Weekly Wrap | How will clients react to UK contractors' show of defiance?
The UK’s major contractors were defiant in their absence as New Civil Engineer revealed the bidders for the Stonehenge tunnel job this week.
Not a single UK-based top tier contractor has put in for the ￡1.25bn roads scheme, representing a stark change in mindset. Highways England is, however, standing firm on its decision to procure the ￡1.25bn Stonehenge tunnel as a single-stage tender, despite all UK tier 1 contractors refusing to bid the job.
The roads body has opted to go for a single-stage tender – where design and build contractors must submit and then stick to their price for the job at the end of a competitive dialogue process, and before contract award - potentially before final designs and construction methods are agreed.
The decision follows that of High Speed 2 promoter HS2 Ltd, which awarded preferred bidder status based on prices submitted over two years ago. Since then, bidders have pushed up prices, and cost forecasts for the project have escalated to the extent that no construction contracts have been signed and the project is in severe doubt. HS2 Ltd has also had to restart the tendering process for multiple contracts (including for its Birmingham Curzon Street station) due to a lack of bidders.
Highways England is, however, understood to be happy with its stance given that it has three bids from multi-national joint ventures (JVs) with impressive records in tunnelling projects across Europe and worldwide. And despite concerns from contractors, Highways England is likely to use the scheme again on the Lower Thames Crossing project. Whether or not other clients take note remains to be seen.
Elsewhere this week, New Civil Engineer revealed how the government was pressured into relaxing fire safety regulations by members of the building industry including Carillion. Heathrow announced a construction delay to its third runway plans and Ofwat unveiled in five-year ￡51bn spending plan.
This week's top stories:
Major UK contractors snub Stonehenge Tunnel as JVs revealed
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