ABSTRACT
The Government Procurement Law in Taiwan has two categories of contract award methods: the Lowest Bid Tendering method (LBT) and the most favorable Tendering method (MFT), a type of multicriteria bid evaluation method (Wang et al., 2006). LBT features simple tendering procedures and non-controversial issues, making it one of the most popular contract-awarding methods (Tzeng et al., 2006). In Taiwan, LBT has been adopted by most public entities (project owners) for a long time. As contractors compete solely on the bidding price, the LBT method may result in awarding contracts to unreasonably low bidders (Tzeng et al., 2006). Such cases imply that the winner may cut corners during construction to maintain profits, especially in occupational safety and health issues (Wang et al., 2006). Multi-level contracting and illegal sub-contracting in the construction industry may worsen this situation. As a result, occupational safety management for public construction projects faces challenges such as diminishing budgets, a reduction in staff, and the continued growth of the workforce, and thus it is getting increasingly difficult to manage.
