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The Jonty glossary

CPV code

A number from the Common Procurement Vocabulary that says what a public contract is for, used to sort and search tenders.

A CPV code is a number from the Common Procurement Vocabulary, the classification UK and EU public buyers use to say what a contract is for. Every tender notice carries at least one, from broad divisions such as construction work down to narrow items such as a single type of cleaning service.

Why it matters to you

Tender portals and alerts filter by CPV code. If you only search by keywords, you miss contracts that describe the same work in different words. If you know the codes for what you do, you see the notices buyers file under them.

Getting it right

  • Pick the codes for the work you actually deliver, not every code that sounds close.
  • Look one level up as well: buyers often file a notice under a broader code than you would.
  • Check the codes on contracts you have already won, or would have bid for, and use those.

You can look up any code, and the codes around it, in Jonty's CPV Code Finder.