers set the 2-digit division plus two or three detailed codes beneath it.

The catch is the trade-off. A broad division catches everything — including a stream of notices that don’t fit. A narrow code misses tenders a buyer filed under a neighbouring one, and buyers misfile more often than you’d think. There is no perfect code set; the honest answer is to set your codes a little broad and accept some sifting, or use an alert that reads the notice and judges the actual work rather than matching the code.

Two things CPV codes don’t do. They don’t cover SupplyGov — the separate local-authority platform — so register there directly if councils are your market. And they don’t tell you whether a tender is worth bidding: that’s a judgement about eligibility, evidence and capacity, which is what the bid / no-bid checklist is for. For the platform end to end — registration, ESPD, tax clearance, submission — see the eTenders supplier guide.

Codes get the tender in front of you; they don’t win it. Once a notice lands that fits, the work is answering to the buyer’s marking scheme — MEAT criteria, weightings and all — with evidence from your own business. Build a requirements matrix from the pack and draft to it: the tender & bid writing guide shows the method by hand, and AI tender writing for Ireland shows how TenderBuilder does the same job from an uploaded pack — extraction, on-scheme drafting and a compliance check, grounded in your business facts.