Saudi procurement glossary: NUPCO and Etimad terms explained

The words that appear in NUPCO and Etimad tenders, from tender and tender documents, material code and Change Option, to MDMA, bid bond and award, defined in one place in Arabic and English.

Updated 11 September 2026Published 11 September 2026ProcDuck

Government tenders have their own language: statutory terms from the Government Tenders and Procurement Law, operational terms from the NUPCO portal and its files, and regulatory terms from the SFDA. This glossary defines each term in a line or two and points at the page that explains it in full.

How to use this glossary

Every term has a permanent link you can share with your team (click the term to copy its address). Arabic terms are written the way the entities and portals themselves use them, not as literal translations, and where usage differs between Etimad and NUPCO both are given.

Terms

NUPCO: The National Unified Procurement Company: a state-owned company that buys medicines, medical devices and supplies for the public health sector on its own portal. See What is NUPCO?.
Etimad: The Ministry of Finance's platform for government procurement: announcing tenders, buying tender documents, submitting offers, award, contracts and payment. See What is Etimad?.
Tender (competition): A buyer's announced request for offers on a supply, service or project, evaluated and then awarded to the best. Saudi law calls it a competition (munafasa); everyday usage says tender (munaqasa).
Government Tenders and Procurement Law (GTPL): The law issued in 2019 that governs all Saudi government entities' procurement, with its implementing regulations; Etimad is the tool that applies it.
Tender documents (kurrasat al-shurut): The tender's document set on Etimad: specifications, bills of quantities, contract terms, required documents and evaluation criteria. Bought on the platform; no offer is accepted without it.
Public and limited competition: A public competition is an open announcement for anyone who meets the conditions; a limited one is addressed to a limited number of qualified suppliers for work of a certain nature or value.
Direct purchase: Contracting with a named supplier without a public competition, in the cases the law allows; listed on Etimad for transparency.
Framework agreement: An agreement with one or more suppliers fixing terms and prices for a recurring need over a period, under which successive purchase orders are issued without a new competition each time.
Initial guarantee (bid bond): A bank guarantee submitted with an Etimad offer as a share of its value (between 1% and 2% under the law) to prove the bidder's seriousness; returned to those who do not win.
Final guarantee (performance bond): A bank guarantee the winner provides at 5% of the contract value before signing, securing performance of the contract.
Technical offer and financial offer: The two parts of an Etimad offer: the technical one proves compliance with the specification, eligibility and documents; the financial one carries the prices and is opened for those who pass the technical stage.
Award: The buyer's decision selecting the winning offer. On NUPCO a preliminary and then a final award are published per item; see NUPCO award results.
Preliminary and final award: The preliminary award is the evaluation result that opens the objection and review period; the final award fixes the result and precedes the purchase orders.
Last offer date (closing date): The deadline after which no offer is accepted. On NUPCO it is Riyadh time with no extension for browser trouble; distinct from the publication date and from the last day for enquiries.
NUPCO supplier portal (SRM): The SAP Supplier Relationship Management system on which NUPCO publishes its tenders and suppliers submit bids. It needs special browser setup; see NUPCO portal problems.
Material code (NUPCO code): A fixed number identifying a product across every NUPCO tender and award result regardless of how the description is worded. The key to matching a catalog to tenders and tracking awards.
Bid response file: The Excel workbook downloaded from a NUPCO tender, in which a supplier fills the price, VAT, Change Option and product data for each item it bids on, and uploads back. See How to fill the bid response file.
Change Option: A column in the NUPCO bid response file where C marks every item that carries an offer. An item without C is not read by the portal.
Attachments file: A tab-delimited text file accompanying a NUPCO bid, naming for each item its PDF files: catalog, SFDA certificates, MDMA annex and quotation, uploaded beside it under the same names.
SFDA: The Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the regulator of medicines, medical devices and the establishments that handle them. Its registrations are a condition in most medical tenders.
MDMA (Medical Device Marketing Authorization): An authorization issued by the SFDA allowing a specific medical device or supply to be marketed in the Kingdom. NUPCO tenders ask for its number and expiry per item.
Establishment license (MDEL): The SFDA license for establishments that import, distribute or manufacture medical devices, distinct from the registration of the product itself.
Manufacturer authorization letter: A letter from the manufacturer entitling the supplier to sell its products or represent it in a tender, naming the items and the period. Required in medical tenders on both platforms.
Local content: The share of a product's or service's value spent inside the Kingdom. It earns a preference in Etimad evaluation and appears in the NUPCO file in the local-content certificate and local manufacturing share columns.
RFQ (request for quotation): A request a buyer or a supplier sends to several vendors to price specific items. Private hospitals use it to buy; suppliers use it to price a tender's items with their sources.
BOQ (bill of quantities): The list of items with quantities and units an offer is priced against. On NUPCO it is the tender's item list with material codes; on Etimad it is part of the tender documents.
Purchase order: The document a buyer issues after award or under a framework agreement to order a set quantity at an agreed price, starting delivery and invoicing.
Lead time: The number of days between a purchase order and delivery. Written in the NUPCO file as three digits, and a factor in evaluation because local stock shortens it.
MOQ (minimum order quantity): The smallest quantity a supplier will deliver in one order, and one of the NUPCO bid response file's columns.
VAT zero-rating: A tax treatment under which qualifying medicines and medical equipment in Saudi Arabia carry 0% VAT instead of 15%. In the NUPCO file these items take 0.00.
Addendum: A change the entity issues to the tender documents after publication: specifications, quantities or dates. An offer built on the original documents without the addendum is an offer on outdated terms.
Vendor number: The number by which NUPCO identifies each registered vendor, shown in award results beside the name. Stable even when the name is spelled differently from one file to another.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a competition and a tender?

None in meaning: "competition" (munafasa) is the statutory term in the Government Tenders and Procurement Law and on Etimad, and "tender" (munaqasa) is the everyday word for the same thing.

What does award mean in tenders?

The buyer's decision to select the winning offer and assign the supply or contract to it. On NUPCO it is per item, published as preliminary and then final.

What is the difference between MDMA and MDEL?

An MDMA is a marketing authorization for one specific medical product; an MDEL is a license for the establishment that imports or distributes devices. The supplier needs the establishment license, and every product it offers needs the marketing authorization.