Barriers in the Public Procurement Process: Restricting Long-Term Sustainable Construction of Wooden Buildings

Abstract

The municipalities control the planning of new housing projects in Sweden, basing their decisions on the general requirements and future strategic expectations. The activity is managed through the Public Procurement Act or the land allocation process depending on their development strategy. It involves the development of local strategies regarding design and geographical development, as well as the development of suitable procurement methods. Therefore, having the ambition to develop sustainability by increasing the use of wood building solutions imposes new challenges on the procurement process performed by municipalities in Sweden. The aim of this study is to identify ways to overcome barriers in the public procurement process for new building developments based on land allocation projects managed by Swedish municipalities, enabling an increase in wooden multifamily houses in Sweden. The study is based on direct participation at a municipality performing this activity, combined with interviews including municipalities and developers involved in the procurement process using land allocation. The result shows discrepancies in how the municipalities and developers perceive the land allocation activities. Furthermore, national standards, equal evaluation methods and a defined procurement process have been identified as drivers towards an efficient activity, which currently acts as a barrier to the development of wooden multifamily houses.