Only verified specialists to bid on lithium battery, special-structure work
Only companies with a proven track record will be allowed to bid on high-risk public construction and service contracts going forward.
The Public Procurement Service announced Monday that it has revised its related regulations to ensure safety at high-risk construction sites and prevent shoddy construction, with the changes taking effect Tuesday.
The revision is a preemptive measure to prevent a recurrence of major accidents that occurred last year. One of the key factors cited in last year's data center fire was the selection, through open competitive bidding, of a contractor that lacked sufficient technical expertise.
To prevent such disasters, the agency will add lithium battery installation, replacement and relocation work for power facilities — including uninterruptible power supply systems and energy storage systems — as well as related design and supervision services, to the list of contracts subject to experience-based competitive bidding.
The agency also plans to develop safety design review guidelines covering spatial layout standards and fire suppression, fire detection and smoke exhaust systems for battery rooms in energy storage facilities. The guidelines are intended to ensure these elements are scrutinized from the earliest stages of public building design budget review.
Experience-restricted competitive bidding will also be introduced for construction of special-structure buildings — which require specialized technical capability and construction experience — as well as their design and supervision services.
Among special-structure buildings, "long-span structures" with a column spacing of 20 meters or more have been added to the experience-based competitive bidding list under this revision.
Other special-structure building types — including cantilever beams, flat-plate structures and membrane structures — will also be subject to experience-restricted competitive bidding where necessary, following consultation with the relevant procuring agencies.
Also, reflecting the growing trend of mixed-use public office complex development, buildings of 21 stories or more, or with a total floor area of 50,000 square meters or more, have been added to the experience-based competitive bidding list.
"Applying strict experience standards to high-risk construction and service contracts, and introducing safety design review guidelines, will raise the safety and quality of public facilities to a new level," PPS Commissioner Baek Seung-bo said. "We will continue to put safety first and work to improve the system so that public facilities become the safest and most reassuring spaces possible."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
