State Secretary Tonči Glavinić at conference on public procurement for construction works

Once again the Croatian Chamber of Economy and the Ljubenko & partneri d.o.o. law firm organise the annual conference on public procurement for construction works. The conference’s third edition gathers key stakeholders in the field of public procurement, and the opening ceremony in Zagreb’s Westin was also attended by State Secretary Tonči Glavinić.

The State Secretary pointed out that the construction industry is a key structural sector that generates lasting values and directly affects infrastructural and spatial development. Hence, efficient public procurement in the construction sector is essential for developing infrastructure and improving urban space.

“It ensures optimal use of public resources, high quality of works, and it avoids problems with delays, inappropriate costs or unreliable contractors. Conducting public procurement is an imperative factor in public investment. Upon concluding the contract, the goal is to carry it out under contracted prices and contracted timeframes to accomplish the desired result,” State Secretary Glavinić said in his introductory speech.

Along with the State Secretary, speeches were also given by Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy for Construction and Transport Mirjana Čagalj and Rector of the University of Zagreb Stjepan Lakušić.

“Croatia’s construction sector annually carries out public procurements worth several billion euro. Any mistake in planning, preparing or implementing procedures can result in significant delays, financial adjustments and operational problems. We know that public resources, European funds and national investments must be used within ever stricter deadlines. This is why public procurement management quality becomes equally important as the quality of the work itself,” Vice President Čagalj said.

The goal of the conference is to encourage the exchange of knowledge, experience and good practices and jointly contribute to improving public procurement procedures for construction work.

“Project documentation must be of high-quality and technical specifications well-defined. If documentation is not adequate, changes to the project, contract annexes or even work stoppages may occur during the execution of works. This can lead to deviations from the contracted price and deadlines, so a high-quality project is extremely important,” State Secretary Glavinić said.

With regard to the Public Procurement Act, contracting authorities have to go through a large number of procedures and regulations, Rector Lakušić said.

“One of the most common operational problems in public procurement procedures is poorly or unclearly written public procurement documentation. Often procuring entities forget that effort and time spent on preparing procurement documentation will help the very process the most. Every word, or even a comma, carries meaning and can sometimes lead to misinterpretations, “he explained.

State Secretary Glavinić pointed out that the Ministry has faced a series of challenges since the integration of post-earthquake reconstruction implementing bodies into the Ministry.

“This year alone we have published over 150 public procurement procedures solely for works. These procedures refer to 2,000 locations, or 2,000 construction sites. These are major challenges - from ensuring the best possible conditions for a home to achieving the highest quality of work on site,” he said.

He also commented on the currently most pressing challenge - the Vjesnik skyscraper. In order to remove it in the safest and most efficient way, the State Secretary explains, public procurement procedure and documentation preparation are underway.

“In cooperation with HGK, last Wednesday we started exploring the market and asked for preliminary offers from 34 economic operators, by yesterday we received 17 responses. These are currently in final stages of analysis and processing, and I believe that by the end of the week we will reach a conclusion and have the offers analysed. Some of them refer to mechanical removal and some to blasting,” he explained.

He also added that three sectoral acts are in the parliamentary procedure - on building, physical planning and energy efficiency in building construction, and that amendments to the Act on Engineering Activities will be underway at the beginning of next year.

This year’s conference panel topics and subtopics

Through three panel discussions, distinguished experts from legal, technical and institutional sectors will discuss current challenges, present new regulations and provide the opportunity of dialogue and proposals on improving the systems of public procurement for works in Croatia.

This year’s panels are titled “Foreign bidders - yes or no?”, “Cost of extended construction”, and “Technical qualifications recognition procedure”. Head of Sector for Preparation and Organisation of Reconstruction Katarina Ravnjak took part in the second panel. The conference programme will also be enriched by a debate among law students on the conference topics. The debate will consist of three rounds of three minutes each, giving young jurists the opportunity to state their views on key issues from the public procurement domain.

The conference on public procurement for construction works is an annual gathering of a large number of experts who, by participating, contribute to developing a more transparent and efficient public procurement system in Croatia. In its third edition, once again it gathers key stakeholders in the field of public procurement for works, representatives of public and sectoral contracting authorities, contractors, consultants, lawyers and other experts.

The conference programme is available HERE.

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