In many current bidding processes, project owners often lack a clear understanding of the basic details of the proposed project. This uncertainty leads to vague bidding requirements from the tenderer and sometimes even logical inconsistencies. As a result, bidders tend to overstate their company’s capabilities and submit unrealistic construction plans and schedules. Once a construction company wins the bid, these risks can cause project control to shift, leading to extended timelines, frequent changes, and constant overtime throughout the construction phase. By applying BIM technology to optimize and enhance design documents, project information becomes clearer, transparency in the transaction process increases, and potential losses for both parties during transaction and execution are significantly reduced.
1. Differences Between Bidding Control Price Preparation and General Cost Calculation
① Project Phase Characteristics. The bidding control price is typically set lower than the general cost estimate during the early stages of a project. It serves as the owner’s preliminary prediction and analysis of construction costs. Thus, it significantly influences cost management throughout the project lifecycle. Additionally, the bidding control price directly affects the selection of the winning bidder and plays a critical role in contract management and project cost control during later stages.
② Timeliness of Bidding Work. Project owners usually organize bidding as quickly as possible. Often, design units must work with incomplete or insufficiently detailed design documents. The bidding process itself is complex, requiring extensive personnel to manage and organize information, which frequently leads to insufficient focus on preparing accurate bidding control prices. Consequently, total prices and detailed calculations may be inaccurate, forcing bidders to compete primarily on price while the tenderer loses control over information.
③ Role in Project Transactions and Contract Management. The bidding control price functions as a scientific evaluation of construction costs, directly impacting the entire bidding process. The selection and fairness of the winning bidder significantly influence the subsequent construction phase. Once construction begins, the owner’s ability to negotiate financial terms diminishes, often leaving them in a passive position. Therefore, it is crucial to calculate the bidding control price accurately and efficiently.
2. Enhancing the Accuracy of Bidding Control Price Preparation
To effectively prevent bid rigging and collusion during bidding, tenderers must strengthen the preparation of the engineering bidding control price. In the commonly used bill of quantities pricing model, preparation should adhere to standards such as the GB50500-2013 Calculation Specification for Bill of Quantities of Construction Projects and GB500854-2013 Measurement Specification for Building and Decoration Engineering. Since the bidding prices depend on the quantity list prepared by the tenderer, it is essential to ensure its completeness and accuracy throughout the bidding process.
Given the importance of the bill of quantities, it is necessary to allocate sufficient human and material resources to accurately calculate quantities during bidding. The Building Information Model (BIM) acts as a comprehensive database containing detailed project information. Owners can extract required data to calculate project quantities efficiently. Computers can rapidly organize and analyze building components, significantly reducing calculation time and errors compared to traditional manual methods.
Because the bidding control price (or base price) is vital—especially for projects funded by the government—errors in calculation can lead to speculative behavior by construction companies. Leveraging the accuracy and objectivity of BIM 3D models to prepare the bidding control price helps owners control investment and avoid unnecessary losses.
3. Improved Data Sharing and Computational Efficiency
The BIM model integrates engineering measurement and pricing on a single platform, effectively resolving information exchange challenges by enabling data sharing and interaction. This reduces information loss, ensures data integrity, lowers workloads, and streamlines management processes.
When importing design information into BIM software, the system can automatically recognize design data and generate models, reducing the complexity of manual modeling. Professionals can easily modify data at various IFC standard levels, adjusting properties and quantity calculation rules based on project specifics. Additionally, BIM models intelligently interpret geometric, construction, and process information within building components. By automatically linking with external bills of quantities and pricing data, BIM facilitates the generation of billing items and integrates pricing platforms, thereby automating the engineering pricing workflow.
The 3D design model submitted by the design team contains fundamental information about building components. This allows for quick extraction of data needed for the bill of quantities, saving time, increasing efficiency, improving objectivity, enhancing accuracy, and preventing underestimations or omissions common in manual calculations.
To ensure effective bidding, reduce redundant efforts, and improve the completeness of bidding information, the prepared bill of quantities and 3D model can be provided to bidders along with bidding documents. This clarifies the bidding scope and mandatory requirements, helping to minimize issues such as bid rigging and collusion among participants.
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