The conflict over selecting the contractor for the redevelopment of Seongsu Strategic Maintenance Zone District 4 (Seongsu District 4) in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, has been settled for now through "competitive bidding."
Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which had faced the risk of disqualification due to controversy over incomplete bidding documents, accepted additional requests from the association, and with Seongdong-gu Office, the relevant local government, stepping in to mediate, the project is back on track.
According to the maintenance industry on the 12th, the Seongsu District 4 association, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, and Lotte Engineering & Construction agreed to the association's mediation plan late the previous night after prolonged talks.
The crux of the agreement is to recognize Daewoo Engineering & Construction's bidding documents as properly received while supplementing them with additional detailed materials requested by the association.
Earlier, the association said Daewoo Engineering & Construction had omitted detailed drawings that serve as the basis for calculating construction costs and considered reannouncing the bid. However, Seongdong-gu, the district office with jurisdiction, put the brakes on that through administrative guidance.
In an official letter, Seongdong-gu said, "The bidding guidelines do not separately specify submission documents for detailed processes, and voiding a bid without a resolution by the delegates' meeting has procedural issues."
Daewoo Engineering & Construction expressed a welcome for the agreement.
A Daewoo Engineering & Construction official said, "Through Seongdong-gu's official letter, it was confirmed that there are no issues with Daewoo Engineering & Construction's bidding documents, and we welcome the normalization of the bidding," adding, "The association additionally requested detailed drawings that were not in the bidding guidelines, but for smooth progress of the project, we decided to take a broad view and supplement them."
The official added, "With the bidding back to normal, it is fortunate that delays feared by association members have been minimized," and "We will focus all our capabilities on the success of the Seongsu District 4 redevelopment and maximizing the interests of association members."
With competitive bidding in place, the order race between Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Lotte Engineering & Construction is expected to intensify. The adjustment plan includes strong clean-bidding measures such as ▲ stopping mutual slander ▲ competition centered on proposals ▲ invalidation of bids and cancellation of selection in case of violations.
The Seongsu District 4 redevelopment is a project worth 1.3628 trillion won to build 1,439 apartment units ranging from 6 floors underground to 65 floors above ground. Daewoo Engineering & Construction plans to complete the submission of supplementary documents by the 20th, and Lotte Engineering & Construction and Daewoo Engineering & Construction are each set to begin full-fledged efforts to win over association members.