Over the last decade new people, processes and procurement protocols have led to a loss in some fundamental practices in regard  to accessing information that is paramount to fair, open and transparent bidding. This has been a significant challenge for the construction industry, and recently the BC Government has taken an important step in restoring standards for accessing information through the release of “Guidance for the Release of Information &/or Documents Related to Competitive Procurement Opportunities”.  

This document states that ‘Wherever possible, information should be pro-actively released in order to increase capable vendors’ interest in government opportunities, to ensure consistent information is supplied to all potential vendors , and to streamline access to information that would be released under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA)’. It is important to note that although this document establishes the requirements for accessing information from the BC Government, its Agencies and Crown Corporations; it is also a signal to the rest of the public sector as to what information is to be made publicly available.

This CAMF Best Practices Guideline addresses ‘Routinely Released’ information and/or documents. The Routinely Released requirement gives recognition to accessing information for ‘construction’ with a ‘Depends’ consideration that recognizes the long established practices of providing the information and documents.  The Guidelines provide the required access to the construction industry for (including but not limited to):

• Solicitation documents and documents referenced therein.
• Budget information for proposed projects.
• Evaluation criteria (Applicable to an RFQ).
• Names of contractors (bidders lists or invited participants) participating in a procurement solicitation before closing.
• Lists of successful respondents to an RFQ.
• Names of bidders and bid amounts after closing procurement solicitation (including Trade Contractors in Construction Management where the CM is an agent of the Owner).
• Lists of subcontractors submitted with a contractor’s response.
• A respondents own evaluation information in response to an RFQ.

BCCA has issued several Construction Files   that highlight the importance to the industry in accessing this information:

• What is Fair Open and Transparent Bidding?
• The Importance of Providing Bid Results
• The Importance of Planholder Lists
• Public Openings for Online Bidding.

Ensuring that a bidding process is fair, open and transparent is perhaps the second most important element in the bidding process to contractors — preceded only by whether they were the successful bidder on the project. Fair and open bidding is about promoting a transparent bidding process that eliminates favouritism or improper influence while being diligent with the taxpayer’s money. Providing information to the construction industry in a transparent.