Investigating factors affecting contractors’ response to local government construction bids in Uganda

Abstract

Bidding is critical in identifying the best bidder for construction projects. More than 55% of Uganda’s national budget is spent through public procurement processes although the execution of the construction projects is not appeasing. This study aimed to investigate factors affecting contractors’ response to Local Government bids in selected districts in south western Uganda. It added new insights to the existing body of knowledge about contractors’ response to LG bids in Uganda which was scanty in literature. Descriptive study design was used and data was collected using questionnaire survey and interview method from a sample of 126 respondents who were randomly and purposively selected from a population of 188 comprised of contractors and community members in the selected districts. To analyse data, SPSS version 20 was used. The study revealed that there is a positive strong relationship between characteristics of construction bids and contractor’s response to LG bids (Pearson = 0.784; P-value = 0.00 < 0.05). The study also found out that there is a positive strong relationship between Factors (capacity, time and contract type) and contractor’s response to LG bids (Pearson value of 0.879; P-value 0.000 < 0.05). A proposed decision model for proficient bidding revealed that if the mark up is ≥ 62% then bidding process must be undertaken. The proposed framework developed showed a coordination gap among actors that can be included in the bid evaluation process. Standard construction bids in Uganda are mainly characterised by high bid security thus local governments should from time to time review the impact of bid security measures on contractor participation in local government construction bids.