# CPV, NAICS and UNSPSC codes in Tender Navigator

Source: Tender Navigator Knowledge Base, https://tendernavigator.com/knowledge-base/classification-codes (canonical HTML). Category: Finding tenders. Published 2026-09-08, last updated 2026-09-08.

> Tender Navigator supports three procurement classification systems: CPV (used across the EU and the UK), NAICS (United States and Canada) and UNSPSC (international). Codes are entered from a built-in dictionary with autocomplete, and a tender matches if it carries any selected code in any system.

## The three systems

| System | Used by | Code format | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **CPV** (Common Procurement Vocabulary) | EU portals such as TED and national portals in Europe, and UK portals | 8 digits | 72000000 - IT services |
| **NAICS** (North American Industry Classification System) | United States and Canada, for example SAM.gov | 6 digits | 541512 - Computer systems design services |
| **UNSPSC** (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code) | International bodies and portals outside Europe and North America | 8 digits | 43232400 - Development software |

Tender Navigator shows all three fields on every search surface and in the filter editor, whatever countries you selected. A code from another system never breaks a search; because codes are combined with OR, it can only add results. Use the system that the portals in your target market actually use, and add a second system when you also bid outside it.

## Entering a code

1. Click the code field (CPV, NAICS or UNSPSC).
2. Type digits to search by code prefix, or type a word to search the code labels. For example "72" lists CPV codes starting with 72, and "software" lists codes whose label mentions software.
3. Pick a code from the list. It appears as a removable chip. Hovering a chip shows its full label.
4. Repeat for as many codes as you need. Duplicates are refused.

Only codes present in Tender Navigator's dictionary can be added. Free-typed digits that match nothing are rejected with a message, so a partial or invalid code can never be saved on a filter. The dictionary loads the first time a field is used; while it loads, the field says so and does not accept input.

## How codes match

- A tender matches a code if the notice carries that code (or, for CPV families, a code within the category you chose). A CPV family such as 72000000 covers the IT services category as a whole.
- Codes in one system are ORed with each other and with the other systems.
- In a **filter**, at least one code in any system is required before the filter can be activated, because codes are the most reliable way to keep a daily filter from reading everything.

## Limits

A filter holds up to 10 codes per system (10 CPV, 10 NAICS and 10 UNSPSC). The Pre-search tool has no practical cap.

## Where else codes appear

- On a tender notice, the panel and the notice page list the codes the tender carries as chips.
- On the Results page, the CPV, NAICS and UNSPSC fields narrow the list of evaluated tenders to those carrying a code.
- In the [Business Profile](/knowledge-base/business-profile), the Procurement codes section stores the codes for the work you want to see; Generate filter carries them into a draft filter.
- The [tour](/knowledge-base/platform-tour) "Find tenders and save a filter" asks you to add one code before the first search, because a filter needs at least one.