Poor tendering and selection process, imprecise terms and conditions of a contract, skewed basis for the award of contracts, delayed payment, disputes in the post-execution settlement are some of the major problems with the Bhutanese construction industry.
According to the Construction Development Board, our contractors still do not give much consideration to the contract documents due to which such problems arise. With a hope to enrich local contractors on some best international construction practices, a one day International Construction Business Forum was held in the capital yesterday.
Bhutan has a short history of modernity. However, the pace of development has been fast and vigorous. Developmental activities, building infrastructures such as roads, bridges and living spaces have ushered great opportunity for the Bhutanese construction industry. However, there is huge room for improvement for the contractors in Bhutan. There has always been complains of works not being completed on time and not being up to the standards. Still, around 80% of the works are either not completed on time or do not meet the standards. One possible solution to these problems could be ‘International Federation of Consulting Engineers’ (FIDIC) which is a widely used guideline relating to bidding and material procurement practices in the construction industry. The current version of FIDIC was revised and updated in 2017. The forum aims to inculcate the basics of various documents of FIDIC, fundamental principles of contract and advocate best construction dispute settlement practices.
“If we look at all the problems we have such as liquidation, extensions of time mentioned by the annual report of the Construction Association of Bhutan and the lapses on the construction, it all boils down to the main cause, ‘understanding of contracts.’ It is all based on contracts. So have the idea of FIDIC slowly until you get used to it. Make a sample of a few that you are interested to learn and experiment. If I, as a contractor learn about FIDIC it would be easier for me to get bigger jobs because everything is based on the contract. If you know FIDIC the size of the construction is not very important because you are using the same engineers, contracts and the same employees,” said Salvador P. Jr. Castro, a FIDIC expert.
The Ethical Code of Conduct for Contractors 2019 was also launched during the forum yesterday. This contract document will guide Bhutanese contractors to conduct construction business with professionalism, integrity and accountability ensuring sustainable construction with quality.
“Now there is an ethics committee and if there is any breach of this conducts there are some penalties the committee will levy on the contractors. So basically the main aim of this book is that the contractors have to shoulder bigger responsibilities and have to take the ownership of carrying out the works with quality on time and without any cost escalations. We are trying to put contractors on the toe that they have bigger responsibility once they sign the contract,” said Phub Rinzin, the Director for CDB.
Engineers, project managers of various government agencies, private entities along with some international participants took part in the forum. Construction Association of Bhutan in collaboration with Construction Development Board and Bhutan Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre with support of the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors’ Associations conducted the forum.
