Skip to main content

Polish procurement practice problems publicised

A study reveals construction sector worries about public procurement practice in Poland. The study was commissioned by the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. Ulrich Paetzold, director general of FIEC, the European Construction Industry Federation commented that the study on how 'to implement intervention priorities as foreseen by the National Development Strategy 2020', “…confirms yet again some of the fundamental problems repeatedly stressed over several years by contractors and consulting
June 23, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A study reveals construction sector worries about public procurement practice in Poland. The study was commissioned by the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. Ulrich Paetzold, director general of FIEC, the 6164 European Construction Industry Federation commented that the study on how 'to implement intervention priorities as foreseen by the National Development Strategy 2020', “…confirms yet again some of the fundamental problems repeatedly stressed over several years by contractors and consulting engineers in relation to the practice of procurement processes and contract management of infrastructure contracts in Poland."

"This study is another wake-up call for the Polish government to finally counter the deteriorating business conditions in the Polish infrastructure market, as illustrated already in February 2014 by a comprehensive Ernst &Young analysis of the road infrastructure market in Poland," added Frank Kehlenbach, director of EIC, the European International Contractors.

The issues highlighted by the expert study include untimely materialisation of strategic plans, low quality of design documentation, award of contracts based on the lowest-price and incompetence of clients in supervising and cooperating with the designers. They also include inappropriate risk distribution between the client and the contractor (assigning risks to contractors that are beyond their influence) and frequent changes in legislation due to systemic or operational deficiencies.

FIEC and EIC, together with their Polish partners, PZPB and ZPBUI are appealing again to the Polish government to take the necessary steps in order to remedy the shortcomings and counterproductive practices shown in several independent expert studies, in particular, to stop the current policy of shifting typical client's risks, to the construction industry.

The Polish construction sector looks forward to intensifying its collaboration with the current and future Minister for Transport and Development, in order to find both quick solutions for current problems and ways to improve the efficiency of infrastructure project management in the long-term.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Show me the money at Australian Summit
    September 4, 2012
    The question of how to finance and fund major road infrastructure projects in Australia – including the potential role of user-pays charging as a funding solution – was top of mind at the recent Roads Australia National Summit in Sydney. The two-day summit, organised by peak national body Roads Australia, is the largest and most influential annual gathering of industry decision-makers in the country. This year’s summit was held against a backdrop of concern over the future of a raft of major road projects t
  • Highways England: new agency with long-term investment strategies
    August 18, 2015
    Highways England, created out of the old Highways Agency, was set up on April 1 to oversee a closer relationship between government client and private contractors. World Highways went to a recent forum in London to hear both sides declare their hopes and challenges. Government reforms are often met with a certain amount of scepticism thanks to years of disillusionment over forgotten ministerial promises. Given that, highway contractors in the UK could have been forgiven if they had raised their eyes skyward
  • Rural roads important to global development
    April 12, 2012
    Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard highlights that the key importance of rural roads in the context of global development is only now being fully recognised, is not receiving enough attention and is facing vital new challenges Rural roads have only relatively recently received attention in development research. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or World Bank, moved away from the World War II reconstruction mandate during the early 1960s to start, and address, the "Third World" developme
  • ETSC sets European road safety agenda
    November 22, 2013
    The European Transport Safety Commission (ETSC) is hopeful that coming elections will result in a political leadership keen to address European road safety. The ETSC has identified speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, infrastructure safety and the safety of vulnerable road users as priority areas for action during the mandate of the next European Parliament. Antonio Avenoso, ETSC executive director said, "Action in all of those areas carries significant potential to prevent deaths and