City to Prevent 'Overheating in Construction Contractor Selection for Maintenance Projects'... "Joint Inspection with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport if Necessary"

Constant Monitoring of Cities and Districts Activated... 'Support Team' Proactively Deployed to Overheated Sites
Expert Pools Including Lawyers and Architects Mobilized... Joint Inspections with Ministry of Land as Needed
Experts Dispatched Throughout Bidding Process... Enhanced Expertise and Fairness through Thorough Document Review

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is taking proactive measures to rectify unfair and overheated competition in the selection process of contractors for redevelopment and reconstruction projects. Seoul is launching continuous monitoring led by the city and introducing public support that dispatches experts before the bidding stage for the first time. The goal is to eradicate the disgraceful reputation of "contractor bidding wars = hotbeds of corruption" by enhancing the professionalism, transparency, and fairness of the contractor bidding process.

On the 17th, Seoul stated, "Despite the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul strengthening related regulations to promote fair competition and protect the rights of association members during the selection of contractors for redevelopment projects, some construction companies still habitually submit bid proposals containing illegal content. This leads to bid invalidation or failure, causing project delays and resulting in damages to association members." The city explained the purpose of introducing proactive measures.

Going forward, Seoul will continuously monitor the bidding process and immediately deploy a 'support team' to overheated redevelopment sites to check for regulatory violations. This is to prevent fraudulent companies from being selected as contractors, thereby protecting association members from harm and preventing project delays. Continuous monitoring will be conducted through organic cooperation between Seoul and the district project departments. The support team will focus on checking whether the bid proposals violate regulations, such as prohibitions on providing financial benefits unrelated to construction.

Instead of the current passive and reactive response of forming support teams after confirming overheating through complaints, Seoul plans to maximize effectiveness by proactively assembling a pool of experts, including lawyers and architectural engineers, along with relevant officials, and deploying them promptly. The monitoring and support team operations will be shared closely with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and joint inspections by the Ministry and Seoul will be conducted when necessary.

To enable associations and districts to review construction companies' bid proposals more thoroughly before selection, Seoul will newly support the dispatch of experts such as lawyers and architects at each bidding stage. Expert support will be provided by Seoul upon request from the association or the public supporter, i.e., the district, utilizing the city's expert pool.

Seoul expects that "experts with rich experience and professionalism in inspecting association operations will support thorough preliminary reviews, improving the professionalism, objectivity, and fairness of the bidding process compared to the previous method where associations conducted their own reviews." It also anticipates that the operation of 'inspection teams' and 'report centers,' which are mandatory for associations and district offices, will be more effective by receiving advice from the supported experts.

Ryu Hoon, Head of the Housing and Architecture Headquarters of Seoul, said, "We will strengthen administrative support to ensure that the contractor selection bidding process for redevelopment projects is conducted more transparently and fairly, eradicating unfair practices by construction companies. To preserve the original purpose of redevelopment projects, which is to improve residential environments, we will take strict and proactive measures such as invalidating bids and referring cases for investigation when unfair practices are detected."