What is a PQQ, and what replaced it?
Many trades firms still talk about "doing a PQQ", and some buyers and main contractors still send documents with that name. Officially, though, the pre-qualification questionnaire was replaced in 2016 by the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ), and for most new public procurements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the SQ has itself been replaced under the Procurement Act 2023. This guide explains what each one is, what you will see now, and what to have ready so you can answer any version quickly.
Key points
- A PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire) was used to check suppliers and shortlist them before they were invited to tender.
- In September 2016 the government replaced the standard PQQ with the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ), last updated by PPN 03/23.
- Under the Procurement Act 2023, your general company information sits on the Central Digital Platform, and buyers set conditions of participation for each contract.
- On most smaller contracts in England, buyers cannot run a separate pre-qualification stage before you tender.
- After an above-threshold competition, buyers must send each assessed bidder an assessment summary explaining the scores.
What a PQQ was
A pre-qualification questionnaire asked suppliers about their business before the buyer decided who could tender. Typical questions covered company details, financial standing, insurance, health and safety, quality management, equality, environmental management and past experience. Buyers used the answers to remove unsuitable firms and shortlist the rest.
The problem for small firms was repetition and cost. Each buyer had its own version, so the same information had to be supplied again and again, sometimes for contracts too small to justify it.
The Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ)
In September 2016, Procurement Policy Note 08/16 introduced a standard selection questionnaire which, in the government's words, replaced "the current standard Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)". It was updated by PPN 03/23, which had to be used by 1 June 2023 at the latest.
The SQ applied to above-threshold procurements under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 by English public bodies, and by Welsh and Northern Ireland bodies exercising mainly reserved functions. It had three parts:
| Part | What it covered |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Basic information about the supplier, such as contact details, group bidding and parent companies |
| Part 2 | Self-declarations about the exclusion grounds |
| Part 3 | Evidence and declarations about economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability |
PPN 03/23 also said that for procurements below the threshold, buyers "must not include a pre-qualification stage", although they could ask proportionate questions about suitability as part of the tender.
You will still see SQs on procurements that started under the old rules before 24 February 2025, and on call-offs from frameworks set up under those rules.
Scotland uses a different form: the Single Procurement Document (Scotland), completed through Public Contracts Scotland. Devolved Scottish public bodies are largely outside the Procurement Act 2023.
What the Procurement Act 2023 uses instead
The Procurement Act 2023 applies to procurements that started on or after 24 February 2025 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It splits the old SQ into two parts.
1. Core supplier information on the Central Digital Platform
The general information about your business is entered once on the Central Digital Platform (Find a Tender): basic information, connected persons, qualifications, trade assurances, exclusions and financial information. You share it with each buyer using a share code. See our guide to Central Digital Platform registration.
2. Conditions of participation for each contract
The contract-specific checks are called conditions of participation. Under section 22 of the Act they can relate only to your legal and financial capacity or your technical ability, and they must be proportionate. They are set out in the tender notice and documents. In an open procedure they are usually pass or fail. In a competitive flexible procedure the buyer can also use them to score and shortlist suppliers, which is the nearest thing to the old PQQ stage.
The Cabinet Office guidance sets some useful limits:
- conditions cannot require experience with one particular public body, although they can ask for public sector experience;
- where a particular qualification is required, the buyer must accept equivalents;
- buyers cannot require audited accounts from a supplier that is not legally required to have them audited, and must look at other financial evidence instead;
- buyers cannot require insurance relating to the contract to be in place before award, although insurance you are legally required to hold anyway, such as employer's liability, can be required.
The government publishes a standard template called the procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ), and you may see it or a version of it in tender packs. It brings in your core supplier information from the platform and adds questions on exclusions and conditions of participation, filling a similar role to the old SQ.
Industry questionnaires have not disappeared. The guidance confirms that schemes such as Build UK's Common Assessment Standard can still be used for works, as long as they comply with the Act. Main contractors also use their own supply chain questionnaires for subcontractors.
Smaller contracts: no separate pre-qualification stage
For regulated below-threshold contracts, section 85 of the Act stops buyers from restricting who can tender by reference to suitability. In practice that means no separate PQQ or SQ stage before you submit a tender. Buyers can still check things like insurance, experience and finances when they assess tenders.
The Cabinet Office guidance lists the exceptions:
- works contracts above the goods and services threshold values;
- contracts awarded by devolved Welsh authorities, which the Welsh Government's guidance says may use a PQQ stage below threshold if they wish;
- call-offs under frameworks.
Schools and most Northern Ireland public bodies are outside these below-threshold rules altogether.
After the decision: assessment summaries
The Act also changed what you receive after an above-threshold competition. Before publishing a contract award notice, the buyer must give every supplier whose tender was assessed an assessment summary. It sets out how your tender was assessed and, where different, how the winning tender was assessed. A standstill period of eight working days then usually applies before the contract is signed, giving bidders time to raise concerns.
Assessment summaries are the best free bid training you will get. Compare your scores question by question with the winner's, and use them to improve your standard answers.
What a small firm should prepare
Whatever the questionnaire is called, the same evidence comes up again and again. Keep a folder with current versions of:
- company details: registration number, VAT number, registered address and your Central Digital Platform unique identifier;
- your latest accounts, plus management accounts or a bank reference if your accounts are not audited;
- insurance certificates: employer's liability, public liability and any professional indemnity, with expiry dates;
- health and safety evidence: your policy, risk assessment and method statement examples, and any SSIP scheme certificate such as CHAS, SafeContractor or Constructionline (see health and safety accreditations);
- trade registrations and accreditations relevant to your work (see accreditations by trade);
- policies commonly asked for, such as quality, environmental, equality and data protection;
- three case studies of similar contracts, with a client contact willing to give a reference;
- short CVs for the people who would manage the contract;
- a short exclusions record: if anything on the exclusion grounds list has ever applied to your business, a note of what happened and what you changed.
Review it every quarter and whenever something changes, and update your Central Digital Platform record at the same time.
Frequently asked questions
Is a PQQ the same as an SQ?
They do the same job. The Standard Selection Questionnaire replaced the standard PQQ in 2016 for above-threshold procurements under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Many people still call any selection questionnaire a PQQ.
Do public buyers still use PQQs?
Not under that name for most new procurements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which now use the Central Digital Platform and conditions of participation under the Procurement Act 2023. You will still see SQs on procurements started under the old rules, Welsh buyers may use a PQQ stage on smaller contracts, and main contractors often use their own questionnaires.
Can a buyer insist on audited accounts?
Not from a supplier that is not already required to have its accounts audited. Under the Procurement Act 2023 the buyer must accept other evidence of financial standing instead.
What is an assessment summary?
It is the explanation a buyer must give each assessed bidder before publishing a contract award notice on an above-threshold contract. It covers how your tender was scored and, where different, how the winning tender was scored.
What is a procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ)?
It is a standard government template used under the Procurement Act 2023. It pulls in your core supplier information from the Central Digital Platform and asks the contract-specific questions on exclusions and conditions of participation.
Next step: browse open contracts for your trade, or get a free weekly shortlist matched to your firm, with requirements flagged: get free alerts.
This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- GOV.UK: PPN 08/16, Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ) template (checked 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: PPN 03/23, Standard Selection Questionnaire (PDF) (checked 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: guidance on conditions of participation (checked 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: guidance on below-threshold contracts (checked 19 October 2026)
- Government Commercial Function: procurement specific questionnaire template (checked 19 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Procurement Act 2023, section 22 (conditions of participation) (checked 19 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Procurement Act 2023, section 50 (assessment summaries) (checked 19 October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: Procurement Act 2023, section 51 (standstill periods) (checked 19 October 2026)
- Welsh Government: Procurement Act 2023 guidance, below-threshold contracts (checked 19 October 2026)
- Supplier Journey (Scottish Government): Single Procurement Document (checked 19 October 2026)