France is the second-largest procurement market in the EU, and structurally cleaner than Germany: the responsibilities are split, not fragmented. One official journal publishes the notices; one central platform hosts the documents and receives the bids. Companies from any EU/EEA state, the UK, and WTO-GPA signatories can bid with no nationality restriction and no requirement for a French establishment.
BOAMP (Bulletin Officiel des Annonces des Marchés Publics). The official journal where French procurement notices are published. Free to search without registration; notice detail includes the contracting authority, deadlines, and a link to the tender documents. BOAMP is where you find the opportunity.
PLACE (marchés-publics.gouv.fr).The French State’s e-procurement platform — the “Plateforme des achats de l’État.” This is where you download the DCE (dossier de consultation des entreprises) and submit your bid electronically for central-government contracts. Registration is required, and electronic submission needs an electronic-signature certificate meeting French RGS standards.
The rule of thumb: BOAMP to find, PLACE to bid. You need both. Above the EU thresholds (€143,000 for central-government supplies and services), notices also appear on TED.
Try qlows on a French notice
Drop a DCE into qlows and watch the critères de sélection and DUME grid build itself.
Bring a live French marché — we'll structure the requirements from the French source, in English.
Book a 30-min demo →Central-government contracts run on PLACE, but regions, départements, and municipalities often use their own buyer profiles (profils d’acheteur) instead — common ones include Maximilien (Île-de-France), AWS-Achat, e-marchespublics, and Klekoon. The important point: wherever the dossier is hosted, the notice still appears on BOAMP, so BOAMP (or an aggregator that reads it) remains your single discovery layer. You then follow the notice’s link to whichever platform hosts that buyer’s dossier.
The DUME (Document Unique de Marché Européen) is the French implementation of the EU’s ESPD — the standard eligibility self-declaration you complete instead of front-loading every certificate.
- Find the notice on BOAMP (or via qlows / TED for above-threshold), and follow the link to the hosting platform.
- Register and download the DCEon PLACE or the relevant profil d’acheteur.
- Ingest into qlows.The DCE — règlement de consultation, CCTP, critères d’attribution, DUME — is decomposed into a compliance grid in English, French source preserved.
- Route open items to the right owners via one magic link each — financial capacity, technical references, signed declarations.
- Draft and submit. Hand the prep pack to your AI, draft against the matrix, and submit on the platform with your RGS signature certificate before the date limite.
France rewards suppliers who handle the two-system split without friction. Start with live French tenders by industry to find a real one to run through.