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ONLY 5 FOR UNLIMITED CIVIL WORKS CONTRACTS

25/01/2022 08:08:00 Ashmond Nzima

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MBABANE – Out of over 180 construction firms, only five are said to be eligible for general civil works tenders with an unlimited value.

Civil works means any works where the greater proportion of the project involves earthworks, the construction of bridges, dams and the likes, but excluding works involving the construction of a building, electrical and mechanical plant. In alphabetical order, the firms were identified as AG Thomas, Afrotim Construction, Inyatsi Superfos, Roots Civils and Stefanutti Stocks Construction Swaziland. This is as per the construction firms register for 2021/2022. The register has at least 183 general civil works firms for the period under review and it has been posted on the Construction Industry Council (CIC) of Eswatini official website. Under the current CIC grading criteria, which are currently going under review, these contractors are under category ‘C1’ (unlimited maximum tender value range).

Contractors

Under ‘C2’ are contractors that can do general civil works with a maximum value of E50 million. The lowest grade in this category is ‘C6’ and contractors under this grouping can do works with a maximum value of E1 million. Among the ‘big five’, it could not be immediately ascertained which contractor benefited the most, as the full list of awarded projects for 2021/22 was yet to be released at the time of compiling this report. After the Cabinet retreat the past week, which was held in Ezulwini, Minister of Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe was asked to shed light on the issue of big projects following the general feeling that multi-million Emalangeni contracts were given to one and the same contractors. The minister said only a few companies had the capacity to execute projects worth over E200 million. Meanwhile, the CIC is currently reviewing the grading criteria. As reported in the past week, the shortlisting of consultants to provide services for the review of the contractor registration and grading criteria had been done.

Contract

A joint venture involving Olive Green Consulting – Procurement Dynamics was named as the successful bid with a proposed contract price of E547 670. This is as per an intention to award notice which was posted on the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA), website a few days ago. CIC has embarked on the process of reviewing grading of contractors with intent to improve standards. For construction firms, for instance, the current contractor categorisation and grading process is determined by best annual turnover, largest contract and available capital. Best annual turnover is determined by the best turnover over a period of three years. The largest contract is determined by the largest contract undertaken and completed for projects done in your class of construction works (completed during the three years immediately preceding the application).

Period

Then available capital is the sum of total equity and retained income or any form of surety from recognised financial institutions over a period of three years. The grading is used by project owners to qualify a tender to be considered for a particular construction works contract. For example, if you are registered as a Grade B2, you will be considered for general building works of a value to a maximum of E25 million. The consultants for the review are to carry out an in-depth analysis of existing contractor grading criteria and development of new grading criteria that addresses existing gaps. In addition, the criteria should ensure a refined grading tool that allocates contractors according to the deserved value of work.

Premises

This may include, but not limited to; trading space or premises to promote formal business setting in construction; construction plant and equipment capacity and professional capacity. Last but not least, it should provide more currency and credibility of the CIC registration certificate. It was stated that the proposed registration and grading criteria review was aimed at developing a registration and grading criterion that factors financial capability to ensure financial capacity of the contractor. It also seeks to develop a registration and grading criterion that factors in technical capacity of the contractor in delivering construction projects.