The Government of Singapore will place greater emphasis on quality instead of only price for consultancy service tenders so that a strong core of Singapore-based firms can deliver quality projects, said
He was speaking at the inaugural joint conference of the Board of Architects Singapore and the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore.
He added, “Poor performers will be put on the back-burner, with limited opportunities to take part in tenders. However, the changes will not be implemented so quickly, as government agencies with procurement practices need more time.”
The Minister said, “We want to have more balanced quality and fee competition, and provide greater rewards for firms that deliver high-quality work.”
While speaking about the changes being planned by the government, the Minister said, “Current ideas include evaluating bids for consultancy services based on adequacy and quality, and placing weightage on the Consultants’ Performance Appraisal System score introduced by the Building and Construction Authority.”
He also suggested that the Government could do more to share the pipeline of projects over the next few years with the industry, so that companies can prepare ahead for bidding.
Urging architects and engineers to coordinate their work, Wong said, “What we used to know as our traditional roles and responsibilities have evolved. We cannot just design and build a building; we also have to think about how the building can be built in a more productive way, how it can be better maintained, or how it can help reduce our carbon footprint.”
Engineering and construction firm Greatearth chief executive Chang Chew Kient said, “A collaborative approach would encourage service providers to move away from offering low prices to providing better value.”
