Objectives of Competitive Bidding in the UAE Construction Industry

Abstract

Competitive bidding is one of the main methods for procuring construction work. Contractors compete based on bid prices where the lowest responsible bidder is selected. Competitive bidding is both costly and time- consuming without a guarantee of contract award. Therefore, contractors are selective on which projects to bid on. Contractors have several objectives from participating in the bidding process. The aim of this research is to identify and assess the key objectives of bidding in the UAE and internationally. The main objectives are identified through literature review. A questionnaire was used to get the perceptions of construction professionals in the UAE construction industry. Sixty-five questionnaires were collected. The most common objectives for bidding in general are building a reputation with the client, followed by the company’s need of work and survival. The most common objective for bidding in the international market is to target an international market when its economy is expected to boom, followed by bidding internationally to gain advantage of the opportunity offered by global market. This paper sheds the light on some of the key practices of contractors in the UAE construction industry and may be beneficial to those international companies who wish to compete in the local market.KeywordsBiddingConstruction industryUAEInternational construction