Detecting unbalanced bidding to achieve economic sustainability using fuzzy logic approach
ISSN: 1471-4175
Article publication date: 12 June 2020
Issue publication date: 18 March 2021
Abstract
Purpose
To achieve sustainability for a construction project requires the achievement of economic, environmental and social sustainability at the same time. The economic sustainability of a project should be built into the stipulated cost. The unbalanced bidding always contribute cost overrun for a construction project. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for identifying unbalanced bidding.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem of identifying unbalanced bidding is a comprehensive evaluation problem. All line items and bidders in bills of quantities are evaluation factors and evaluation objects, respectively, and the engineer’s estimated prices are considered as the evaluation benchmarks. The weights of these factors are determined through integrating the entropy weight method and the analytic hierarchy model, which consider subjective and objective factors in the weighting process.
Findings
The proposed model can be used to quantitatively evaluate unbalanced bids. The identification process can be analyzed within a short period, specifically with the aid of Microsoft Excel, reducing delays in awarding contracts. The results show that the model will support owners as they efficiently and effectively identify unbalanced bids in the bid evaluation stage to mitigate the negative consequences of unbalanced bidding.
Practical implications
A case study is given to verify the feasibility and practicability of the proposed method, which not only assists owners in efficiently and effectively identifying unbalanced bidding, but also promotes the economic sustainability of construction projects.
Originality/value
The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to detect unbalanced bidding, allowing owners to be objective as they identify and reduce unbalanced bidding at the procurement stage.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge with gratitude the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (No. 19YJC630078), the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0406905), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 71302191), the Foundation for Distinguished Young Talents in Higher Education of Henan (Humanities and Social Sciences), China (No. 2017-cxrc-023), Youth Talents Teachers Scheme of Henan Province Universities (No. 2018GGJS080), China Scholarship Council (No. 201908410388). This study would not have been possible without their financial support.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Data availability statement: The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.
Citation
Li, H., Su, L., L.V., L. and Xia, Q. (2021), "Detecting unbalanced bidding to achieve economic sustainability using fuzzy logic approach", Construction Innovation, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 164-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-11-2019-0136
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited