From now on, the participation of corporations that cause serious disasters in public bids will become more difficult. The government plans to establish a 'safety sector qualification restriction' requirement in public contract limited competitive bidding. If safety issues are discovered at construction sites, the contractor will also be granted the right to request a temporary work suspension from the contracting public agency. This is intended to enhance safety management throughout the national contract process.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance held the '3rd Procurement Policy Deliberation Committee for 2025' at 10 a.m. on the 20th, chaired by Vice Minister Lim Gi-geun, and deliberated and passed measures to improve the national contract system. A Ministry of Economy and Finance official noted, 'In light of the recent series of serious accidents, we intend to ensure a leading role for the public sector in eliminating disasters.'
The government will institutionalize the 'safety first principle' throughout the public contract process. At the bidding stage, the reasons for limited competitive bidding will include safety certification and the possession of safety expertise and technology, fundamentally blocking the participation of underqualified companies.
In the stage of selecting the successful bidder, the evaluation criteria for public construction will newly include 'serious disaster violations' as a negative scoring factor. The safety evaluation, which previously operated on a point-based system, will be transitioned to a scoring system to become a substantial factor in determining success or failure.
In the contract execution process, the applicable standards for safety-related expenses will be raised to enable corporations to reliably execute safety investments. If contractors discover safety issues on-site, they will also be institutionalized with the right to request a temporary work suspension from the contracting agency.
Measures will also be established to alleviate the burden on corporations that enhance safety management.
In cases where long-term ongoing construction is delayed and there is no fault on the part of the construction company, compensation for the extension of the contract period will be paid. The minimum bid rate for eligible projects, which was previously under 10 billion won, will be increased by 2 percentage points (p) to ensure the appropriate construction costs. If technical bids fail, adjustments for price fluctuations during the design period will be allowed, and the current contract guarantee rate will be relaxed from 15% to 10%.
The government will significantly strengthen sanctions against corporations that cause serious disasters. Currently, bidding restrictions apply only in cases of simultaneous deaths of two or more individuals, but it will push for legal amendments to allow restrictions in situations where 'multiple fatal accidents occur annually.' Plans also include extending the sanctions period, increasing penalties for repeated accidents, and preventing evasion through partitioning or name changes.
Vice Minister Lim said, 'We will establish safety as a core element of corporate competitiveness and ensure that corporations that disregard safety are eliminated from the public bidding market.'
On this day, the Ministry of Economy and Finance also deliberated and approved measures to improve the public procurement innovation ecosystem. In order to utilize the procurement market as a ladder for the growth of innovative companies, plans include expanding public purchases of innovative products to 3 trillion won annually by 2030 and increasing the designation of innovative products to a cumulative total of 5,000.
A government official noted, 'Currently, there are about 2,200 designated innovative products,' adding that they took into account the complaints from demand agencies stating, 'Even when trying to purchase products, there are not many available.'
The entry threshold for the procurement market will also be lowered. Plans are to operate a 'Public Procurement Guide' service that provides one-stop information about the procurement market for early-stage companies.
Support for the 'Venture Nation,' which was limited to venture and startup companies, will also be expanded to include young companies and those focusing on technological or management innovation. Venture Nation is a dedicated shopping mall that the Public Procurement Service established and has been operating since 2016, aimed at supporting the initial sales of venture and startup companies that face difficulties entering the public procurement market despite their excellent technology and quality. By the end of this year, the number of institutions designating innovative products will increase from 16 to 18.
The government also plans to streamline the process for designating innovative products. The existing evaluation method, which assessed innovativeness after public utility (sales) assessment, will be changed to evaluate public utility and innovativeness simultaneously, shortening the evaluation period. The number of innovative product designations will also be increased from three to four times a year.
In addition, to alleviate the financial difficulties of early-stage innovative companies, plans are in place to launch a guarantee product exclusively for innovative companies starting in September and to expand the guarantee limit in proportion to the contract scale.