Public organizations, which intend to place a construction order on a turkey basis, will be required to specify the requirements and criteria for placing such an order. Those organizations that outsource a turnkey construction project will also be obliged to have their performance evaluated by the competent authorities.

 

In a bid to put the brakes on reckless invitation of turnkey or alternative tenders for construction work, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) of Korea recommended these measures to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on 26 April.

 

According to the recommendations prepared by the ACRC, the enforcement decree of the Act on Contracts to Which the State is a Party will be amended so that a contract can be awarded by a "lowest price technically acceptable process."

So far, a large majority of the public organizations placing construction orders have selected successful bidders by giving excessively higher weighed values to design than price. Such a method has long been criticized for a waste of budget since it stifles competition in price and results in an increase in the bid price.

 

For the purpose of preventing malpractices in tender evaluation and bid-rigging, the Commission also recommended that the criteria for examining bidding methods should be revised to set forth specific requirements and criteria for conducting turnkey construction projects.

 

Some public organizations, even when they have sufficient capacity for design and engineering, have put construction work out to a turnkey or alternative tender, raising concerns about budget waste. To avert such a problem, the ACRC recommended strengthening the accountability of the ordering party by introducing a performance evaluation and management system.

 

"The recommended improvements are expected to control imprudent ordering of turnkey projects and to remove the possibility of budget waste," an official at the ACRC said.