CPV Classification
Definition
CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) is the European statistical classification of goods and services procured by the public sector. It is established by law[1]. The CPV consists of a Main Vocabulary and a Supplementary Vocabulary, both available in 22 official EU languages.
Structure
The Main Vocabulary currently consists of about 9454 terms, listing goods, works and services commonly used in procurement. The CPV does not have a structured description for each code. The goods codes contain parts or combinations of information, such as the main name of a product and its type, and sometimes other details.
The system is hierarchical:
- Division
- Group
- Class
- Category
- Sub-category
The structure is a nine-digit code, the last being a check digit.
- The first two digits come in a block, so as to accommodate 99 divisions
- The next six digits each represent one level of classification, so there cannot be more than 9 groups at a given level of classification.
Zeros are placed at the end of codes, except for the first two digits, and they indicate the level of accuracy of the code (the more zeros it has, the more general it is). In fact where a given level of classification is not further subdivided, a ‘0’ is used in the position for the next more detailed level.
The system is hierarchical: at the highest level are broad industrial sectors such as Manufacturing or Mining which are refined at two further levels, i.e. sector, sub-sector and sub-subsector. The hierarchical levels are denoted respectively:
- Section: Level 1: 21 sections identified by alphabetical letters A to U;
- Division: Level 2: 88 divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01 to 99);
- Group: Level 3: 272 groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1 to 99.0);
- Class: Level 4: 615 classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11 to 99.00).
Example
As an example of an economic sector, Artistic Creation would be classified as:
- R - Arts, entertainment and recreation
- R90.0 - Creative, arts and entertainment activities
- R90.0.3 - Artistic creation
Top Level CPV Divisions
This is the CPV 2008 highest level segmentation [2]
| Section | Title |
|---|---|
| A | D1 |
| B | D2 |
