2000+ Construction Companies in Cyprus: How to Choose Contractors for your Building Project
15 September 2025
From the Projects.cy team*
Cyprus boasts more than 2000 licensed construction companies, according to the Council for the Registration and Control of Contractors. Limassol alone numbers almost 700 building Contractors. Construction companies can differ from one another in terms of license category (A’, B’, C’, D’ or E’), years of experience, district(s) where they operate, types of projects undertaken (i.e. concrete, steel, masonry, timber), number of building projects completed, financial health and so on.
So how should the owner of a construction project go about sourcing tenders from such a vast market in a way that meets the key goals of quality, reliability and competitive pricing?
1. The Scope of Eligible Contractors is Narrowed by the Size of the Building Project
The size of the building project (in terms of m2 of covered areas) restricts eligible Contractors to those of particular license categories. For instance, a Class E’ Contractor may legally only undertake projects of up to 300m2, meaning that if a house building project is 310m2, all Class E’ Contractors are excluded. Class D’, C’, and B’ Contractors can carry out projects up to 1000m2, 4000m2 and 10000m2 respectively, while Class A’ Contractors can carry out projects of any size.
More detailed information on the classification of construction companies into the license categories A’, B’, C’, D’ and E’ can be found in our special article on the subject, here (in Greek).
2. Certain Contractors Focus on Particular Types of Construction Projects
Building projects can be distinguished between new constructions and renovations, as well as between their main structural elements (concrete, steel, masonry, timber). Moreover, a special category of projects is that of “listed/national heritage buildings”, the restoration of which often requires particular expertise and experience.
While the great majority of building Contractors in Cyprus focuses on projects with a concrete structure (which can also incorporate certain structural steel elements), there is only a small number of companies that undertake full structural steel, masonry or timber building projects. These latter companies can be further subdivided on the basis of the building method used; for instance, in the case of structural steel constructions, between heavy steel construction and light gauge steel construction. Moreover, certain Contractors are focused on new projects instead of renovations, and vice versa. As for the restoration of listed buildings, this is a niche category that some Contractors have focused on in recent years and have accumulated relevant know-how and experience.
It follows that −depending on the type of the building project− the owner should aim to procure tenders from that segment of the construction market that specialises in his particular kind of building project.
3. Years of Experience and Number of Past Projects
Experience is a further distinguishing feature among Contractors, a good proxy of which is their years of operation as a Cyprus construction company. This can be determined by looking at their official registration particulars, which include the year the company was first registered as a licenced construction company with the Council for the Registration and Control of Contractors. For instance, XYZ Contractors Ltd could have a registration number 10919/2015/ΛΕΜ, meaning that the Contractor was registered in 2015 in Limassol.
The number of past projects completed is also a relevant consideration; an owner may wish to seek out Contractors that have carried out a good number of projects in the past (especially projects of similar type to the owner’s intended project) and this may sometimes have little or no relation to the number of years the Contractor has been operating. For instance, it is possible that a 2020 construction company has completed a far greater number of projects compared to a 2015 company.
Furthermore, at the final stage when assessing the tenders submitted, visiting ongoing or completed projects of the bidding Contractors to assess quality and good workmanship is a must.
4. Contractor’s District
As discussed above, a Contractor’s registration particulars include the district where he is based, i.e. Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos or Famagusta. Note that the district mentioned therein does not necessarily mean that the Contractor is active only in that district; many Contractors undertake projects in districts other than their base/registration district. For instance, numerous Nicosia-registered Contractors are also active in Limassol and Larnaca.
It follows that eligible Contractors for a building project in a particular district (say a project in Limassol) are not limited to Limassol-registered Contractors, as there are also eligible Contractors based in Nicosia, Larnaca or Paphos that also operate in Limassol. Opening the building project to bids from these additional Contractors means more competition for your project and, possibly, better prices. This is supported by the fact that at present, Nicosia’s Contractors have more spare capacity than Limassol’s Contractors.
5. References and Recommendations for Particular Contractors
A common way to go about sourcing tenders in Cyprus is to ask family, friends and colleagues to recommend a good Contractor (“good” in terms of reliability, quality, price). This typically results in 5 Contractors who are then invited to submit a tender for the project. Unfortunately, this process often does not result in effective and truly competitive tendering and a best quality-to-price relationship. Here’s why:
+ A friend’s opinion on whether a Contractor is “good” or not, is often subjective; for instance, an owner who −perhaps unlike yourself− understands little of construction and does not have an inquiring mind or an eye for detail, may wrongly judge a Contractor’s work as good.
+ A friend’s recommendation may label a Contractor as good or bad based on the wrong reasons, such as being friendly, cooperative and nice.
+ In the case of a friend who does not recommend a particular Contractor because he had a bad experience, it’s possible that the fault was not with the Contractor but with the friend (perhaps he was unreasonable, indecisive, paid the Contractor late or caused project delays himself).
+ A friend’s positive opinion for a particular Contractor may be outdated; a Contractor who was attentive and qualitative 5 years ago may no longer be so (i.e. because now he is overloaded or he may have lost key personnel).
+ Getting recommendations for 5 Contractors and then inviting them to tender may result in higher prices; if these 5 Contractors were recommended because they are among the ones most people know and use, they are likely to be very busy and with little incentive to bid competitively. Some may even decline the invitation to tender.
Hence, relying on recommendations to select which Contractors to invite to tender carries real risks, with perhaps the most important risk being to end up overpaying for your project.
A modern alternative to this approach is the open competitive tendering procedure, used by governments and large corporations. Under this method, a project is open for bidding to any Contractor that meets pre-defined quantitative and qualitative criteria, thus creating much greater competition and pushing prices lower. For private building projects, Projects.cy’s eProcurement Platform allows project owners to launch a call for tenders to the entire construction market, based on their own eligibility and selection criteria, for free.
6. Contractors’ Financial Situation and Stability
No owner wants to end up in a situation where −mid-project− his Contractor is plagued by financial problems or even goes bankrupt. Hence, it is important to ensure that the Contractors invited to tender, and particularly the Contractor you end up signing with, are financially healthy and sound. An owner can consider inviting only Contractors who express readiness to share financial information (such as their balance sheet) in case they get shortlisted and who are also willing to provide a full bank guarantee for any project prepayment.
Note that concerning financial health, there is also the possibility for the owner to obtain the financial statements of any construction company from the Cyprus Registrar of Companies for a small fee (€10).
NEXT STEPS
Obtaining tenders with an optimal price-to-quality relationship necessitates projecting and opening a project to competitive tenders from the entire part of the construction market that corresponds to the owner’s qualitative/quantitative criteria. In other words, it involves launching an invitation to tender towards all the Contractors in the market that fulfil your specific criteria and letting them deliver their best bids for the building of your project.
This can be done through electronic procurement or “eProcurement” systems, such as the one provided by Project.cy’s eProcurement Platform. The considerations discussed in this article concerning Contractor classes, years of experience, number of past projects, financial data and so on, can all be incorporated as eligibility criteria within the tender invitation. This way, tenths or hundreds of Contractors that match the owner’s criteria (from the total of 2000+ Contractors) get informed and invited to compete for the job. Moreover, the project is more likely to be spotted by Contractors who are particularly interested in it because, for example, they may have spare capacity at the time or the project’s proximity to their offices or their other building sites reduces their costs.
In other words, the broad projection of a project through eProcurement and the competitive process can reduce an owner’s cost of construction while ensuring that only Contractors that fulfil quality criteria can participate.
* Are you building or renovating soon and are requesting tenders from licensed Contractors? If you have all the plans, documents and permits ready, get better tenders through the free platform of 2.000+ registered Contractors PROJECTS.CY and save up to 15% on construction costs!