Mitigating contractual hazards in public procurement: a study of Swedish local authorities

Fredrik Waara

Construction Management and Economics, 2008, vol. 26, issue 2, 137-145

Abstract: Private sector buyers often award construction contracts through negotiation rather than through open competitive tendering. Negotiating with a reputable contractor is a way to mitigate contractual hazards. For many public sector buyers, however, open competitive tendering is required by law. The practices of procurement officers in local authorities are examined in regard to the selection of construction contractors, focusing particularly on their use of scoring-based competitive tendering and ex ante information exchange between procurement officers and the firms competing for contracts. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 15 procurement officers in 10 local authorities in Sweden. Using the contractor's staffing of the project organization as a contract award criterion allows procurement officers to select reputable contractors. Arranging face-to-face meetings with contractors before the final award decision allows procurement officers to resolve at least some technical problems in complex construction projects. When negotiations are prohibited by law, these practices can be seen as combined responses to hazards of construction contracting.

Keywords: Contracting; procurement law; public sector; Sweden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1080/01446190701793696

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