Efficient Contractor Selection and Bid Evaluation Methods for Construction Industry in India

The prequalification and bid evaluation processes requires the development of necessary and sufficient criteria. The last two decades has witnessed a huge development in project complexity and client's needs and this has led to an increasing use of alternative forms of project delivery systems. In contrast, the prequalification and bid evaluation process, quantifying and the assessment of criteria is still in its original form. Selecting a suitable contractor to execute a particular project is an important decision for the client to take. Awarding construction contracts based on the price only is not always a successful strategy for contractor selection as it could result in construction delays and cost overruns. In addition to price, factors such as quality and safety need to be taken into account when making the contractor selection decision. In this thesis the proposed methods are consisted of the development of quantitative multi-criteria decision making models for bidding. The work also involved close collaboration with construction contractors to obtain data required for the development of the models. The data required to construct the models are collected from top contractors by way of a written structured questionnaire. Finally, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to assist client in the contractor selection process. The Analytical Hierarchy process provides a flexible and computer based method for contractor selection decision.