Precautions for Project Managers in Public Tendering

A major component in project planning is the compilation of procurement documents and the setting of criteria for tender assessment. Project managers are commonly engaged by owners to provide project management services, and therefore during the tendering stage they would have obligations and liabilities to their owners. Evidence suggests that many so-called project managers enter the industry by accidents without suitable training or qualifications. The legal position of the owners of a project may be complicated by the delegation of their power to manage contracts to specialist project managers. In a decided case, the court held that the consulting engineers owed a duty of care for misleading tender documentation to the tenderers. The scope of a project manager’s liability might be significantly widened if this reasoning were to be adopted. This paper aims to review the extent of engagement of project managers and attempts to suggest precautions especially for their involvement in public tendering. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted and the results indicated that project managers should have relevant updates of legal cases in tendering, and in order to elevate the status of project management profession, there is no doubt that the standards of professional training and competence must be increased.