Hyari, K H and Thneibat, M (2026) Assessing the adequacy of competition in public construction projects. Construction Innovation, 26(2), pp. 421-439. ISSN 1471-4175
Abstract
Purpose – Public construction authorities need to evaluate the level of competition in the submitted bids for a certain project before awarding the contract. A lack of adequate competition is a reason for rejecting all bids and reissuing an invitation to bid for the project. This paper aims to present an analysis of the adequacy of competition in public construction projects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses five competition indicators to correlate the level of competition effect obtained with the number of contractors competing for the project. The analysis is based on the bid opening results for 917 public construction projects in Jordan that include 6, 309 bids, with an average number of 6.88 bids per project. Findings – The results illustrate that there is an improvement in the competition effect over the five analyzed competition indicators as the number of bidders increases. However, the rate of improvement decreases with the increase in bidders. The empirical analysis performed does not support the proposition that an optimum number of bidders exists in competitive bidding for construction projects or the proposition that a higher number of bidders may lead to higher bid prices. However, the indicators developed in this study found that at least 5 bidders are recommended and after 8 bidders, the rate of improvement continues at much slower rate. Originality/value – The current research presented a multifaceted method for assessing the minimum number of bidders needed to ensure a competitive bidding process. Moreover, the research used actual data from 917 public projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bid price; competition; competitive bidding; contractors; low bid; public construction |
| Index terms: | public construction, bidder, Jordan, competition, public project, construction project, methodology, competitive bidding, number of bidders |
| Subjects: | bidding, building construction, market analysis, research methods, infrastructure engineering, production management, Geography |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Procurement, Project Management, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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