Spending billions on infrastructure is a risky business ‘Lowest bid wins’ approach to tenders needs to change, say both sides of process about an hour ago
Building roads is a precise feat of engineering, but according to one industry veteran, the current system for awarding and winning contracts induces some imprecise guesswork. “You’re there the night before [submitting a bid], you have to write up the bill,” a source confides. “We need the work; the lads are available, the crews are available, what do we have to do to win it?” Many of the contracts awarded by the State boil down to one simple factor: price. And when you’re awarding billions of euros in contracts, it’s only right and proper that due emphasis be placed on how much is being paid. However, that can also lead to a race to the bottom, with nasty fallout afterwards. To get the best chance of winning a project, insiders say, some – literal – sunny assumptions are made.