The Dutch infrastructure replacement wave: your own company in the consortium

Programmes, budgets and clients

Rijkswaterstaat keeps its financial requirements for bidders, including consortium bidders, to what is strictly necessary, compares offers on sustainability with the Dutch certificate for carbon reduction (CO2-prestatieladder) and the environmental cost calculator DuboCalc, and welcomes unsolicited proposals from the market. All tenders above the EU thresholds are published on TenderNed, the tender system of the Dutch government, where a company logs in with the Dutch business login (eHerkenning).

Who may bid

The Government Procurement Agreement has 22 parties, counting the EU and its member states as one, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Israel, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Ukraine. According to the European Commission, the GPA guarantees suppliers from these parties equal treatment in the tenders it covers, and a Spanish, Austrian or Polish firm, as an EU company, has the same rights as a Dutch one.

China, Brazil, Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia are observers at the GPA. In the Kolin case (C-652/22) on 22 October 2024, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the right to equal treatment in EU tenders belongs to companies from the EU and from countries with a procurement agreement with the EU, which leaves the Dutch buyer to decide whether and how a company from any other country takes part.

A Dutch BV owned by a Turkish, Indian, Gulf or Chinese parent is established in the EU and signs the bid and the consortium agreement in its own name, with its own Dutch Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number and bank account. The buyer assesses the bidder and its references, and looks at the parent company for any technical and financial capacity the bid relies on. See public tenders in the Netherlands for non-EU contractors.

The role of your Dutch company in the consortium

Dutch infrastructure work is done by combinations of a Dutch civil contractor, specialists in steel, concrete, installations or dredging, and an engineering firm, and your Dutch company signs the consortium agreement and the contract with Rijkswaterstaat, a water board or ProRail. See the project company for a Dutch construction consortium.

Your crews on a Dutch site are either on a Dutch payroll or posted from your company abroad. A company from the EU, the European Economic Area or Switzerland notifies every posting in the Dutch online portal before the work starts, and a subcontractor notifies its own workers. Workers from outside those countries need a work permit, or for postings over three months a residence permit for employees transferred within their own company group (intra-corporate transferees). Employees who stay longer than four months register for a citizen service number (BSN), and the employer registers with the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) for payroll tax. See Dutch payroll for foreign companies.

In Dutch construction the Tax Administration can make every company in the chain liable for the unpaid payroll taxes of a subcontractor, a rule known as chain liability. Main contractors therefore ask subcontractors for a G-account, into which they pay the payroll tax part of each invoice, and for a statement of payment conduct from the Tax Administration. Your company first applies for the G-account at the Tax Administration and then opens it at the bank, after which your Dutch company has its own VAT number, G-account and statement of payment conduct.

From 1 January 2027 companies that lend staff to Dutch clients need an admission, a licence to lend staff, under the new Dutch law on staffing companies (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling van arbeidskrachten, Wtta). Lenders that register with the Dutch authority for the lending of staff (Nederlandse Autoriteit Uitleenmarkt, NAU) before that date use the transition scheme, and the Labour Inspectorate enforces the law from 1 January 2028, with fines for both the lender and the client. A Dutch company that employs its own crews on its own contracts has a clear position under these rules.

Dutch buyers ask for references for comparable work, and the first project your Dutch company completes in a consortium becomes its reference for the next tender in its own name. After a few years the company has a Dutch track record, Dutch staff and Dutch certificates.

One company for the Dutch work

A single company acts as consortium partner, contracting party, employer, VAT payer, holder of the G-account and owner of the Dutch references, with its bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll and annual accounts in one administration. Its profit is taxed at 19% on the first €200,000 and 25.8% on the rest, and a holding company that owns several project companies receives their profits. See setting up a subsidiary in Europe.

The company remains yours, with an office you choose, directors you appoint and shares you own. We provide the formation, the registrations and the administration, while partners from our network handle tender writing, the Dutch safety certificate for contractors (VCA) and the CO2 performance ladder certificate at their own price, which you see in advance.

Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. See company formation in the Netherlands.

Sources

• Rijkswaterstaat, Meerjarenoverzicht vernieuwingsopgave bruggen, tunnels en sluizen 2026 to 2030: Dealflow (4 December 2025) and the news item (8 December 2025).
• Rijksfinanciën, Mobiliteitsfonds, ontwerpbegroting 2027 (September 2026), on spending per year, the extension to 2040, the ERTMS reservation and the tunnels.
• Rijksfinanciën, Deltafonds, ontwerpbegroting 2027 (September 2026), on spending per year, the HWBP, the HWBP-2 and the water board projects.
• Hoogwaterbeschermingsprogramma, Over HWBP (2026), on the 21 water boards and Rijkswaterstaat, €475 million a year, the 50/40/10 split and 2050.
• ProRail, ERTMS (updated 7 May 2025).
• Rijkswaterstaat, Inkoopbeleid (2026).
• TenderNed, Over TenderNed (2026).
• World Trade Organization, parties and observers to the Agreement on Government Procurement (2026); European Commission, Public procurement (2026).
• Court of Justice of the European Union, judgment of 22 October 2024 in case C-652/22 (Kolin).
• Business.gov.nl, Posting employees to the Netherlands (2026); KVK, Ketenaansprakelijkheid en een G-rekening (2026); Government of the Netherlands, Wtta (2026).

Checked on 27 October 2026 against the official sources in the list of sources, as they apply in October 2026. Tender, safety and staffing work is done by specialised partners; we coordinate.