Modalidades de selección — Colombia's five procurement procedures

The rule and the exceptions

Article 2 of Ley 1150 de 2007 selects contractors through licitación pública, selección abreviada, concurso de méritos and contratación directa, plus a fifth, mínima cuantía, in numeral 5 as replaced by article 30 of Ley 2069 de 2020. Licitación pública is the rule; everything else is an exception with a listed trigger, and the entity must justify its choice in writing before opening.

Licitación pública

The default. Under article 30 of Ley 80 de 1993 as amended: up to three notices published between ten and twenty calendar days before opening, at two-to-five-day intervals; a clarification hearing within three business days of the offer period starting, which also reviews risk allocation; no adendas in the three days before closing; the evaluation report on display for five business days. Article 9 of Ley 1150 makes award in a public hearing compulsory, and the award act is then irrevocable.

For public works, paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 30 (added by Ley 1882 de 2018) require two envelopes: habilitantes and non-price scored items in the first, the economic offer alone in the second, sealed until the award hearing.

Selección abreviada

A simplified track for defined situations. The grounds in numeral 2 of article 2 include goods and services of uniform technical characteristics in common use — bought through reverse auction, framework catalogue or commodity exchange; menor cuantía; health services; a licitación declared deserted, which must be restarted within four months; disposal of state assets; agricultural products traded on commodity exchanges; defence and national security; and non-uniform goods of common use bought through frameworks (article 54 of Ley 2195 de 2022).

Menor cuantía is not a fixed sum. It is a band defined by the buying entity's own annual budget expressed in minimum monthly legal wages: an entity with a budget of 1,200,000 SMLMV or more has a menor cuantía of up to 1,000 SMLMV; 850,000 or more, up to 850; 400,000 or more, up to 650; 120,000 or more, up to 450; and below 120,000, up to 280. So the same contract value can be menor cuantía at a ministry and above it at a small municipality. Paragraph 2 of article 2 also lets the entity draw lots where more than ten expressions of interest arrive.

Concurso de méritos

For consultancy under numeral 2 of article 32 of Ley 80, and for architecture projects, per article 2.2.1.2.1.3.1 of Decreto 1082. It runs open or with prequalification. The decisive rule is numeral 4 of article 5 of Ley 1150: price may in no case be a selection factor for consultants. Scoring rests on the experience of the bidder and of the proposed team, and the team's academic background (article 2.2.1.2.1.3.2).

Mínima cuantía

Any object whose value does not exceed 10% of the entity's menor cuantía. Under numeral 5 of article 2 and article 2.2.1.2.1.5.2 of Decreto 1082: an invitation published for at least one business day; at least one business day to offer; the lowest complying price accepted; and the acceptance, with the offer, constitutes the contract. RUP registration is not required, prior studies do not apply, and the Ley 816 national-industry preference is expressly excluded.

Contratación directa

A closed list in numeral 4: urgencia manifiesta, borrowing, inter-administrative contracts, reserved defence and intelligence purchases, scientific and technological activities, certain fiduciary arrangements, absence of plurality of bidders, professional services and support to management, lease or acquisition of immovable property, expert witnesses, and contracts with indigenous and Afro-Colombian community bodies added by Ley 2160 de 2021. It requires a reasoned act of justification (article 2.2.1.2.1.4.1), except for professional-services contracts and the cases in literals (a) and (b) of 2.2.1.2.1.4.3, and guarantees are not compulsory.

National treatment: the point that costs foreign bidders points

Article 2 of Ley 816 de 2003 requires entities to assign between 10% and 20% of the score to bidders offering national goods or services, and between 5% and 15% for foreign goods and services incorporating Colombian components.

Foreign bidders are not shut out of that band. Article 2.2.1.2.4.1.3 of Decreto 1082 obliges the entity to grant national treatment to bidders, goods and services from states with which Colombia has a trade agreement; to states certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as granting reciprocity; and to services from Andean Community members. Colombia Compra Eficiente's Manual para el manejo de los Acuerdos Comerciales lists the agreements it tracks: the Pacific Alliance, Canada, Chile, Korea, Costa Rica, the EFTA States, the United States, the European Union, Israel, Mexico, the Northern Triangle, the United Kingdom and the Andean Community. Where national treatment applies, the manual says the entity must give those offers the Ley 816 score and the tie-break preferences.

The catch is procedural. Under the definition of Servicios Nacionales in Decreto 1082, a foreign bidder with national treatment may choose in its offer which rule of origin to apply — and if the offer is silent, the entity applies the domestic rule by default. Say it in the offer.

The same manual sets minimum offer-preparation periods: broadly 40 calendar days, 30 for the Pacific Alliance and the European Union, 10 for Chile, and shorter where the goods are uniform or the purchase was flagged in the Plan Anual de Adquisiciones. None of it applies to contratación directa, where the Ley 816 score is not awarded at all.

Related terms

• Ley 80 de 1993 — Estatuto General de Contratación de la Administración Pública
• Decreto 1082 de 2015 — Colombia's single regulatory decree for procurement
• RUP — Registro Único de Proponentes (Colombia)
• Estudios y documentos previos (Colombia)
• TVEC — Tienda Virtual del Estado Colombiano

See Otnox plans to track procurement opportunities across 56 markets.