Bid proposal signed on time — all signatures obtained before the submission deadline
You know the drill. The deadline for submitting bids is tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. The power of attorney is waiting for the other board member, who returns on Friday. The third-party commitment will „arrive as a scan"—and a scan is not an electronic signature. In CertumSign, you send the complete set of bid documents for signature in one go and can see the status of each signature before you start submitting the bid on the procurement platform.
How many deals fall through not because of the price, but because of the signatures?
Do the math yourself:
- Power of attorney to sign the bid: The management board signs it in accordance with KRS, and the other board member „will be back on Friday"—the deadline for submission is Thursday,
- third-party obligation: the subcontractor sends back a scan of the signed form—but the scan is not an electronic signature and will not be accepted during the bid review,
- consortium: three companies in three cities and a single power of attorney for the leader, which everyone must sign—the paper copy is being sent by courier throughout Poland.
After the deadline for submitting bids has passed, you may not add or correct your signature. A bid prepared or submitted in violation of the technical requirements is subject to rejection (Article 226(1) of the Public Procurement Law)—regardless of how competitive the price was. The signature is the last thing you should skimp on.
Complete set of bid documents — three steps in CertumSign
CertumSign It’s the Certum (Asseco Data Systems) platform, which runs in a browser—no IT setup required; you can set up an account in about 5 minutes. You submit your bid as usual on the buyer’s procurement platform—CertumSign takes care of everything that needs to happen beforehand: signatures.
You're uploading the set
Bid forms, statements, powers of attorney, third-party commitments—all the files for a single procurement proceeding in one place, rather than as email attachments.
You're sending it out for signatures
Signing sequence: the management board signs the power of attorney, the third party signs its commitment, and the consortium members sign the joint documents—each at their own location—and you can see the status of all signatures.
You validate and submit
Before submitting, you must verify the validity of each signature using qualified validation. You download the signed files and submit them via the procurement platform—e-Zamówienia or the platform specified in the SWZ.
Does a third party or consortium member not have an electronic signature? They will sign anyway
This is the most common obstacle when putting together a bid: You have a qualified digital signature, but the subcontractor providing the resources or a partner in the consortium does not. CertumSign resolves this in two ways:
One-time qualified digital signature
It has the same legal validity as a handwritten signature (Article 78¹ of the Civil Code). The signer verifies their identity remotely, 24/7: via mObywatel and a QR code, e-dowód, bank verification (over 2,000 banks), video verification, login.gov.pl, or eDO App. It works for people in Poland and the EU. A single signing operation—exactly what is needed to bind a third party or grant power of attorney to a consortium when the other party does not have its own certificate.
SMS or email signature
A time-stamped and stamped (Certum) document format—for working documents related to the bid: consortium agreements, NDAs with subcontractors, and internal approvals of cost estimates. Use a qualified digital signature for the bid itself and for documents submitted to the contracting authority.
You sign the offer with your own qualified digital signature—from any Polish provider, such as. SimplySign or with the Certum card. Don't have a certificate yet? We'll help you get one →
Documents in legal proceedings—who signs them and with what
Bulk uploading and signing of multiple files work even with a free account (up to 16 MB). A complete set of documents for a single case—one operation instead of dozens of emails.
How many signatures does a company participating in bids need?
Bid Coordinator
The person who signs the bids must have their own, personally issued qualified certificate—the certificate is assigned to an individual, not a company, and must not be shared. It is this signature that is used in every procurement process.
Board of Directors
Board members sign powers of attorney and contracts with contracting authorities—in accordance with the representation specified in KRS. Using their own qualified digital signatures, they can do so from anywhere, rather than delaying the bid until they return from a business trip.
Vacation Cover
There is a real risk that a representative might be on vacation or sick leave during the week the bid is submitted. A second certificate for a substitute (plus a power of attorney) costs a fraction of the value of a single lost bid.
Qualified certificates for the entire team — SimplySign (signature on the phone) or the Certum card—you can purchase and implement it with us, including installation and training. Call us at: +48 22 417 05 55.
A signature that will stand up to scrutiny during the bid review
Proper Form of a Signature
Above the EU thresholds, a bid requires a qualified signature (Article 63(1) of the Public Procurement Law). In national procurement procedures, a trusted or personal signature is also acceptable (Article 63(2))—but a qualified signature works in both regimes, on every procurement platform, and also in KSeF, e-Deliveries, and commercial contracts. One signature instead of three tools.
Pre-submission validation
The contracting authority will verify every signature in the bid—you can do this beforehand. Qualified validation (WebNotarius engine) checks the validity of the signatures across the entire set and generates a PDF report. You’ll detect an expired third-party certificate before the submission deadline, not from a letter rejecting your bid.
Documents are processed by a qualified EU trust service provider (Certum, Asseco Data Systems)—in accordance with eIDAS and the GDPR, with a complete audit trail: you can see who signed each case file and when.
Get started for free, and scale as your caseload grows
A free account lets you sign and send documents up to 16 MB in size—which is more than enough for your first few projects. For companies that regularly participate in tenders, we recommend the Business Organization (8,148 PLN/year net, according to the Certum price list, as of July 2026).
When your limits run out, you can purchase additional transaction packages (SMS signatures, one-time qualified signatures, validations) in the Certum store. Before you decide, test the platform using documents from a real-world scenario—as a Certum partner, we’re launching a free 14-day trial plan for organizations.
net
- Up to 20 users and 50 GB of shared storage — the bidding department, management, and legal counsel all in one organization
- 50 one-time qualified digital signatures per year — for third parties and consortium members without an e-signature
- 300 shipments per month and unlimited internal shipments
- 20 qualified validation reports per month — signature verification before each bid submission
- User roles, signing queue, and mailing templates—the offers department prepares them, and authorized personnel simply sign them
Do you need an API? Integration with the document management system — We can do that for you.
Try it free for 14 daysFrequently Asked Questions from Contractors
Do I always need a qualified digital signature for a tender?
Is a scan of a hand-signed bid sufficient?
A third party does not have an electronic signature—what about its obligation?
How can you verify that all signatures are valid before submitting a bid?
Do I submit my bid through CertumSign?
How much does it cost?
The next deposit offer—no stress about signatures
All signatures have been collected ahead of schedule, their validity has been verified, and the documents are in the archive. Before you make a decision, test the platform using documents from a real case—as a Certum partner, we’re launching a free 14-day trial plan for organizations.