A Review of Factors Causing Contractor Failure in the Tender Process on Government Construction Projects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31272/jeasd.3089Keywords:
Bidding document, Contractor company, Contractor failure, Government project, TenderAbstract
The implementation of e-tenders in the construction industry in the era of globalization faces several challenges in many countries, including Indonesia. Maluku Island, one of Indonesia's main islands, is experiencing growth in the construction sector. However, it faces challenges, especially in improving the quality of contractor companies in implementing tenders. This research attempts to examine the issue of tender failure more comprehensively. This study aims to identify and analyze the dominant factors that can affect contractor failure in the tender process. The research methodology includes a literature study developed through relative importance index analysis to determine the dominant factors. The results showed that 36 factors affected contractor failure in the tender process for government construction projects in Maluku province. Factors affecting contractor failure in tendering for government projects are divided into four main categories: administrative document evaluation with an RII value of 0.65, qualification with an RII value of 0.71, technical with an RII value of 0.73, and price with an RII value of 0.73. Technical and price evaluation are the most crucial factors. This research is expected to help contractors prepare better strategies in the tender process, especially in terms of technical and price documents.
References
M. Andersson, T. Axelsson, and A. Palacio, “Resilience to economic shrinking in an emerging economy: the role of social capabilities in Indonesia, 1950–2015,” Journal of Institutional Economics, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 509-526, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137420000624
A. T. Nugraha, G. Prayitno, M. E. Situmorang, and A. Nasution, “The Role of Infrastructure in Economic Growth and Income Inequality in Indonesia,” Economics & Sociology, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 102-115, 2020. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-1/7
W. S. Alaloul, M. S. Liew, N. A. W. A. Zawawi, and I. B. Kennedy, “Industrial Revolution 4.0 in the construction industry: Challenges and opportunities for stakeholders,” Ain Shams Engineering Journal, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 225-230, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2019.08.010
M. Li, J. Liu, Y. Chen, and Z. Yang, “Can sustainable development strategy reduce income inequality in resource-based regions? A natural resource dependence perspective,” Resources Policy, vol. 81, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103330
A. J. McNamara and S. M. Sepasgozar, “Intelligent contract adoption in the construction industry: Concept development,” Automation in Construction, vol. 122, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103452
R. Assaad and I. H. El-Adaway, “Enhancing the knowledge of construction business failure: A social network analysis approach,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 146, no. 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001831
K. M. Eja and M. Ramegowda, “Government project failure in developing countries: a review with particular reference to Nigeria,” Global Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 19, pp. 35-47, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjss.v19i1.4
B. A. Albassam, “A model for assessing the efficiency of government expenditure,” Cogent Economics & Finance, vol. 8, no. 1, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2020.1823065
B. De-Cazalet and I. Zapatrina, “E-Procurement for PPPs and Concessions: Current Trends and Opportunities,” Eur. Procurement & Pub. Private Partnership L. Rev., vol. 16, 2021. https://doi.org/10.21552/epppl/2021/2/7
E. O. Ibem, E. B. Aduwo, A. O. Afolabi, A. O. Oluwunmi, P. F. Tunji-Olayeni, E. A. Ayo-Vaughan, and U. O. Uwakonye, “Electronic (e-) procurement adoption and users’ experience in the Nigerian construction sector,” International Journal of Construction Education and Research, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 258-276, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/15578771.2020.1730527
S. Ramalingam, “Subcontractor selection process through vendor bids: a case of an outsourcing service in construction,” IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 129-142, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277975220942078
I. Ahmaddien, “Juridicial Review of Government Procurement of Goods and Services Based on Presidential Regulation 12 2021 In Conjunction with Presidential Regulation 16 2018,” Review of Multidisciplinary Education, Culture and Pedagogy, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 11-22, 2021. https://doi.org/10.55047/romeo.v1i1.41
A. Olanrewaju, M. Z. X. Bong, and C. Preece, "Establishment of prequalification criteria for the selection of subcontractors by the prime constructors for building projects," Journal of Building Engineering, vol. 45, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103644
E. C. Chinedu, N. E. Ifeanyichukwu, O. Godson, and A. M. Suleiman, "Contractors Prequalification Guideline Used in Contractor Selection for Public Building Project in Southeast Nigeria: A Case Study of Imo State, Nigeria," International Journal of Innovative Research and Development, vol. 10, no. 8, 2021. https://doi.org/10.24940/ijird/2021/v10/i8/AUG21009
K. D. E. Gabiana, M. A. N. Polinar, and G. C. H. Baquero, “The Bidding Process of The Cebu Provincial Government: A Case Study,” International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 1456-1466, 2023. https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.04.05.07
A. S. Almohassen, M. Alfozan, O. S. Alshamrani, and M. E. Shaawat, "Evaluating construction contractors in the pre-tendering stage through an integrated-based model," Alexandria Engineering Journal, vol. 82, pp. 437-445, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2023.09.069
S. U. W. Prakasa, A. Hariri, H. S. Haq, A. R. Arafah, and M. M. Sahid, “Public Procurement Nexus Social for Mitigate the Corruption: Lesson from Indonesia,” Lex Scientia Law Review, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 413-448, 2023. https://doi.org/10.15294/lesrev.v7i2.72630
M. S. Mufidi and S. Sukaris, “Analysis of Service Quality in Supporting the Effectiveness of Goods and Services Procurement,” Journal Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik Engineering, Social Science, and Health International Conference, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 25-31, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.30587/umgeshic.v2i1.5139
A. Faraji, M. Rashidi, N. A. Eftekhari, S. Perera, and S. Mani, “A bid/mark-up decision support model in contractor’s tender strategy development phase based on project complexity measurement in the downstream sector of petroleum industry,” Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc8010033
K. R. Awalludin and I. N. D. P. Putra, "Analysis of Factors in Tenders for Procurement of Construction Goods/Services Using the E-Catalogue System," Journal of Civil Engineering and Planning (JCEP), vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 57-70, 2024. https://doi.org/10.37253/jcep.v5i1.9286
M. Gunasegaran, R. Basiruddin, and A. M. Rizal, “Detecting and Preventing Fraud in e-procurement of Public Sector: A Review, Synthesis and Opportunities for Future Research,” International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1444-1463, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i1/15970
S. Manyathi, A. P. Burger, N. L. Moritmer, “Public sector procurement: A private sector procurement perspective for improved service delivery,” Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review, vol. 9, no. 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v9i1.521
J. B. H. Yap, B. L. Lim, M. Skitmore, and J. Gray, “Criticality of project knowledge and experience in the delivery of construction projects,” Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 800-822, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-10-2020-0413
F. Rahmani, M. Khalfan, and T. Maqsood, “A conceptual model for selecting early contractor involvement (ECI) for a project,” Buildings, vol. 12, no. 6, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060786
C. E. Obodo, Z. Xie, B. B. Cobbinah, and K. D. Y. Yari, “Evaluating the factors affecting contractors tender for project construction: an empirical study of small scale indigenous contractors in Awka, Nigeria,” Open Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 381-397, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2021.97028
L. Simon, M. Jefferies, P. Davis, and M. T. Newaz, “Developing a theoretical success factor framework for the tendering phase of social infrastructure PPPs,” International Journal of Construction Management, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 613-627, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1720343
Y. K. Tsang, S. Abdelmageed, and T. Zayed, “Development of a contractor failure prediction model using analytic network process,” Journal of Architectural Engineering, vol. 27, no. 2, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AE.1943-5568.0000462
A. O. Muhammed, A. A. Muhammed, H. A. Yakubu, A. Suleiman, and A. Adam, “Assessment of factors affecting contractors tendering success for construction projects in North-Central Nigeria,” International Journal of Real Estate Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 87-99, 2022. https://doi.org/10.11113/intrest.v16n1.155
N. Alahmadi and M. Alghaseb, “Challenging tendering-phase factors in public construction projects—a Delphi study in Saudi Arabia,” Buildings, vol. 12, no. 7, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12070924
J. Ellis, D. J. Edwards, W. D. Thwala, O. Ejohwomu, E. E. Ameyaw, and M. Shelbourn, “A case study of a negotiated tender within a small-to-medium construction contractor: modelling project cost variance,” Buildings, vol. 11, no. 6, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11060260
C. Riveros, A. L. Ruiz, H. A. Mesa, and J. A. Guevara, “Critical Factors Influencing Early Contract Termination in Public Design–Build Projects in Developing and Emerging Economies,” Buildings, vol. 12, no. 5, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12050614
A. Farrell and R. Y. Sunindijo, “Overcoming challenges of early contractor involvement in local government projects,” International Journal of Construction Management, vol. 22, no. 10, pp. 1902-1909, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2020.1744216
B. Gadisa and H. Zhou, “Exploring influential factors leading to the poor performance of public construction project in Ethiopia using structural equation modelling,” Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1683-1712, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-12-2019-0689
A. M. El-Kholy and A. Y. Akal, “Determining the stationary financial cause of contracting firms failure,” International Journal of Construction Management, vol. 21, no. 8, pp. 818-833, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2019.1584836
Y. Gamil and I. Abdul-Rahman “Assessment of critical factors contributing to construction failure in Yemen,” International Journal of Construction Management, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 429-436, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1484866
R. J. Hamad, B. A. Tayeh, and H. A. Al Aisri, “Critical factors affecting the success of construction projects in Oman,” Journal of Sustainable Architecture and Civil Engineering, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 121-138, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.29.2.29269
M. O. Ahmed and I. H. El-adaway, “Data-driven analysis of construction bidding stage–related causes of disputes,” Journal of Management in Engineering, vol. 39, no. 5, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-5426
R. de Faria Silva, A. Souza, F. Kaczam, L. L. Dalazen, W. V. da Silva, and C. P. da Veiga, “Public-private partnerships and value for money,” Public Works Management & Policy, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 347-370, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X221108149
V. T. Nguyen, S. T. Do, N. M. Vo, T. A. Nguyen, and S. V. Pham, “An Analysis of Construction Failure Factors to Stakeholder Coordinating Performance in the Finishing Phase of High‐Rise Building Projects,” Advances in Civil Engineering, vol. 2020, no. 1, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6633958
O. S. D. Alshamrani, M. Saleem, I. K. AlYousif, and A. Alluqmani, "Development of a prequalification and selection framework for construction projects' contractors in Saudi Arabia," Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 1545-1563, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2022.2087657
A. Vilkonis, J. Antucheviciene, and V. Kutut, “Construction contracts quality assessment from the point of view of contractor and customer,” Buildings, vol. 13, no. 5, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051154
I. S. Zaqout, M. S. Islam, L. A. Hadidi, and M. Skitmore, “Modeling bidding decisions and bid markup size for construction projects: A fuzzy approach,” Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, vol. 113, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2022.104982
Y. Zhang, B. L. Oo, and B. T. H. Lim, “Factors affecting contractors’ bid or no-bid and mark-up decisions: A case of the Jilin province, China,” Construction Innovation, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 1232-1254, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-10-2021-0188
M. Okifitriana and Y. Latief, “Development of Quality Management System for Construction Services Procurement to Improve the Quality of Contractor Performance in Universitas Indonesia,” Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 1858, no. 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1858/1/012083
T. K. I. Adham, “Investigating the Causes of Contractor-Related Delays in Construction Projects and Mitigation Proposal,” International Journal of Progressive Sciences and Technology, vol. 37, pp. 646-670, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.52155/ijpsat.v37.1.5104
S. M. Mohamad-Azmi and S. Ismail, “Weaknesses of Malaysian public procurement: a review of auditor general’s reports,” Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 999-1020, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-05-2021-0132
S. Urquhart and A. Whyte, “Implications of governance obligations being embedded within construction contractors’ tendering procedures,” Australian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 93-105, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/14488353.2020.1735026
S. A. Hamza, S. Rasheed, and A. Hussein, “Procurement challenges analysis of Iraqi construction projects, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 112-117, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/jmbm-2022-0012
N. Chileshe, N. Kavishe, and D. J. Edwards, “Critical factors influencing the bid or no-bid decision of the indigenous small building contractors in Tanzania,” Construction Innovation, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 182-202, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-09-2019-0098
V. K. Acheamfour, E. Kissi, T. Adjei-Kumi, and E. Adinyira, "Review of empirical arguments on contractor prequalification criteria," Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 18, no. 1, 70-83, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-03-2019-0067
K. Mukilan, C. Rameshbabu, and P. Velumani, “A modified particle swarm optimization for risk assessment and claim management in engineering procurement construction projects,” Materials Today: Proceedings, vol. 42, pp. 786-794, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.11.315
A. R. Khoso, M. A. Yusof, M. A. Leghari, F. Siddiqui, and S. Sohu, “Public tendering practices, issues and directions-A case of Pakistan construction sector,” Pertanika Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 123-147, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.47836/pjst.29.1.07
G. Li, G. Zhang, C. Chen, and I. Martek, “Empirical bid or no bid decision process in international construction projects: Structural equation modeling framework,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 146, no. 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001830
B. Liu and M. A. Lim, “Provincial government and institution level strategy setting: the case of building Chinese ‘world-class universities’,” Policy Reviews in Higher Education, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 29-55, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2024.2335613
M. A. Rehman and M. S. B. Ishak, "Moderation role of government policies, laws, and Acts between cultural factors and risk management among Saudi Arabian contractors," FWU Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022. http://doi.org/10.51709/19951272/Spring2022/5
T. O. Malvik, P. Wondimu, B. T. Kalsaas, and A. Johansen, “Various approaches to early contractor involvement in relational contracts,” Procedia computer science, vol. 181, pp. 1162-1170, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2021.01.313
C. Langston, “The empirical relationship between contractor success and project innovation,” Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 2231-2254, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-05-2021-0460
C. B. Casady, O. H. Petersen, and L. Brogaard, “Public procurement failure: The role of transaction costs and government capacity in procurement cancellations,” Public Management Review, pp. 1-28, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2231945
K. K. Naji, M. Gunduz, and M. H. Falamarzi, “Assessment of construction project contractor selection success factors considering their interconnections,” KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 3677-3690, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-1377-6
S. Alkilani and M. Loosemore, “An investigation of how stakeholders influence construction project performance: a small and medium sized contractor’s perspective in the Jordanian construction industry,” Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 1272-1297, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-06-2022-0539
Downloads
Key Dates
Received
Revised
Accepted
Published Online First
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rusdi Usman Latief, Ismira Justy Ohorella, Rosmariani Arifuddin, Muh Rifan Fadlillah (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.










