Do I need a B-BBEE certificate to tender?

Only if your turnover puts you above the affidavit threshold. Below R10 million you are an Exempted Micro Enterprise and a sworn affidavit is sufficient. Between R10 million and R50 million a Qualifying Small Enterprise that is at least 51% black-owned may also use an affidavit; otherwise a verified certificate is required.

What is the difference between an EME and a QSE?

The dividing line is annual turnover. An Exempted Micro Enterprise turns over less than R10 million a year, and a Qualifying Small Enterprise turns over between R10 million and R50 million. The classification decides whether you may evidence your B-BBEE status by sworn affidavit or need verification by a SANAS-accredited agency.

How much does a B-BBEE affidavit cost?

Effectively nothing. You complete the template published by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and have it commissioned by a Commissioner of Oaths, which is usually free at a police station, and is also offered by many attorneys and bank officials.

Who can commission a B-BBEE affidavit?

Any Commissioner of Oaths. In practice that includes police officers at a station, practising attorneys, and many bank officials. The document has to be signed in front of them — a signed page taken in afterwards has not been commissioned and is not a valid affidavit.

How often must a B-BBEE affidavit be renewed?

Annually, in step with your financial year, because it states a turnover figure for a specific year. An affidavit that no longer reflects your actual turnover is not reliable evidence, and an evaluator comparing it to your financials can reasonably query it.

Are preference points still awarded on B-BBEE level?

Often, but no longer automatically. The Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2022 let each organ of state set the specific goals a tender awards its 20 or 10 preference points for. B-BBEE is a common and legitimate goal, but a buyer may also use local presence, job creation or participation by women, youth or people with disabilities, so each tender has to be read.

B-BBEE for tenders

B-BBEE affidavit or certificate: which one your business needs to tender

If your annual turnover is under R10 million you are an Exempted Micro Enterprise, and a sworn affidavit signed before a Commissioner of Oaths is all the B-BBEE evidence a tender requires — you do not need, and should not pay for, a verification certificate. The threshold is the whole answer for most small contractors, and paying a verification agency below it is money spent on a document you were entitled to produce for free.

Facts checked against source on 8 September 2026. Fees and thresholds are set by the relevant authority and change — confirm current figures before you budget.

The turnover thresholds decide the document

Under the Amended Codes of Good Practice, a business with annual turnover below R10 million is an Exempted Micro Enterprise. An EME evidences its B-BBEE status with a sworn affidavit rather than a verification certificate, and start-ups are treated as EMEs in their first year regardless of projected turnover.

Between R10 million and R50 million a business is a Qualifying Small Enterprise. A QSE that is at least 51% black-owned may also use a sworn affidavit. A QSE below that ownership level needs a verification certificate from a SANAS-accredited agency.

Above R50 million turnover a business is measured as a generic enterprise and requires a verified certificate. The pattern is consistent: the affidavit route exists to keep small businesses out of a costly verification process, and it narrows as the business grows.

What makes an affidavit valid

The affidavit must be sworn before a Commissioner of Oaths — a police officer, a practising attorney and many bank officials can commission one, usually at no charge. An unsigned or uncommissioned document is not an affidavit and will be rejected on evaluation.

Use the prescribed template published by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition rather than a version reworded by a third party. Evaluators are reading a large number of these against a known form, and a document that departs from it invites a query you do not want during adjudication.

The affidavit states turnover and black ownership, and those two facts determine the level it confers. It is a sworn statement, so the figures must be true — an affidavit overstating ownership or understating turnover to reach a better level is a criminal matter, not an aggressive interpretation.

How preference points actually work now

Tenders are scored on a points split set by contract value: 80 points for price and 20 for specific goals below R50 million, and 90 for price and 10 for specific goals above it. That much is long-standing and unchanged.

What changed is what those goals may be. Under the Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2022, the organ of state decides the specific goals for each tender rather than points being awarded on B-BBEE contribution level automatically. B-BBEE remains a legitimate and widely used specific goal, but a buyer may also set goals such as local or regional presence, job creation, or participation by women, youth or people with disabilities.

The practical instruction is therefore to read each tender rather than assume. Two tenders of similar value from different buyers can award their preference points on entirely different criteria, and a business that assumes its B-BBEE level is always the deciding factor will misjudge where it is competitive.

Common and expensive mistakes

The most expensive is buying a verification certificate as an EME. A business under R10 million turnover is entitled to use an affidavit, and an agency selling it a certificate is selling something the tender did not ask for.

The second is letting the affidavit go stale. It reflects a financial year, and an affidavit that no longer matches your actual turnover is not evidence of anything. Refresh it annually, in step with your year-end.

The third is misreading the R10 million and R50 million lines as being about company size in some general sense. They are annual turnover thresholds, and they are the specific test that decides which document you need — a business with many staff and modest turnover is still an EME.

Where Industrial Hub fits

Industrial Hub does not issue affidavits or certificates. It records your B-BBEE standing in your compliance profile, works out the preference points that standing earns on the 80/20 or 90/10 split for each tender, and shows that alongside the tender’s other requirements — so you can judge whether a bid is worth pricing before you build it.

Common questions

Do I need a B-BBEE certificate to tender?: Only if your turnover puts you above the affidavit threshold. Below R10 million you are an Exempted Micro Enterprise and a sworn affidavit is sufficient. Between R10 million and R50 million a Qualifying Small Enterprise that is at least 51% black-owned may also use an affidavit; otherwise a verified certificate is required.
What is the difference between an EME and a QSE?: The dividing line is annual turnover. An Exempted Micro Enterprise turns over less than R10 million a year, and a Qualifying Small Enterprise turns over between R10 million and R50 million. The classification decides whether you may evidence your B-BBEE status by sworn affidavit or need verification by a SANAS-accredited agency.
How much does a B-BBEE affidavit cost?: Effectively nothing. You complete the template published by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and have it commissioned by a Commissioner of Oaths, which is usually free at a police station, and is also offered by many attorneys and bank officials.
Who can commission a B-BBEE affidavit?: Any Commissioner of Oaths. In practice that includes police officers at a station, practising attorneys, and many bank officials. The document has to be signed in front of them — a signed page taken in afterwards has not been commissioned and is not a valid affidavit.
How often must a B-BBEE affidavit be renewed?: Annually, in step with your financial year, because it states a turnover figure for a specific year. An affidavit that no longer reflects your actual turnover is not reliable evidence, and an evaluator comparing it to your financials can reasonably query it.
Are preference points still awarded on B-BBEE level?: Often, but no longer automatically. The Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2022 let each organ of state set the specific goals a tender awards its 20 or 10 preference points for. B-BBEE is a common and legitimate goal, but a buyer may also use local presence, job creation or participation by women, youth or people with disabilities, so each tender has to be read.

Check a tender against your compliance profile before you bid

Store your CIDB grade, CSD registration, tax status and B-BBEE standing once. Every matching government tender is then checked against them, so the ones you cannot bid are flagged before you open the document pack.

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