Public procurement in Morocco: Decree n° 2-22-431 (2023), a guide for works contractors

In brief

• Reference text: Decree n° 2-22-431 of 8 March 2023, in force since 1 September 2023. It repealed Decree n° 2-12-349 of 20 March 2013.
• Three types of contract (works, supplies, services), three award methods (call for tenders, competition, negotiated procedure) and purchase orders (bons de commande) of up to 500,000 dirhams inclusive of all taxes.
• Thresholds for works: simplified call for tenders up to 1,000,000 dirhams excluding tax, national call for tenders up to 10,000,000, restricted call for tenders below 5,000,000.
• A works tender that departs from the contracting authority's estimate by more than 20%, downwards or upwards, is rejected.
• Bids are submitted electronically on the public procurement portal. Subcontracting is capped at 50% of the contract.

What is the date of the latest public procurement decree in Morocco?

The latest is Decree n° 2-22-431 of 15 Chaabane 1444 (8 March 2023) on public procurement. Its official French translation appeared in Bulletin officiel (Official Gazette) n° 7184 of 6 April 2023, after the Arabic version of 9 March 2023 (n° 7176).

It came into force on 1 September 2023, the first day of the sixth month after its publication, and on that date repealed Decree n° 2-12-349 of 20 March 2013 (article 169). It applies to the contracts of the State, local authorities, public establishments and other legal persons governed by public law (article 2). It governs how contracts are awarded: work on site is governed by the CCAG-Travaux, the general administrative conditions that apply to public works contracts, and by the special conditions of each contract (cahier des prescriptions spéciales, CPS).

What are the 3 types of public contract?

The decree distinguishes three types of contract: works, supplies and services (article 4).

A works contract (marché de travaux) covers the construction, demolition, repair, renovation, fitting-out or maintenance of a building or structure. Two rules matter to the contractor: it is awarded at revisable prices (article 15), and as a single contract or in separate packages, where a package may correspond to one trade (article 10).

What are the award methods and the new procedure thresholds?

A works contract is awarded by call for tenders (appel d'offres), by competition (concours) or by negotiated procedure (article 19). The thresholds, in dirhams, are measured against the amount estimated by the contracting authority.

• Open call for tenders (appel d'offres ouvert): the standard procedure, in which any bidder may submit a tender.
• Simplified open call for tenders (appel d'offres ouvert simplifié): up to 1,000,000 dirhams excluding tax. A smaller committee, at least ten days of advertising, and a technical file with no reference certificates or workload statement.
• National call for tenders: reserved for bidders established in Morocco. Unless an exception is justified, it is mandatory up to 10,000,000 dirhams excluding tax for works. Above that, the call for tenders is international.
• Restricted call for tenders (appel d'offres restreint): for work that few companies are able to carry out, below 5,000,000 dirhams excluding tax. At least three bidders are consulted (article 20).
• Call for tenders with pre-selection, competition and negotiated procedure, the last of these only in the cases listed in article 89.
• Purchase orders (bons de commande): up to 500,000 dirhams inclusive of all taxes per budget year, per type of work and per authorising officer, after a purchase notice published on the portal for at least forty-eight hours (article 91).

What are the advertising periods for a call for tenders?

The notice of an open call for tenders is published at least twenty-one days before the bids are opened, on the public procurement portal and in at least two national newspapers, one of them in Arabic (article 23).

The period rises to at least forty days for large contracts. The decree set this threshold at 75,550,000 dirhams excluding tax for works. Order n° 441-26 of 25 February 2026 (Bulletin officiel n° 7495 of 30 March 2026) now sets it at 65,086,000 dirhams excluding tax.

The notice states the contracting authority's estimate and, where one is required, the bid bond (cautionnement provisoire), capped at 2% of that estimate (article 24). Tenders bind the bidders for sixty days (article 36). The documents to put together are set out in our guide to answering a call for tenders for works.

How are tenders evaluated, and what is an abnormally low tender?

A works contract is awarded to the tender that ranks best against a reference price, not to the lowest price. A tender more than 20% below the contracting authority's estimate is deemed abnormally low (offre anormalement basse) and rejected (articles 43 and 44).

1. The contracting authority draws up its estimate before any call for competition, package by package if the contract is divided into packages (article 6).
2. The committee admits bidders on the basis of their administrative and technical files, against objective and proportionate criteria (article 21).
3. It rejects excessive tenders (more than 20% above the estimate) and abnormally low ones (more than 20% below, for works).
4. It calculates the reference price: the average of the estimate and the mean of the tenders retained.
5. It proposes the tender closest to that price from below or, if no tender lies below it, the closest from above.

Where a qualification and classification system applies, the certificate takes the place of several documents in the technical file (article 28): see our guide to the qualification and classification of building and public works contractors.

Paperless procedures: how does the public procurement portal work?

Bids are submitted and withdrawn electronically on the public procurement portal, which is run by the Trésorerie Générale du Royaume (General Treasury of the Kingdom) (articles 134 and 135). The detailed rules are laid down by Order n° 1692-23 of 23 June 2023, in force since 1 September 2023.

Each document is signed with an electronic certificate, the submission is time-stamped, and a late bid is rejected automatically. Financial guarantees are also lodged electronically. If the portal is unavailable at the appointed time, the opening of bids is postponed by forty-eight hours.

National preference, SMEs and local employment: what does the decree provide?

The decree sets at 15% the preference given to tenders from bidders established in Morocco, and reserves for small businesses 30% of the forecast value of the contracts a contracting authority launches each year (articles 147 and 148).

• National preference: a fixed percentage of 15% is applied to the financial bid of a bidder not established in Morocco. A joint venture (groupement) is exempt if its members established in Morocco hold at least 30% of it.
• Very small, small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives and self-employed entrepreneurs (auto-entrepreneurs): reserved contracts are flagged in the notice and in the tender rules (règlement de consultation) (Order n° 1502-23 of 13 June 2023).
• Local employment: a works contract requires the use of local labour, at a rate set by the special conditions (CPS) within the limit of 20% of the workforce (article 149).

Subcontracting and joint ventures: what are the limits?

Subcontracting may neither exceed 50% of the contract amount inclusive of all taxes nor cover the main package or the main trade (article 151).

The subcontract, which must be in writing, is notified to the contracting authority, which has fifteen days to object to a subcontractor that does not meet the conditions required of bidders. The contractor uses firms established in Morocco, remains solely liable and provides proof that its subcontractors have been paid.

In a joint venture, whether conjoint (groupement conjoint) or joint and several (groupement solidaire) (article 150), each member must hold a qualification and classification certificate where the works are subject to one. In a joint and several venture, the lead member holds the required class and the other members at least the class immediately below.

What has changed compared with the 2013 decree?

The 2023 decree introduced evaluation against a reference price, raised the ceiling for purchase orders and extended its scope to all public establishments. The summary by the Trésorerie Générale du Royaume sets out the reform in thirteen points, including these for a works contractor.

• Purchase orders: ceiling raised from 200,000 to 500,000 dirhams.
• Validity of tenders: reduced from 75 to 60 days.
• Abnormally low or excessive tenders: rejected before the reference price is calculated.
• New procedures: national call for tenders, simplified call for tenders, competitive dialogue (article 12), unsolicited proposal (article 13).
• Subcontractors: the contractor must provide proof that they have been paid.
• Land: the contracting authority makes sure that the legal status of the site has been cleared before launching a works contract (article 5).

Public procurement in Morocco in 2026: has the decree been amended?

As of 13 November 2026, Decree n° 2-22-431 has not been amended: no amending decree has appeared in the Bulletin officiel. Only orders have supplemented it, including the order of 25 February 2026 on advertising thresholds.

A reform is in preparation. A draft amending decree, published for comment by the Secrétariat général du gouvernement (General Secretariat of the Government), provides in particular for raising the simplified call for tenders to 1,500,000 dirhams excluding tax and purchase orders to 800,000 dirhams, for narrowing to 15% the margins that define an excessive tender and an abnormally low tender, and for selecting the lowest tender measured against the reference price. Until it is published in the Bulletin officiel, the rules described here apply.

On our sites

Graded by the Ministère de l'Équipement et des Transports (Ministry of Equipment and Transport), AHMA has been building for the Kingdom's public contracting authorities since 1998. A contract in packages or a single package: both forms can be read in our references, with package no. 2, structural works and waterproofing, of the Centre Hospitalier Régional de Guelmim (Guelmim Regional Hospital), all the trades of the Cour d'appel de Guelmim (Guelmim Court of Appeal), and the single package for the extension of the hôpital Ibn Al Hassan in Fès.

Other buildings appear among our completed projects. For a tender enquiry or a reference request, contact AHMA BTP. This guide is a contractor's reading, not legal advice: the text published in the Bulletin officiel and the specifications of each contract are authoritative.

Frequently asked questions

What is the date of the latest public procurement decree in Morocco?

The latest is Decree n° 2-22-431 of 15 Chaabane 1444 (8 March 2023) on public procurement. It came into force on 1 September 2023 and repealed Decree n° 2-12-349 of 20 March 2013. As of 13 November 2026, no decree has amended it; Order n° 441-26 of 25 February 2026 has, however, lowered the advertising thresholds set by its article 23.

What are the new procedure thresholds?

The simplified open call for tenders is available up to 1,000,000 dirhams excluding tax. Unless an exception is justified, the national call for tenders is mandatory up to 10,000,000 dirhams excluding tax for works and 1,000,000 for supplies and services. The restricted call for tenders covers contracts below 5,000,000 dirhams excluding tax, and purchase orders are capped at 500,000 dirhams inclusive of all taxes.

What are the 3 types of contract?

Article 4 of Decree n° 2-22-431 distinguishes works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts. A works contract covers the construction, demolition, repair, renovation, fitting-out and maintenance of a building or structure. Studies, project management (maîtrise d'œuvre) and laboratory testing come under service contracts.

What is a simplified open call for tenders?

It is a lighter form of open call for tenders, reserved for contracts with an estimated amount of 1,000,000 dirhams excluding tax or less. The notice is published on the public procurement portal and in at least one newspaper, at least ten days before the bids are opened. The technical file contains neither reference certificates nor a workload statement.

When is a tender deemed abnormally low?

For a works contract, a tender is deemed abnormally low when it is more than 20% below the contracting authority's estimate. The threshold is 25% for supplies and for services other than studies. The committee rejects these tenders before calculating the reference price (articles 43 and 44).

What share of a public works contract can be subcontracted?

Article 151 caps subcontracting at 50% of the contract amount inclusive of all taxes. It may not cover the main package or the main trade, which the special conditions (CPS) must identify. The contractor remains personally liable for all the obligations of the contract.