CPV 183 – Special Clothing

What does CPV Group 183 cover?

CPV Group 183 (18300000) classifies public contracts for special clothing – garments designed and manufactured for specific occupational or functional purposes beyond standard everyday outerwear. This encompasses police and gendarmerie service uniforms, medical and nursing scrubs, surgical theatre clothing, fire service operational garments, customs officer uniforms, prison officer service dress, judicial robes, academic gowns and other institutionally specific occupational clothing.

Special clothing is one of the most procurement-intensive sub-categories in CPV Division 18. Police forces at federal and state level hold large-scale framework agreements for service uniforms and operational clothing, often covering thousands of officers across multiple locations. Hospital groups procure clinical scrubs and theatre garments for medical and nursing staff, frequently with requirements for antimicrobial fabric treatments and industrial laundry durability. Fire services procure structural firefighting clothing that bridges the boundary between CPV 183 and CPV 184 (protective clothing), depending on the balance of functional specification.

Corporate identity requirements (colour standards, badge placement, branding) and technical performance specifications (moisture management, antimicrobial properties, durability) are standard elements of special clothing tenders.

Further information on the CPV system is available from the European Commission (SIMAP) and Regulation (EC) No 213/2008 amending the CPV.

Typical Services in CPV 183

• Police and law enforcement service uniforms
• Medical scrubs and clinical workwear for hospitals
• Surgical theatre gowns and sterile operating clothing
• Customs and border authority service dress
• Prison officer and correctional service uniforms
• Judicial, ceremonial and academic dress

Examples of Tenders with CPV 183

• Nursing scrubs for a public hospital group: A hospital group tenders supply of colour-coded scrub sets for nursing, medical and auxiliary staff across six facilities, specifying antimicrobial fabric treatment, industrial wash endurance and size range from XS to 4XL.
• Police service shirts and duty trousers: A state police administration procures its annual allocation of summer and winter duty shirts, service trousers and tie for operational officers, with defined fabric weight, colour standards and integrated rank insignia placement.
• Prison officer service dress: A national prison service tenders supply of service trousers, duty shirts, service ties and name badges for its custodial officers across multiple establishments.

Current tenders with CPV 183 are published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and on national procurement platforms.

Who is CPV 183 relevant for?

Public Contracting Authorities

Police forces, national health service organisations and hospital groups, fire services, customs authorities, prison services and judicial institutions are the primary contracting authorities under CPV 183. Technical performance standards, corporate identity compliance and industrial laundry durability are defining specification parameters.

Companies and Bidders

Uniform manufacturers, specialist occupational clothing producers, medical workwear brands and textile companies with public sector experience are the main bidders. Fabric performance certification, industrial wash testing documentation, quality management certification and proven capacity for large government contracts are essential eligibility requirements.

Information on eligibility criteria and procurement procedures is available from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

How does Bond help with CPV 183?

Tender Match – Automatically Find Tenders (CPV 183)

With tender.match, uniform manufacturers, medical workwear producers and specialist occupational clothing suppliers automatically receive all relevant tenders with CPV 183 directly in their dashboard. BOND indexes tenders from over 1,000 procurement portals in the EU – from TED to national platforms and regional contracting authorities. Instead of manually searching dozens of portals every day, matching special clothing contracts are filtered and delivered by industry, competency, region, and company profile. An automated gap analysis immediately shows where the company meets the requirements and where gaps exist. This ensures companies never miss a deadline and can focus on preparing their bids.

Company Match – Find the Right Partners and Suppliers (CPV 183)

For companies looking for suppliers, subcontractors, or consortium partners for special clothing projects, company.match provides direct access to qualified firms from an EU-wide database of over 28 million companies. Especially for larger uniform framework contracts, company.match automatically identifies suitable partners for bidding consortia and partial services – increasing the chances of winning the contract.

Frequently Asked Questions about CPV 183

What does the CPV code 18300000 mean?

The CPV code 18300000 covers the group "Special Clothing" in the EU's Common Procurement Vocabulary. It classifies public contracts for the supply of occupational and institutional clothing with specific functional or identity requirements, from police uniforms and medical scrubs to judicial robes and prison officer service dress.

How do I find tenders with CPV 183?

Tenders with CPV 183 are published at EU level on TED. Below-threshold contracts are commonly found on national platforms. Bond aggregates all sources and delivers targeted results.

What are the requirements for participating in tenders with CPV 183?

Requirements typically include quality management certification, fabric performance testing (e.g. industrial wash endurance, colour fastness), corporate identity compliance documentation and references for comparable institutional clothing supply. Details are governed by the VgV or the UVgO depending on contract value.