Hapcheon County to Expand Two-Person Quotation Submission for Private Contracts Starting in July

Lowering the Limit for Single-Person Private Contracts from 20 Million Won to 15 Million Won

Hapcheon County, Gyeongnam Province announced on the 20th that it will fully expand the contract amount range for negotiated contracts requiring two estimates, starting from July 1.

The direction of the expansion is to, within the scope allowed by the Local Contract Act, change the county's own criteria for single-estimate negotiated contracts from the current estimated price of 20 million KRW or less to negotiated contracts requiring two or more estimates using the government-designated information processing system (Nara Marketplace) for construction contracts of 15 million KRW or more, except for urgent cases such as those involving public safety or disasters.

Hapcheon County Office Exterior View

According to the county, the reason for setting the threshold for construction contracts at 15 million KRW or more is that, under the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, construction projects with an estimated amount of less than 15 million KRW are classified as minor works, allowing businesses without a specialized construction license but with a business registration to undertake such contracts. This is to avoid undermining the legislative intent of the relevant law, which is to protect small local businesses.

This expansion plan will be piloted only for facility construction projects at seven offices (the main office, Agricultural Technology Center, Public Health Center, Hapcheon-eup, Gaya-myeon, Chogye-myeon, and Samga-myeon) until December 31 of this year, and will be expanded to all offices next year.

A county official commented on the expansion plan, saying, “Due to the nature of contract work, there are many procedural elements, which could increase the workload for public officials. Internally, without increasing human resources, this expansion of negotiated contracts may pose significant challenges. However, given the severe economic downturn, local construction companies are going through very difficult times, and this decision was reached after a thorough analysis of possible solutions. Of course, there may be side effects from expanding bids, but it is more meaningful to overcome these tough times together with local construction companies. Furthermore, we will spare no effort to further strengthen the transparency and reliability of public institution accounting.”