During the bidding stage of a project, auditors shift their focus to reviewing the preparation of the project budget. They assess whether the bidding control price complies with legal and regulatory standards, verify the completeness of the content, check if the bill of quantities aligns with the design drawings, evaluate the appropriateness of the quotas, and determine if the project costs are reasonable. For the winning bidder, it is essential to thoroughly study their bidding documents and construction contracts, proactively addressing potential issues to avoid disputes during construction and final settlement that could impact the project’s conclusion.
In the traditional bidding process, challenges arise on both sides. For the construction party, tight project schedules often lead to concurrent design and bidding phases, resulting in a rough bill of quantities. Payments made are typically based on contract-listed quantities, which do not account for changes during construction. This often causes budget overruns, leading to loss of project control. While the construction party requests change orders to maintain quality, the contractor may be unwilling to bear the increased costs and might attempt to cut costs by reducing material quality. Disagreements over handling changes can lead to disputes and delays, hindering the smooth progress of the project.
On the other hand, contractors face pressure to respond quickly to bidding documents and submit quotations within tight deadlines. This requires high technical expertise. Those preparing the bids often focus on strategic pricing methods—such as unbalanced quotes or low bids paired with high claims—which compromises the accuracy of measurement and pricing. This creates hidden risks that make controlling project costs difficult.
Throughout the bidding process, auditors must collect and thoroughly review a vast amount of materials, including bidding notices, documents, quantity lists, and control prices. The workload is heavy, making it challenging to ensure comprehensive coverage. Furthermore, the inherent tension between cost and profit for both parties requires auditors to carefully identify and mediate issues, striving to conduct effective process auditing. Yet, truly eliminating hidden risks and controlling costs remains a significant challenge.
The adoption and application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) have greatly enhanced auditing during the bidding phase. First, bills of quantities generated from BIM models are more accurate, faster, and more complete than those based on traditional drawings. Auditors can easily identify errors or omissions by reviewing the BIM model, providing the construction party with a more authoritative quantity list and reducing bidding risks.
Second, BIM offers a clear visualization of the construction site layout, construction techniques, and organizational design proposed by the bidding unit. Auditors can gain an early understanding of the construction process through these visual displays, enabling them to raise concerns during the bidding stage and avoid disputes or delays during construction.
Additionally, BIM allows auditors to access the historical project records of each bidding unit, helping to detect potential bid rigging or collusion. Auditors can directly compare bidding prices with the quantities and prices listed in the bidding documents. Special attention should be given to quota sub-items with noticeably unbalanced prices to prevent opportunistic behavior by bidders and enhance audit quality during the bidding phase.
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