The value of public construction was approx. 10 billion in 2021. Increasing competition in public procurement secures the interest of all taxpayers. Rakennusteollisuus RT ry's industry organization Talonrakennusteollisuus ry aims to increase competition and develop the construction industry together with member companies and stakeholders.
The board of the Itä-Suomen Piiri ry of the house building industry would like to point out that customers, builders and consultants should pay special attention to the following aspects in tenders, if possible:
- Greater use of market dialogues. Consulting the contractor already at an early stage of the project contributes to the fulfillment of the customer's goals, and in this way, it is possible to reach a qualitatively better and more economically efficient solution.
- Careful preparation of tender requests. In terms of the success of the competition and the implementation of the project, professionally and carefully prepared tender documents are a key prerequisite for a successful procurement. An unclear tender request weakens competition, can negatively affect the willingness to participate and, at worst, during the implementation of the contract, cause disagreements between the parties. We hope for care, especially in checking the consistency of technical and commercial documents and in more precise quality control of the plans. Simply listing the attachments required for the tender (in a list format) in the RFP document would help ensure that nothing is overlooked.
- For the appropriate selection of the implementation form, taking into account the special features of the project. Using the implementation forms as versatile as possible in different destinations increases competition.
- Proportionate definition of reference requirements increases competition. Unreasonable reference requirements can result in dissuading potential bidders from submitting an offer. When defining the reference requirements, the operational readiness of the persons and the company to perform the contract should be better taken into account. In this way, talented young people would also be brought in to manage contracts while the company bears the main responsibility (now too broad requirements for individuals have often come to the fore). In addition, the utilization of RALA could be considered more widely.
- The evaluation of the validity of references should be considered at the company and individual level for the previous ten (10) years. An evaluation period shorter than this is not always justified and may also lead to the rapid expiration of references in the current economic downturn and thus to a decrease in potential bidders.
- Valuing and recognizing the expertise of master builders. Thousands of master builders with a technical background still work in the construction industry, and hundreds of new master builders (AMK) graduate every year. Their skills should be considered equal to civil engineers. In addition, the change in the verification of qualifications in the Construction Act, which will come into force on January 1.1.2025, 1.1.2025, should be taken into account. The authorized institution that certifies qualifications will not be able to officially start its operations until January 2025, XNUMX, which will cause delays in certifying qualifications in early XNUMX.
- The transparency of quality scoring should be developed, e.g., by means of market dialogue. The criteria and evaluation of the quality scoring must be published in connection with the request for tenders, and the participants in the competition must be given the opportunity to be heard about the results of the quality scoring.
Wide and open use of market dialogues secures the realization of the issues presented above and helps to increase competition. Market dialogues enable good and high-quality public procurement and secure the efficient use of tax resources. Joint training sessions also increase competition and help the implementation of projects. For our part, we are ready to have a continuous dialogue, because a country that is built well together is doing well.
Best regards for constructive cooperation,
Pasi Pitkänen, chairman of the board, Kumoni Oy
Kimmo Anttonen, regional manager, Eastern Finland Association of Building Construction Industry