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Ted is the acronym for Tenders Electronic Daily, a supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (Ojeu). It contains all the tender invitations and contract opportunities which require compulsory notification across EU member states. Under current legislation, the majority of supply and service procurements within the EU with a value above €200,000 (£185,000) must be advertised in the Ojeu.

A number of companies in the UK provide search services for tender information to architects and other professionals. These services usually use either email or RSS feeds to deliver tender information that fits the client’s requirements.

Such search services include Tenders Direct, Tracker, QSL Tenders, B2BQuote, Eurobidwatch, and Tenders. The cost varies between £124 and £980 per year. Obviously, price alone is not the only criterion for evaluating a tender search service. The way in which it is tailored to your requirements is significant.

A recommendation from a user of one of the services is one way of selecting. Alternatively, given that the majority of tenders are listed in Ted — which is free to access by anyone — you could do the search yourself in these budget-constrained times .

The Ted website is unfortunately neither the most elegant nor user-friendly. However, it performs searches well once you have grasped a few basics. To get to the Ted website, go to http://ted.europa.eu/Exec?Template=TED/editorial_page.htm&DataFlow=ShowPage.dfl&StatLang=EN. If you haven’t used the site before, you need to register using the simple web form. On receipt of a confirmation email (which arrives within minutes), you can log in and start searching. I found the “extended search” interface the best to use.

To start making meaningful searches, you need to consider two main criteria: the CPV code and the Nuts code. The CPV code refers to the type of tender. These are seven-digit codes which, for architectural services, all start with the digits "712". All the different architectural codes can be looked up on the site or else when you search, follow the "712" with an * (asterisk) and these will all be automatically included.

The Nuts code indicates the location of the work. UK codes are preceded by "UK", and there are 182 regional codes. Again, adding an asterisk after "UK" is a simple catch-all approach.

The extended search page has a "manage profiles" button. This allows you to save a profile, effectively a saved set of search criteria. If you load a saved profile , you can also turn on "set RSS feed". By clicking on "view RSS feed URL", you can follow the link to your personalised RSS feed page.

If you bookmark this in your browser, your latest tender search results will be just a mouse-click away.