Prototyping services

Choose 72244000 when the deliverable is a prototype that gets tested and learned from, not a system that goes live. A contracting authority uses it for a proof of concept, a pilot, or a design-and-experiment round before deciding whether to fund a full build.

The boundary that trips authorities is Programming services (72243000): if the contract's main output is production software meant to run in service, that is programming, even when an early version is built along the way. Reserve 72244000 for work where the prototype itself, and the evidence it produces, is what gets accepted.

Design-modelling services (72242000) is the other near neighbour. A design model is a representation or specification of a system; a prototype is a runnable version you can put in front of users. Where a single contract folds modelling, prototyping and a later build into one bundle, set the primary CPV code by the dominant deliverable, not by the whole scope.

Winners here are small specialist teams, R&D-leaning dev shops, and design studios that can stand up a credible working version fast, then show what it proves. If you bid, your case rests on a portfolio of comparable prototypes, a clear method for turning a hypothesis into something testable, and the named people who will do the work, more than on headcount or price.

A prototype here is a foot in the door, not the prize. The contracting authority that likes your prototype is the one shaping the follow-on production tender, so treat the proof of concept as positioning for the build that often comes next, even though nothing guarantees it.

Competition arrives from two places. Programming shops bidding under 72243000 cross in when the line between prototype and product is thin, and research-oriented firms cross over from Experimental development services (73120000). With 38 awards spread across 2010-2026 (TED) and no single dominant market, this is an intermittent, project-by-project code rather than a steady pipeline.