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Contractor Safety Prequalification

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  • Peter Philips
  • Norman Waitzman

Abstract

This safety-procurement tradeoff can be addressed by setting safety standards and then exempting selected activities and/or contractors. Or this tradeoff can be balanced by an informal or formal best-value point system that weighs, in each case, the relative value of contractor safety capabilities against contractor price and quality offerings. Construction work is particularly difficult to safety prequalify because the ramp-up time to bidding is short; construction uses several layers of subcontracting; and the formation of subcontracting teams comes late in the bidding process. Furthermore, the number of potential subcontractors that need to be prequalified explodes as the layers of subcontracting deepen. This means that the ratio of those who must be prequalified to those who are actually selected rises with every new layer of subcontracting thus raising prequalification costs. The solution to this dilemma is very-large-scale third party prequalification so that whole segments of the construction industry are prequalified for a wide range of hosts.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Philips & Norman Waitzman, 2013. "Contractor Safety Prequalification," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2013_07, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:uta:papers:2013_07
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    File URL: http://economics.utah.edu/research/publications/2013_07.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Garth Mangum & Donald Mayall & Kristin Nelson, 1985. "The Temporary Help Industry: A Response to the Dual Internal Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 38(4), pages 599-611, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    contractor safety prequalification; construction; subcontracting JEL Classification: L6; L7; J28; K32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • L7 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law

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