Tenders have recently been called to construct the earthworks for sewage treatment lagoons and reed beds for ABC Unlikely Engineering Water Authority. Three bids were received as lump sum offers to undertake the works. The lump sum offers were detailed in accordance with a schedule provided by the Water Authority. The scope of work under the contract. General Conditions of Contract are to be NZS3910:2013

One of the most critical project-related decisions made by ABC Unlikely Engineering Water Authority is that of managing their construction risk though the selection of an appropriate Contractor. ABC Unlikely Engineering Water Authority advised that their selection criteria would be based on the following attributes:

• Time performance ?
• Quality performance
• Price

Please descride in depth these three factors and relate it to the Hypothetical company information provided below.

Hypothetical company information:

Bidder A: Is a highly reputable contractor having some 50 years' experience in the construction of Civil Engineering infrastructure. They have vast experience in earthworks, having successfully undertaken projects up to $50 M in value. They own all their own plant and equipment and have committed a dedicated project team to manage and control the project. This bidder has included a detailed work method statement with their bid, quality assurance documentation and an impressive array of references describing the efficiency of their organisation. Most references checked to describe the contractor as highly professional and usually able to complete projects within the nominated duration and to an acceptable standard.

Bidder B: This bidder is a local cartage contractor who can hire appropriate earthmoving equipment for the project. Whilst this contractor does not have any engineers on staff it is able to source good operators and a foreman. It proposes to contract engineering support as required. The firm has constructed several access roads for local farmers over the last 2 years. This bidder has included a draft program with their bid but is not a quality assured company. The number of referees provided was limited, however all the farmers described the contractor as a good bloke who got in and completed the job. No reference was made to quality other than one farmer who said the contractor came back and made good an area of roadway that got washed away after heavy rain.

Bidder C: This bidder is a small to medium sized earthworks contractor. It is quality assured for earthworks and run by one engineer and about 20 permanent staff. It owns basic equipment and proposes to hire a local cartage contractor to move fill from the borrow area to the site. A detailed organisational structure, work method statement and details of key staff have all been provided with the bid. This company has extensive experience in constructing roads for local councils and has been a subcontractor to several multidisciplinary construction firms for major freeway and dam projects over the last 20 years. The contractor has a reputation for delivering to a budget and has been late in completing some projects undertaken. ABC Water Authority has used this Contractor successfully in the past.

Table 1: Bid details Item Description Unit Quantity Bid A Bid B Bid C Site mobilisation, establishment, Item 42,000 131,950 34,219 demobilisation & cleanup 2 Stripping unsuitable surface soils m 4,400 13,250 6,690 14,948 to a nominal depth of 50 mm over the area of works 3 Stripping unsuitable material from Item 11,000 5,180 15,938 borrow area to a nominal depth of 100 mm 4 Levelling of work areas, cut & fill, compaction and trimming a) Lagoons b) Reed beds m 21,500 19,350 20,225 10,456 m 67,000 60,300 63,085 32,929 5 Supply & placement of drainage m 600 17,400 6,550 7,290 pipelines 6 Excavate. transport & place m 1.500 9.000 3.320 5.585 drainage layer 7 Excavate, transport & place sub- m 48,500 242,500 161,680 137,629 base earthworks 8 Excavate, transport & place lagoon m 22,600 213,570 96,570 118,547 fill 9 Excavate, transport & place reed m 77,000 642,950 294,860 388,597 bed fill 10 Other works Item 1 70,500 83,120 128,681 Total $1,341,820 $873,230 $894,819