Contract award notice (CAN)
A Contract Award Notice (CAN) is the post-award publication required by EU public procurement law (and Norwegian Anskaffelsesloven and FOSA) when a contract has been awarded. The CAN records the winner, the award value (where disclosed), the procedure used, the award criteria, and the rationale for selection. CANs are the canonical source for award data in defense procurement intelligence — they convert the lifecycle of a tender from "open opportunity" into "competitive intelligence".
Etymology / origin
The award-notice requirement traces to the 1992 Public Procurement Directive and has been refined in every subsequent reform. EU Directive 2014/24/EU Article 50 and Directive 2009/81/EC Article 30 govern current practice. The publication deadline is typically 30 days from contract award.
Where you encounter this term
CANs are the basis for all retrospective procurement analysis — who-won-what, average contract value, framework-supplier rosters. WULFRN's award_winner and award_value_eur fields are populated from CANs. Disclosure varies: TED CANs typically disclose value; Doffin Norwegian CANs disclose value only ~50% of the time; SAM.gov US CANs almost always disclose. WULFRN flags non-disclosing CANs with value_disclosure_status to keep aggregate calculations honest.
Example — from the WULFRN database
WULFRN tracks 19 defense tenders with "contract award" explicitly in the title. Award notices in practice are identified by the source-portal metadata (notice type code) rather than the title text. Across the verified-defense corpus, WULFRN has thousands of CANs from TED, Doffin, NSPA, NCIA, and SAM.gov.
Related glossary terms
- Prior Information Notice (PIN)An advance notice signalling intent to procure — typically 6-12 months before the formal contract notice, used to alert suppliers and run market consultation.
- Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)EU's official platform for above-threshold defense and public procurement notices from 27 member states plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
- DoffinNorway's national procurement portal, the primary source for below-threshold Norwegian defense tenders that never reach TED.
- Framework agreementA multi-year umbrella contract setting terms under which subsequent call-off contracts are awarded — common for sustainment and high-volume defense procurement.
- Below-threshold procurementPublic-sector contracts below the EU procurement directive thresholds, published only on national portals — invisible on TED.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a contract award notice?
A Contract Award Notice (CAN) is the legally-required publication issued after a contract is awarded, recording the winner, value (where disclosed), procedure used, and award rationale. CANs are the canonical source for who-won-what defense procurement intelligence.
Do all defense CANs disclose contract value?
No. Disclosure varies by portal and procedure. TED CANs typically disclose; Doffin Norwegian CANs disclose value approximately half the time; SAM.gov US CANs almost always disclose. WULFRN flags non-disclosing CANs with a value_disclosure_status field so aggregate calculations are not biased by absence.
How quickly must a contract award notice be published?
Under EU rules, the CAN must be published within 30 days of contract award. Buyers running framework agreements publish a single CAN for the framework establishment, then individual or quarterly aggregate CANs for call-offs above the relevant publication threshold.