Contractor Prequalification Criteria, Tendering Criteria, and Tendering Procedure in Cambodia Building and Housing Construction Projects

The construction industry can be considered as one of the largest industries that can contribute significant fraction of national product in Cambodia. However, people in this business face many problems such as prequalification, tendering and selecting a contractor.

Mr. Puoy Puthitha made a research to give the suitable selection criteria whether it will be effective in building construction projects in Cambodia. The process of contractor selection can be achieved, unless the prequalification, tendering criteria and tendering process will be linked to project performance in term of time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction. It means that different project types and objectives should have different proportion on each selection criteria.

The purpose of his research is to define contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure in Cambodia building and housing construction projects and then how the contractor prequalification, tendering criteria and tendering procedure affect the project performance. The specific objectives of his research were to: (1) study effective contractor prequalification criteria; (2) study effective contractor tendering criteria; (3) study effective contractor tendering procedure; and (4) how contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure affect project performance.

Conclusion

There are four main findings in this study such as follows:
1. The effectiveness of contractor prequalification criteria in building construction projects.
2. The effectiveness of contractor tendering criteria in building construction projects.
3. The effectiveness of contractor tendering procedure in building construction projects.
4. Contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure have different affected on project performance.

In order to get the effective or significant factors and sub-factors from contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria and tendering procedure, the results were combined the ranking by mean with the correlation analysis results.

Contractor Prequalification Criteria

1. Financial Consideration: financial stability, financial status, Bank arrangement and bonding capacity.
2. Past Performance: failure to have completed projects, schedule overruns, cost overruns, past failures, owner/contractor relationship
3. Technical Ability: technical expertise, possessed plant and equipment, experience
4. Management Capability: past performance and quality, project management organization, experience of technical personnel

Contractor Tendering Criteria

1. Price: fixed capital cost, variable tender costs during the contract period, maintenance costs
2. Technical Skills: design quality, technical expertise
3. Methodology: program of works, division of works into sub-contracts, key performance indicators, reporting and recoding systems
4. Relevant Experience: project cost
5. Past Performance: quality standards, target performance level; tender price, variations and final cost.

Contractor Tendering Procedure

1. Tender Evaluation: tender quality (technical evaluation); tender price (financial evaluation); determine lowest bid; responsiveness, and responsibility
2. Tender Submission: sealing and marking of the tenderers, tender forms and tender specification document; tender terms and condition for bid preparation; post offer negotiation
3. Prequalification and Registration: prequalification requirement

The following description in details about the conclusion of this research study will support the conformation of each objective. All the results are computerized by SPSS software in order to get the data analysis results.

Project Performance in Building Construction Projects

Most of consultant companies in Cambodia had carefully focused on the process of selecting the qualified contractors in order to get the project successfully. In addition, the project owners were spent enough time in selecting the qualified contractors, particularly running projects and the quality control. As a result, the projects were finished within the budget, the quality of construction projects was good, and the contractors could be able to satisfy to the customer’s requirements.

The Effectiveness of Contractor Prequalification Criteria

Financial consideration found to be the main key factor for contractor prequalification criteria in Cambodia building and housing construction project, this result is related each other, which mean in order to be successful in performing the effective contractor prequalification process, the project owners have an important role in making the right decision for selecting the main contractors for construction works based upon the financial information of the contractors.

The Effectiveness of Contractor Tendering Criteria

The Price found to be the important factor for contractor tendering criteria in Cambodia building and housing construction project. Most of the tenderers still rely on tender price which has been proven its competency to acquire the contracts. The other contractor tendering criteria also are quite significant stimulated in contractor selection?

The Tender evaluation found to be the important selection process for contractor tendering procedure in Cambodia building and housing construction project.
This process is to financially and technically evaluate the tenderers’ performance in order to acquire the projects. The other contractor tendering procedures also are quite significant stimulated in performing the construction tendering practice.

The Correlation between Contractor Prequalification Criteria and Project Performance

The result shows that past performance, technical ability, and management capability are perceived to be the dominant contractor prequalification criteria affecting all project performance in terms of cost, time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. While, financial consideration was perceived to affect only time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. But Contractor’s organization and Past experience did not show any correlation with project performance. It can be concluded that most of the project owners focused on these two factors as somewhat important on how to acquire the qualified contractors by regarding to the perceived impact of the other decision factors on contractor prequalification decision making; the projects were still cost overrun and overtime. That’s why the customer did not satisfy in their performance. This is due to external factors such as lack of accurate data from the contractors, imprecise information, subjective information, and subjective judgment. Furthermore, they were also suffered from the rising of construction costs because of the materials fluctuation, lack of updating their technical performance, and lack of government regulation. Particularly, the projects were stopped due to heavy rain and flooding. Therefore, the external factors need a lot of information for assessing their impacts in order to achieve the project successfully in construction industry,

The Correlation between Contractor Tendering Criteria and Project
Performance

The result indicates that Price and Methodology are perceived to be the dominant contractor tendering criteria affecting all project performance in terms of cost, time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. While, Technical skills, Relevant experience, and Past performance were perceived to affect only cost, time, and quality. But Resources and Management skills and systems did not show any correlation with project performance.

However Resources, Management skills and systems can be considered as somewhat important. The contractor tendering criteria had the moderate mean for resources, management skills and systems, the projects were not success. This is because the project owners did not much focused on the information of resources, and management skills and systems. Even these two criteria were somewhat important in selecting the qualified tenderers, the projects were still cost overruns, over time, unqualified quality, and the client didn’t satisfy. It might be affected by other external factors which were concerned with project performance.

The Correlation between Contractor Tendering Procedure and Project
Performance

The result indicates that Tender evaluation and Tender submission are perceived to be the dominant contractor tendering procedure affecting all project performance in terms of cost, time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. While, prequalification and registration were perceived to affect only cost, time, and quality. But Contract award/execution, Tender opening, and Invitation to tender did not show any correlation with project performance. However, the Contract award/execution, Invitation to tender, and Tender opening can be concluded as somewhat important. Even the project owners had depicted clearly their requirements in construction contracts during their contract award/execution, invitation to tender, and tender opening; the tenderers were not successful yet to receive the owner’s requirement. Furthermore, the tenderers had been considered as some part of important in these stages, but the project owners and consultants were still not accepted their performance yet as well. The reason is that it might be affected by other external factors which were concerned with project performance.

His thesis abstract is copied and posted.

Abstract

The construction industry today is a highly competitive industry with an enormous amount of risk, particularly many conflicts, problems, adversity, and uncertainty. The construction projects are usually confronted with many conflicts, problems, and uncertainty due to a result of failure in selecting a competent contractor. To perform the project success, the owner’s team has an important role to figure out these many conflicts and problems such as schedule delays, cost overrun, low productivity, and contract disputes by being able to evaluate the contractor’s performance in the proper way. This study is based on quantitative research through questionnaires and carries on to first identify the contractor performance criteria in terms of prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure and to help the project owners to assess the tenderer’s performance. Second, this study aims at describing how the contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure affect project performance.

This study was conducted in Cambodia building consultant and construction companies to study effective contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure for being able to select the competent contractors. In each case, the criteria have been ranged the scores in order to facility the project owners are able to evaluate with flexibility. The result found that first financial consideration, past performance, and technical ability in contractor prequalification criteria; second price, technical skills, and methodology in contractor tendering criteria; third tender evaluation, tender submission, and contract award/execution in contractor tendering procedure respectively are important and should be applied when performing contractor prequalification and tendering systems in practice. They all are the main concern in order to achieve the successful projects.

Based on the correlation analysis result, it shows that different contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure are significantly positively and differently affected on project performance. That means different contractor prequalification criteria, tendering criteria, and tendering procedure have different affects on project performance. Furthermore, the results from the correlation analysis show that Past performance, Technical ability, Management capability, Price, Methodology, Tender evaluation, and Tender submission are perceived to be the dominant contractor prequalification criteria affecting all project performance in terms of cost, time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. While, Financial consideration were perceived to affect only time, quality, and customer’s satisfaction. At the same analysis, Technical skills, Relevant experience, Past performance in construction tendering, and Prequalification and Registration were perceived to affect only cost, time, and quality. But Contractor’s organization, Past experience, Resources, Management skills and systems, Contract award/execution, Tender opening, and Invitation to Tender did not show any correlation with project performance. Practically, the two case studies above showed the correlated study between quantitative and qualitative study. The result indicated that the factors among the construction tendering practices above were tended to the project successfully.