Implementation Opinions on Promoting Full Process Consulting Services for Housing Construction and Municipal Infrastructure Projects in Jilin Province
To enhance the scientific basis of fixed asset investment decisions, improve project construction organization, and increase investment efficiency, project quality, and operational performance, the following opinions are proposed. These align with the General Office of the State Council’s directives on sustainable construction industry development (GBF [2017] No. 19) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development’s guidelines on whole process engineering consulting (FGTJG [2019] No. 515), focusing on promoting comprehensive consulting services in housing construction and municipal infrastructure projects.
1. Overall Requirements
(1) Guiding Ideology
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(2) Basic Principles
In compliance with relevant national laws, regulations, and policies, efforts will focus on removing institutional barriers during decision-making and construction phases of housing and municipal infrastructure projects. Market demand will steer development, supply-side reforms will be central, and integrity systems will be reinforced. The approach emphasizes streamlined administration and delegated authority to foster a healthy and competitive market environment for full process engineering consulting services, thereby stimulating market vitality and social innovation.
(3) Work Objectives
The goal is to optimize the market environment for full process engineering consulting services, establishing a unified, open, competitive, and well-organized market. A model led by engineering design will be developed, cultivating all-round “full license” consulting firms. By 2021, major backbone enterprises will be guided to explore and implement full process consulting during construction. By 2023, a group of comprehensive consulting firms with strong capabilities will emerge, promoting full process consulting across project decision-making and construction phases. By 2025, an integrity evaluation system for full process consulting will be established, fostering domestically advanced consulting firms and talent teams.
2. Implementation Measures
(1) Define Service Scope
Services during the project decision-making stage primarily cover comprehensive investment consulting—including project proposals, feasibility studies, preliminary designs, and project application reports. During engineering construction, services include surveying, design, supervision, cost estimation, bidding agency, and project management. These may be delivered across stages or divided into investment decision-making and construction phases.
Beyond these stages, consulting firms can also offer specialized services such as operation and maintenance consulting, post-evaluation, and BIM consulting, addressing the entire project lifecycle from investment decision-making through operation.
(2) Qualification Requirements
Full process consulting must be performed by a consulting entity with comprehensive capabilities or jointly by multiple specialized units covering areas such as bidding, surveying, design, supervision, cost, and project management. The consulting entity should hold appropriate qualifications corresponding to the project scale and scope. When multiple units collaborate, roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined: the lead unit completes tasks within its qualifications and may subcontract tasks beyond its scope to qualified entities with proper consent. The lead unit takes overall responsibility, while others are accountable for their respective services.
Importantly, the full process consulting unit must have no controlling or participatory interests, nor share legal representation, with the project’s general contractor, construction company, or supply enterprises to ensure independence.
(3) Explore Delegation Methods
Construction units are encouraged to adopt a full process consulting model combining project management with specialized consulting services. The “1+N” service menu approach is recommended, where “1” represents mandatory project management, and “N” includes optional professional consulting services such as investment consulting, bidding agency, surveying, design, supervision, or cost estimation. Typically, N≥2, and at least design or supervision must be included.
Construction units may entrust “full license, integrated” consulting firms for comprehensive services or split the work between two units covering decision-making and construction phases. Where legally required, full process consulting must undergo bidding, generally after project approval. For projects not requiring bidding, qualified full process consulting firms can be directly engaged. Once entrusted, the consulting scope should not be subcontracted to other firms.
(4) Innovative Evaluation Methods
Bidding for full process consulting should use comprehensive evaluation criteria based on project characteristics, including the bidder’s project plan, pricing, past performance, team composition, and use of new technologies like BIM. The technical score should be weighted more heavily, with the commercial score capped at 30%. For consortium bids, preliminary evaluations focus on the lead unit’s similar project experience, while detailed evaluations consider all consortium members’ qualifications.
Extra points will be awarded to firms that have independently completed or led full process consulting projects in the past three years, as well as those utilizing innovations such as BIM. When scores are equal, preference is given to “full license” consulting units. Enterprises under the same corporate group are considered a “full license” unit for evaluation purposes.
(5) Strengthen Personnel Requirements
Full process consulting implements a project leader responsibility system. During decision-making, consulting engineers (investors) should be leveraged as leaders. During construction, the project leader must hold a registered professional qualification in engineering construction, possess a senior professional title in engineering or engineering economics, and have relevant experience. They cannot concurrently lead multiple projects. In consortium arrangements, the project leader must be registered with the lead unit.
Consulting firms should establish dedicated project management teams with qualified technical and management personnel, clearly documented in contracts. Professionals responsible for investment consulting, surveying, design, supervision, or cost services must hold legal qualifications. For civil buildings, an architect responsibility system is encouraged, with the architect leading the full process consulting to leverage their expertise.
(6) Explore Billing Models
Compensation for full process consulting can be included in the overall project investment or paid as separate fees for services such as investment consulting, bidding agency, surveying, design, supervision, cost, and project management. When included in project investment, individual consulting fees are not billed separately.
Fees may be calculated by summing project management and professional consulting fees plus management overhead, or by including labor costs. Single-unit consulting services will not incur overall management fees; consortiums may apply management fees per supervision fee standards. Consulting firms are encouraged to optimize designs to reduce construction costs and may receive performance-based bonuses from investors or construction units.
(7) Standardize Project Management
Government-funded projects should prioritize comprehensive investment consulting and encourage full process consulting. Private projects should engage qualified teams based on credibility, capability, and efficiency, following legal requirements. Construction units must not impose extra responsibilities beyond contractual agreements on consulting firms.
Full process consulting firms bear overall responsibility for project consulting per laws and contracts, ensuring the authenticity, effectiveness, and scientific integrity of results. Both parties should use national and provincial technical standards and standardized contracts for these services.
(8) Improve Service Capabilities
Consulting firms are encouraged to develop technical and management standards, foster innovation, and build proprietary management systems. Modern technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), big data, and the Internet of Things should be leveraged to enhance information management and service quality.
Firms specialized in investment consulting, surveying, design, supervision, cost estimation, bidding, and project management should strengthen their capabilities through mergers and acquisitions, cultivating “full license, integrated” consulting entities to lead industry transformation, high-quality development, and innovation.
3. Guarantee Measures
(1) Strengthen Departmental Collaboration
Housing and urban-rural development authorities and development and reform departments must guide full process engineering consulting services, coordinating with finance, taxation, and auditing agencies to resolve implementation challenges. Financial institutions are urged to support these consulting projects as a means to improve fixed asset investment efficiency and promote industry upgrading.
Bidding management authorities must not refuse construction units’ adoption of full process consulting for contracting under any circumstance.
(2) Emphasize Talent Development
Consulting firms should prioritize training project leaders and related professionals in full process consulting skills, incorporating training hours into continuing education credits for registered personnel. Collaboration with renowned domestic and international engineering consulting firms is encouraged to enhance capabilities and cultivate leading enterprises and talent teams.
(3) Increase Public Awareness
The effectiveness and policies of full process engineering consulting projects should be widely promoted. Demonstration projects and exemplary firms will guide construction units to actively adopt full process consulting models.
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