SISCAE Nicaragua: supplier registration, procesos vigentes and the new Ley 1238 (2026 guide)

SISCAE is where the State of Nicaragua buys. Ministries, autonomous entities and municipalities publish their procurement processes on the Portal Único de Contratación at nicaraguacompra.gob.ni. A supplier must be in the Registro de Proveedores to bid. This guide explains how to register and how to find the procesos vigentes. It also lists the rules of the new Ley 1238 for a bid in 2026.

What is SISCAE

SISCAE is the Sistema de Contrataciones Administrativas Electrónicas, the electronic procurement system of Nicaragua. People also call it NicaraguaCompra, after the portal address. The Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público is the governing authority. Its Dirección General de Contrataciones del Estado (DGCE) runs the system and the Registro de Proveedores.

The portal is free and public. On SISCAE you find:

• the annual procurement plans of the entities (Programación Anual de las Contrataciones);
• the calls for each procurement process, with the Pliego de Bases y Condiciones (PBC);
• award resolutions and contract information;
• the Registro de Proveedores and the register of suppliers that cannot contract with the State;
• the electronic catalogue of goods and services for framework agreements.

Ley 1238: the new procurement law

Since 2025, public procurement in Nicaragua follows Ley No. 1238, Ley de Contrataciones Administrativas del Estado. The National Assembly passed it on 18 February 2025, and La Gaceta No. 35 published it on 21 February 2025. Its Reglamento, Decreto Presidencial No. 07-2025, came out in La Gaceta No. 83 on 12 May 2025.

Ley 1238 repealed two laws: Ley No. 737 for the public sector and Ley No. 801 for municipalities. A reference to Ley 737 in an older guide, a template or a contract now means Ley 1238. If you used SISCAE before 2025, check the new thresholds and guarantee rules below.

SISCAE inicio: log in

Open nicaraguacompra.gob.ni and use the supplier access with the user name and the password that SISCAE emailed to you at registration. At the first login, change the password with the Cambio de Clave option. The SISCAE help desk and the Registro de Proveedores answer on the phone numbers that the portal lists.

You can browse public processes without a login. To take part as a supplier and manage your registration data, you must log in.

How to register as a Proveedor del Estado

Registration is free. The SISCAE portal says you can register over the internet with your email account, register your data and get your Certificado de Inscripción.

The Reglamento (Article 19) lists the requirements:

1. A Registro Único de Contribuyente (RUC).
2. A solvent tax status at the Dirección General de Ingresos (DGI).
3. A valid email address for official notices.
4. No legal prohibition to contract with the State.
5. The online form, with data that match your DGI record.

The steps on the portal:

1. Open Nuevos Proveedores, then the Formulario de Inscripción.
2. Choose Nacional or Extranjero and enter the RUC without dots or hyphens.
3. Complete the data of the person or company.
4. Wait for the DGCE check. DGCE can reject the request if you are not solvent at the DGI or if your data differ from the DGI record.
5. Log in with the emailed credentials and print the Certificado de Inscripción.

Keep the registration current. You must update the data in the Registro de Proveedores when they change.

How to find the procesos vigentes

Use the search of procedures (búsqueda de procedimientos) on SISCAE to list the processes that are open now. Filter by entity, modality or date, then open a process to read the call, the PBC and the deadline. Annual procurement plans show what an entity intends to buy later in the year.

These Spanish terms appear in every process:

Thresholds and bid periods under Ley 1238

The value of the contract sets the modality:

Two more modalities have no value limit. Framework agreements (Acuerdos Marco) buy standard goods and services through the electronic catalogue. Contratación Simplificada applies only to the causes that the law lists. The law also allows processes reserved for micro, small and medium enterprises (MIPYMES). The Ministry of Finance can update the amounts for inflation.

The bid periods are short. A selective tender can close 10 business days after the invitation, and a minor contract 3 business days after publication. Check SISCAE often, or use an alert.

How to bid and what happens after the award

1. Read the PBC. It states the documents, the evaluation factors and the type of bid guarantee.
2. Prepare the bid guarantee if the PBC asks for a bond: 1% to 3% of the bid value, from an insurer supervised by SIBOIF. Some processes accept a notarial declaration instead.
3. Submit the bid before the deadline. The entity opens the bids in public right after the deadline.
4. Read the award resolution. If the evaluation of a public or selective tender has irregularities, file a Recurso de Impugnación within 2 business days of the notice. It goes to the Procuraduría General de la República, with a copy to the entity.
5. If you win, post the performance guarantee before you sign: 5% to 10% of the contract for goods and services, 10% to 20% for works. A non-resident foreign company must register as a supplier before it signs.

An advance payment needs a guarantee for 100% of the advance, and an advance cannot exceed 40% of the contract value. Delay penalties for works are capped at 10% of the contract value.

Track Nicaragua tenders with Sell to State

SISCAE publishes in Spanish, and the open periods are short. Sell to State lets you search government tenders in plain English across Central America and save the searches you need. Search Nicaragua tenders or read the guides for Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala.