By taking part in the pre-qualification procedure, engineering firms or other organisations can demonstrate, independently of any specific contract, their qualifications to provide design services for one or more service profiles in the following areas:
Pre-qualification is the preliminary, contract-independent assessment of supporting documentation against specified criteria.
the relevant professional body
For engineers in Baden-Württemberg, this is the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Engineers
The engineering firm or company (pre-qualified company) is pre-qualified. Pre-qualification requires:
in the case of an engineering firm: at least one of the following must be a member of the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Engineers
in the case of limited companies: at least one member of the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Engineers must be a member of the board of directors or the management.
You must apply for pre-qualification.
Upon receipt and registration of the application, the pre-qualification body shall check it for completeness. If the application is incomplete, it must request the missing information or documents from the applicant within 20 calendar days. The pre-qualification body may set the applicant a reasonable deadline (not less than 20 calendar days) to complete the application. The applicant may request an extension of up to a further 20 calendar days. If the application is not completed within the specified time limit, it will be rejected and removed from the register. A new application may be submitted at any time. The registration is valid for 12 months; thereafter, it may be extended for a further 12 months upon application.
You must submit this supporting documentation to the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Engineers (INGBW) once a year.
Note: The application form sets out exactly which self-declarations and supporting documents you must provide.
The deadline for a decision on the application should not exceed 6 weeks. The deadline begins to run as soon as you submit a complete and consistent application to the pre-qualification body.
The pre-qualification body will check your application for completeness once it has received and registered it.
If your application is incomplete, the pre-qualification body must request the missing information or documents from the applicant within 20 calendar days.
The pre-qualification body may set the applicant a reasonable deadline to complete the application. This must not be less than 20 calendar days. The applicant may request an extension of up to a further 20 calendar days.
If you do not complete the application by the deadline, it will be rejected and removed from the register. You may submit a new application at any time.
Public procurement law provides for a certificate from the relevant professional body as proof of suitability.
Contracting authorities must recognise this certificate. Nor do contracting authorities have the option of requiring individual proofs of suitability instead, with the exception of proof of payment of taxes, duties or social security contributions. A different rule applies to separate, contract-specific proofs of suitability that are not included in the pre-qualification. The contracting authority may request these at any time.
The company therefore only needs to submit the project-specific requirements for proof of suitability as requested by the contracting authority. At the same time as submitting the certificate, an information sheet for the contracting authority may be provided, which explains the certificate in detail. The information sheet may serve as a reference for the contracting authority in advance.
Pre-qualification in accordance with the Public Procurement Regulation (VgV) may also be accepted by contracting authorities for contracts below the threshold value if, in the relevant procurement procedure, pre-qualification under the VgV is expressly permitted as proof of suitability.
Pre-qualification is supported by:
machine generated, based on the German release by: Ingenieurkammer Baden-Württemberg, 28.05.2026