Guide · last verified 2026-10-10

CPV codes explained: set up daily tender alerts for your sector (EU and Romania)

Short answer: CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) is the EU's standard code list for what a public buyer purchases. A code has 8 digits and its prefix is the category: the first two digits are the division, the first three the group, and so on. To be alerted to new tenders in your sector, search TED by CPV prefix for free, or schedule the Clearsource TED Tenders actor on Apify in incremental mode so each run returns only notices new since the last one.

What CPV is

The CPV is set by Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008 of 28 November 2007, published in OJ L 74 of 15.3.2008, which revised Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 (EUR-Lex, opened 2026-10-10). Its Annex I says the CPV consists of a main vocabulary and a supplementary vocabulary. The main vocabulary is a tree of numeric codes; a ninth digit is a check digit.

How the prefixes work

Level (Annex I)	Digits that identify it	Example
Division	first 2	`72000000` IT services
Group	first 3	`722…`
Class	first 4	`7222…`
Category	first 5	`72222…`

The last three of the eight digits add precision within a category. Examples for 72000000 and 45000000 (construction work) are used in our TED by CPV guide; the group, class and category examples above show only how the digits are read, so look up the exact code and its name in the official vocabulary. A notice can carry several CPV codes.

A CPV filter on a parent code also returns notices that carry only child codes (live check by us on 2026-10-04: for 72000000, 66 of 100 returned notices had no exact 72000000 but all had a 72… code). Use the most specific code you want.

Which tenders are in TED

TED carries notices above the EU thresholds. Romanian below-threshold procedures and direct purchases are published in SEAP, not in TED, so a TED alert does not cover them.

Way 1: free TED search

Find your codes in the CPV list (TED has a CPV page).
On ted.europa.eu open the notice search and filter by CPV, buyer country (for example Romania) and publication date. The syntax is described in the TED developer documentation.
Repeat daily. By hand you will not know which notices are new unless you keep your own list.

Way 2: daily incremental alerts with the Apify actor

Open TED Tenders on the Apify Store.
Create a task with your cpvCodes, countries (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, for example ROU), incremental: true and a stateKey.
Add a schedule (for example every day at 07:00 Europe/Bucharest) and connect an Apify integration (e-mail, Slack or webhook) to receive the new notices.

{
  "countries": ["ROU"],
  "cpvCodes": ["72000000"],
  "publishedFrom": "3 days",
  "incremental": true,
  "stateKey": "daily-it-ro",
  "language": "ron",
  "maxResults": 500
}

Each run returns only notices published since the previous complete run, marked is_new: true; a run that stops early does not move the watermark, so nothing is skipped. Do not run two incremental runs with the same state key at the same time. Details, output and a no-CPV example are in the TED by CPV guide.

Price (Apify README of 2026-10-10): $0.002 per notice pushed, plus Apify's start event (by default $0.00005 per run). A daily alert with about 20 new notices costs about $0.04 per day. Dry runs and TED errors are not charged.

Frequently asked questions

Which CPV code should I use?

The one in the official vocabulary that names what you sell. Start with a division or group prefix to see what buyers use, then narrow down.

Why do I get notices without my exact code?

Because a parent-code filter also matches child codes, and a notice can carry several codes.

Is this an official TED service?

No. The actor uses the official TED Search API but is not affiliated with or endorsed by the European Union or the Publications Office. Check the official notice (notice_url) before acting.

Can I reuse TED data commercially?

See the TED legal notice and take advice for your case.

Related: CPV classifies what public buyers purchase; for the customs code of goods see how to find a CN code.

Sources

Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008, EUR-Lex (opened 2026-10-10)
TED, its CPV page and developer documentation
Actor page on the Apify Store (prices and limits as in its README, 2026-10-10)

Information only, not legal or procurement advice. Terms: terms of use.