The growing pressure to ensure sustainable construction is also associated with stricter demands on the cost-effectiveness of construction and operation of buildings and reduction of their environmental impact. This paper presents a methodology for building life cycle cost estimation that enables investors to identify the optimum material solution for their buildings on the level of functional parts. The functionality of a comprehensive model that takes into account investor requirements and links them to a construction cost estimation database and a facility management database is verified through a case study of a “façade composition” functional part, with sublevel “external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) with thin plaster”. The results show that there is no generally applicable optimum ETICS material solution, which is caused by differing investor requirements, as well as the unique circumstances of each building and its user. The solution presented in this paper aims to aid investor decision-making regarding the choice of the building materials while taking the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) into account.

A way to minimize uncertainty and achieve the best possible project performance in construction project management can be achieved during the procurement process, which involves selecting an optimal contractor according to “the most economically advantageous tender.” As resources are limited, decision-makers are often pulled apart by conflicting demands coming from various stakeholders. The challenge of addressing them at the same time can be modelled as a multi-criteria decision-making problem. The aim of this paper is to show that the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) together with PROMETHEE could cope with such a problem. As a result of their synergy, a decision support concept for selecting the optimal contractor (DSC-CONT) is proposed that: (a) allows the incorporation of opposing stakeholders’ demands; (b) increases the transparency of decision-making and the consistency of the decision-making process; (c) enhances the legitimacy of the final outcome; and (d) is a scientific approach with great potential for application to similar decision-making problems where sustainable decisions are needed.

A contractor’s ability to prepare a competitive bid for a construction tender is crucial for its survival on the market. The bid price estimation strategy should promote the probability of winning a sufficient amount of tenders but, at the same time, ensure the economic stability and development of the company. This paper aims to address this issue in the area of Czech public construction procurement. The opinions, experiences and practices of contractors were collected through a questionnaire survey, and the data were evaluated with the support of statistical methods. This revealed that Czech contractors mostly base their multicriteria bidding strategy on cost-oriented pricing while considering various aspects such as the risks and attractiveness of the tender. The Czech construction market is generally perceived as oriented toward low costs, and with a relatively common occurrence of abnormally low bids. The findings presented in this paper may help contractors improve their current bidding strategies in public construction procurement.

The maintenance planning within the urban road infrastructure management is a complex problem from both the management and technoeconomic aspects. The focus of this research is on decision‐making processes related to the planning phase during management of urban road infrastructure projects. The goal of this research is to design and develop an ANN model in order to achieve a successful prediction of road deterioration as a tool for maintenance planning activities. Such a model is part of the proposed decision support concept for urban road infrastructure management and a decision support tool in planning activities. The input data were obtained from Circly 6.0 Pavement Design Software and used to determine the stress values (560 testing combinations). It was found that it is possible and desirable to apply such a model in the decision support concept in order to improve urban road infrastructure maintenance planning processes.

Efficient use of public resources should be supported by quality management of the tender procedure to achieve competitive tender prices. This paper examines the issue of competitive environment within public works contracts and explores the influence of the number of bidders on the tender results. A research sample of 256 public tenders was investigated in order to evaluate two research hypotheses. Data evaluation was supported by interval plot, scatter plot and correlation analysis. It has been found that the number of bidders in the tender depends on the type of the subject matter of the tender; however, this difference does not have a significant impact on the level of competition. Another research finding supports the assumption that the number of bidders influences the relative difference between expected price and award price. It was concluded that contracting authorities must not only require a sufficient range of qualifications, but should also take any steps required to motivate a sufficient number of applicants to participate in the tender procedure to achieve competitive prices

Public contracting authority may award contracts only to contractors who meet certain qualification criteria for participation in tenders. Such requirements can vary between countries; this paper therefore introduces basic legislation governing this process both in the Czech Republic and Poland. The verification of compliance of these requirements should be made individually for each public procurement procedure which is associated with the need to submit corresponding documents. The aim of the article is to analyse and compare current practice in using qualification criteria for public works contracts in both countries. Information about qualification criteria have been studied on the sample of 345 tenders for public works contracts, in particular for road structures, schools and water and sewage facilities and equipment. Analytical part focuses on the extent of qualification criteria use and discusses their application in the context of ensuring fairness of the competition with regard to non-discriminatory nature of the qualification. Research findings reveal significant disparity between the Czech Republic and Poland in the area of 1) professional and 2) economic and financial qualifications. It has been concluded that the reintroduction of economic and financial qualification criteria in the Czech Republic is justified if used appropriately and according to methodological guidelines. In Poland, the risk of inappropriate use of criteria lies especially in excessive requirements in relation to the volume and nature of contract. Contracting entity is not obliged to describe and demand all the requirements, it is crucial to require just the fulfilment of those criteria which are necessary to assess the ability of contractors to perform the contract. The criteria of an environmental nature are hardly used.