Translate a tender document into German

Procurement terms do not map one-to-one

Your tender pack follows the procurement rules of your own country. German has its own terms, and the translation uses the nearest functional equivalent. Knowing the main ones helps you review the result:

• The tender documents as a whole are the Vergabeunterlagen, and the bid is the Angebot.
• The bidder is the Bieter, a consortium is a Bietergemeinschaft, and a subcontractor is a Nachunternehmer.
• A specification or statement of requirements is closest to the Leistungsbeschreibung. A pricing schedule or bill of quantities is closest to the Leistungsverzeichnis or a Preisblatt.
• Selection criteria (Eignungskriterien) and award criteria (Zuschlagskriterien) are separate concepts. Mixing them up is the most common slip to look for when reviewing.

Acronyms such as ITT, RFP or PQQ mean little to a German contracting authority. Keep them in brackets after the translated term if the cross-reference matters to you. The ESPD, for example, is the Einheitliche Europäische Eigenerklärung (EEE) in German.

The register a German evaluator expects

The method statement or technical response is the part that gets scored, so its tone matters most. German administrative writing expects:

• the formal Sie when addressing the authority, with capitalised Sie, Ihnen and Ihr;
• direct commitments, such as „Wir verpflichten uns, die Leistung bis zum 30.06. zu erbringen“, rather than hedged phrasing;
• a plain, often noun-heavy style (Durchführung, Abnahme, Gewährleistung), with no marketing language. „Branchenführend“ or a „unique approach“ reads badly to an evaluation panel.

German capitalises every noun and builds long compound words. Running text is often 20 to 35% longer than English. If the tender caps the response at a set number of pages, leave headroom before you translate.

Prices, dates and lots in German format

In a pricing schedule, a formatting error does more damage than an awkward phrase. Points to watch:

• Amounts: €1,250,000.00 becomes 1.250.000,00 €. The full stop separates thousands, the comma marks decimals, and the currency sign follows the number.
• Dates: 15/03/2025 or March 15, 2025 becomes 15.03.2025.
• Tax: "excl. VAT" becomes netto or zzgl. MwSt., and "incl. VAT" becomes brutto or inkl. MwSt.
• Plurals: German has two forms, as English does, but the nouns change. "1 lot" is 1 Los and "3 lots" is 3 Lose. A string such as {n} lot(s) needs reworking as {n} Lose or splitting into two cases.
• Width: "Lead time" becomes Ausführungsfrist and "Unit price" becomes Einheitspreis netto. Columns in Excel or Word tables can overflow and cut labels short.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

A typical tender document of around 9,000 words, about 30 pages, is handled by Dédale, Manuce's specialist technical engine. Accepted formats are Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV. Each file is returned in its original format with the layout intact. Delivery takes a few minutes for a document of this size, and the files stay available in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF. A signed certificate scanned as an image, with no selectable text, will not be translated.
• It does not produce sworn or certified translations. If the authority requires certified translations of company registration or tax certificates, you need a sworn translator.
• It does not adapt your bid to German law or fill in the authority's forms for you.
• It takes no glossary or terminology instructions. For a product or method name that must stay unchanged, check the free extract, then the delivered translation.

For a bid that will be scored, the Professional or Premium level is the better choice. Essential suits reading a document for internal use.

Preparing the files and checking before submission

Before uploading:

• Check the contract notice for the submission language required by the authority. It can differ from one document to another.
• Upload each document in its native format, such as Word for the response and Excel for the pricing schedule, rather than an exported PDF.
• Replace scanned annexes with text versions, or have them translated separately.

After delivery:

• Re-check pricing totals: thousand separators, decimals and units (m², Stk. for pieces, psch. for a lump sum).
• Compare the award criteria and their weighting against the source, line by line.
• Confirm the page count against the limit set in the instructions to bidders.
• Have a German-speaking colleague read the final version before signing.

In practice

1. Upload one tender document (technical response, pricing schedule, cover letter) in its original format.
2. Review the quote, which is based on the exact word count, and choose a level.
3. Read the free extract to check the register and the key German terms.
4. Download the translated file, then check amounts, dates, lots and page count before submission.