Re: Re: Government Tenders – Paradise for the big guys

Have you (and your prospective partners) actually gone and discussed the idea with your local authority ?

As for changing the law, surely that’s where the IEI and IStruct E have to come in.
If they don’t want it, any ‘popular movement’ is doomed.
The notion of using an architecture forum to change tender procedure is daft.
Firstly it’s a bigger question than for purely architectural tenders.
Secondly, I really would not be so confident that those Irish architect firms that have reached a size that
enables them to enter the tender process would be willing to lose their advantage without a dirty fight.
This means that the big firms will be using all their business and social contacts to shore up their position
and undermine that of the liberalisers. The main mass of architects have no stomach for this kind of scrap.
They can’t even sort out some of their own crapheads in the RIAI.

Changing this public tender process – even in a limited way, e.g. for small budget jobs – seems more like a case for the EU competition authorities.
Also expect more insurance cover to be demanded by authorities on tendering firms to cover the greater consequential losses that may result from public works projects.