Three dates that answer different questions
| Date | What it can tell you |
|---|---|
| Submission deadline | When an open procedure expects responses, subject to its current instructions. |
| Planned delivery period | When work is expected to happen. It does not prove a contract has been awarded. |
| Awarded-contract end date | When an existing award is reported to end, subject to extensions or amendments. |
ContoKit separates open tenders from ending awards. It does not convert a planned lot duration into an awarded expiry. Where the source gives only a calendar date, we do not invent a deadline time zone.
Start with a specific, inspectable example
Power BI dashboard development support
The observed UK notice for Bracknell Forest Borough Council describes children’s social care dashboard development support, with a reported contract end of 31 March 2027 and an amount of £49,500.
That makes it a relevant record for a data consultancy to research. It does not establish that a replacement project will be purchased or that another supplier can compete for it.
Inspect original notice 097639-2026 ↗This is a record from the sample checked on 15 October 2026. Always inspect the current notice and subsequent amendments; this example is not a live renewal recommendation.
Check the current position before acting
- Extensions and changes: the observed end date may have been extended, replaced or amended in a notice outside our bounded history.
- Incumbent and scope: understand what was actually supplied. A vendor-specific support award may have very different opportunities from an open development project.
- Procurement evidence: look for the buyer’s published plans or an actual new procedure. Do not treat our ending label as proof that one exists.
- Value meaning: distinguish contract value, estimate and reported obligations. Keep currencies separate.
- Route and eligibility: check the official process before contacting the buyer or committing bid effort.
Use US awards for the question they support
The USAspending sample in this version contains already awarded US federal software contracts with reported future end dates. Their Award Amount is reported obligations, not a guaranteed contract ceiling. They are useful research records; they are not a feed of open US solicitations.
Build a research list, then verify it
Choose “Contracts ending” or “Both signal types” in the brief builder. Enter the services you actually sell, use the market filter and inspect the match explanation. A strict title filter can make a small list easier to work through.
Export the report with its sources and cautions. If you need to submit a bid now, switch to open tenders and confirm the current submission instructions. If you are researching a market, preserve the distinction between an observed fact and a commercial hypothesis.
Source details and known limits: ContoKit methodology. UK source data contains public sector information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ContoKit has no affiliation with the source authorities.