Public procurement of AI in Switzerland: BöB for the Confederation, IVöB for cantons and municipalities

Which law applies to whom?

• Confederation: the Federal Act on Public Procurement (BöB) and its ordinance (VöB), in their revised version since 2021.
• Cantons and municipalities: the Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement of 15 November 2019 (IVöB 2019), in every canton that has joined it. The Confederation and the cantons aligned the content of their rules in the process. Where a canton has not yet joined, the IVöB 2001 and cantonal procurement law apply.
• Hospitals: Hospitals under public law or predominantly controlled by the public sector generally procure under the law of their canton. Your procurement office checks whether your hospital is subject to it.

Which thresholds apply in 2026 and 2027?

For goods and services, excluding VAT:

Procedure	Confederation (BöB, contracting authorities under Art. 4(1))	Cantons and municipalities (IVöB 2019)
Direct award procedure	below CHF 150,000	below CHF 150,000
Invitation procedure	CHF 150,000 to below CHF 230,000	CHF 150,000 to below CHF 250,000
Open or selective procedure	from CHF 230,000	from CHF 250,000
Scope of international treaties (GPA)	from CHF 230,000	from CHF 350,000

The values for 2026 and 2027 remain unchanged from 2025 (Annex 4 BöB; notice of the Intercantonal Body of 26 November 2025). For cantons that have not yet joined the IVöB 2019, a lower limit under the old law applies to the direct award procedure for goods.

The contract value includes all payments over the term, including renewal options; a fixed term should generally not exceed five years (Art. 15 BöB). A contract must not be split up to stay below a threshold.

Which procedure suits an AI platform?

• Direct award: For a start with a few people, the value over the term can stay below CHF 150,000. You may still obtain comparative offers.
• Invitation procedure: You invite providers, if possible at least three (Art. 20 BöB). Common for medium-sized projects of a municipality or a public office.
• Open or selective procedure: for platforms for an entire administration, a hospital or a hospital group.
• Dialogue: For complex or innovative services, you can hold a dialogue within the open or selective procedure to define possible solutions; prices are not negotiated in it (Art. 24 BöB).

Which criteria decide the award?

Besides price and quality, the law names, among others, suitability, technical value, life-cycle costs, customer service, functionality and expertise (Art. 29(1) BöB). You announce the criteria and their weighting in the tender. The lowest total price alone is sufficient only for standardised services. For an AI platform, total costs over the term and a trial installation with your sample documents have proven useful; suggestions for the weighting are in the guide Criteria catalogue for evaluating providers.

What should you watch for in talks before the tender?

A market survey before the tender is permitted and does not count as prior involvement of the providers consulted; you disclose the results in the tender documents (Art. 14(3) BöB). If a provider helped prepare the tender, it may only bid if its advantage is offset, for example by passing on all essential information and setting longer deadlines (Art. 14(1) and (2)).

What applies in addition to procurement law?

• Data protection: the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG, revFADP), with the rules on third countries when data is disclosed abroad; see the guide FADP and AI.
• Professional and official secrecy: Art. 321 and Art. 320 StGB (Swiss Criminal Code), when hospitals, doctors or public authorities involve service providers; see the guide Professional secrecy under Art. 321 StGB.

Not legal advice: This overview does not replace a review by your procurement office. Cantonal law may differ. Research as of: 11 October 2026.

How does this work with basebox?

basebox offers the cloud and the server in Switzerland. Our hardware partner FAST LTA delivers the servers to Switzerland; the server then stands at your site, without an internet connection if you wish. The cloud currently runs in our data centre in Germany; we are setting up a server in a Swiss data centre for the cloud, by 2027 at the latest. For Swiss customers there is a supplement to the data processing agreement under the DSG and a confidentiality agreement under Art. 321 and Art. 320 StGB, both as drafts to download on Security. Support and the interface are available in German and English. The tender generator provides a product-neutral template that your procurement office adapts to the BöB or the IVöB.