Public Procurement Service revises integrated evaluation committee management rules

The Public Procurement Service is tightening oversight of evaluation committees for public procurement projects, covering the entire process from member selection to post-evaluation management — including pre-selection misconduct checks and post-selection investigations into unauthorized contact with bidders.

The agency said it has revised its integrated regulation governing evaluation committee members to strengthen fairness and improve the integrity and accountability of those serving on such panels. The revised rules took effect Monday.

The agency has managed evaluation committee members throughout the assessment process through three existing channels: a pre-evaluation tip-off center for reporting unauthorized contact before assessments, a monitoring team during evaluations, and an evaluation history management system afterward.

Despite those measures, concerns have persisted over some committee members making unauthorized contact with companies under review, soliciting money, and in some cases lacking the professional expertise required for the role.

The revision focuses on incorporating the findings from reviews of the existing management framework into the full cycle of committee member oversight — from initial selection and reappointment through to post-evaluation follow-up.

Under the new rules, a committee member's negotiation eligibility will be suspended during any investigation triggered by a report of unauthorized pre-evaluation contact. If an investigation or criminal probe confirms such contact occurred, the member may be dismissed. In addition, a member whose monitoring results show two or more deficiencies in the fairness category, or three or more total deficiencies, will face a six-month suspension of negotiation eligibility; a second such suspension will make the member subject to dismissal.

Previously, pre-selection misconduct checks with a member's affiliated institution were limited to construction-related evaluation fields. Going forward, such checks will be conducted across all evaluation fields before a member is selected, and anyone found to have a record of misconduct will be excluded from consideration.

The criteria for reappointment reviews have also been made more specific. Decisions on whether to renew a member's term will take into account dismissal and suspension history, post-evaluation assessments, pre-contact investigation records, monitoring results, and completion of mandatory online training.

The revision also establishes a basis for paying attendance allowances to committee members who show up on the day an evaluation session is canceled due to unavoidable circumstances on the part of the requesting agency.

Kim Ji-wook, director general of the Digital Fair Procurement Bureau at the Public Procurement Service, said the revision is expected to raise both the fairness of evaluations and the accountability of committee members. "We will continue to improve the evaluation system, including how committee members are managed, so that the public can trust that assessments are conducted fairly," Kim said.