Frequently asked questions
Honest answers about the process, costs, confidentiality and reviews.
1. Who can register?
Projektlotse is a B2B platform, not a consumer service. Any company looking for an IT service provider can register as a buyer. Suppliers can be IT companies, system integrators, agencies, independent developers/consultants and freelance project managers acting commercially.
2. What does it cost?
Registration and use are free during the current MVP phase. There are no commissions or subscription fees payable to the operator. If chargeable models are introduced later, the prices that would then apply will be disclosed in advance and must be actively accepted before they take effect.
3. How does supplier verification work?
Every supplier goes through a manual business-identity check by the verification team before becoming visible. Depending on country and legal form, this means one appropriate piece of evidence (e.g. a commercial-register extract, a business-registration confirmation, or comparable evidence) plus a match of name, legal form and registered seat. See docs/verification-policy.md.
4. How private are my requests?
Requests are private by default and visible only to approved, verified suppliers within the computed matching audience. Suppliers initially see a sanitized description and an approximate region, not your exact address or company identity. Those are released only when you explicitly approve it for a specific supplier.
5. How does matching work (50/100/200 km/national)?
For on-site or hybrid work, matching first searches within 50 km. If no eligible supplier is found, the search automatically expands to 100 km, then 200 km, then nationwide — but only after the previous stage genuinely found nobody eligible. Remote requests are matched nationwide from the start. Cross-border matching only happens if you explicitly permit it for your request, per country.
6. What offer types exist?
Suppliers can submit fixed-price, non-binding estimate/range, hourly-rate, daily-rate, and separately priced discovery/assessment offers. Each offer states scope, assumptions, exclusions, pricing basis and currency.
7. How do I compare offers?
Selected offers are shown side by side with scope, exclusions, pricing model, timeline, verified identity and relevant experience. Different pricing models and currencies (EUR/CHF) are never automatically equated or converted. There is no automatic "best offer" selection — the decision is entirely yours.
8. What is the optional offer review?
You can request a technical and price-plausibility assessment of a specific offer from our team. This is a professional opinion within stated limits, not a guarantee and not an automated quality seal. The normal offer process continues in parallel while a review is pending.
9. What does "report engagement" mean?
If you and a supplier have agreed on an engagement outside the platform, you can record that using "Report engagement / Beauftragung melden". This documents an agreement that already exists — the platform does not become a party to that contract, and this is not an electronic signature. The supplier then confirms or disputes the report.
10. How do reviews work?
After a confirmed and completed engagement, both organizations can rate each other once. Reviews stay hidden until both sides have submitted theirs, or 14 days have passed since the first submission. The requesting company's identity is not shown in public supplier reviews by default.
11. How can I have my data deleted?
You can submit a deletion request through your account or by contacting us. Active data that belongs solely to you is deleted; data another party may still legitimately need after a confirmed engagement (e.g. evidence of an agreement) follows separate, operator-defined retention rules. See docs/retention.md for the categories involved.
12. How do I reach support?
Through the contact channels listed in the imprint and privacy notice. Abuse reports and security concerns have separate contact channels — see launch-checklist.md.