A Study on Key Factors Influencing Bid Decision Model for Construction Projects

Abstract

Competitive bidding serves as a platform for public/private contractors to execute the works specified by the client. Deciding to bid or not to bid for that job proves to be a major hindrance between the bidder and the work. Smart contractors tend to bid for a work, based on facts studied through a pre-bid survey rather being heuristic in taking their decisions. This paper identifies the potential factors influencing the contractors' bid decisions for different construction projects through a structured questionnaire survey. The factors were ranked based on their importance and utilized as a base for developing a bid decision model using DEA, a non-parametric approach. These factors govern the framework of bid decision model being developed. DEA creates a favorability score from the top and least ranked factors for each and every bid opportunity with a cut-off value as a reference. The public and private bidders utilize the cut-off value as a pivotal point of making bid decisions. This study serves as a tool for decision making process whenever a bid opportunity is created. This paper also recommends the contractors to utilize the bid model, to not only execute the work successfully, but also to improve the self-credibility and effectiveness among the global market.