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“Fast, Sustainable And Audit-Proof”

1 July, 2015
4 mins read

The feedback of the companies is consistently positive

Ursula Siedenhans

Gesobau AG Relies on E-Tendering With the Berlin Tendering Platform

BERLIN, February 16 2015. The Berlin housing association GESOBAU AG successfully executes about 150 digital tendering processes per year over the RIB e-tendering platform of the Senate Department for Urban Development – that is more than 560 since the start of the program in 2010. The rate of downloads of the tendering documents by bidding companies is at approx. 100%. Around 40 to 50 % of the companies also submit their offers digitally on the platform – a trend that is rising. In the medium term, GESOBAU AG wants to increase this value. So, from autumn of this year, for example, for EU-wide processes in the VOB field (German construction tendering and contract regulations), only digitally submitted bidder offers will be considered. The goal for the future is to create a thoroughgoing digital tendering process – fast, sustainable and audit-proof.

The tendering platform the federal state of Berlin uses is based on the iTWO technology by RIB. The Stuttgart software company offers e-tendering solutions for private and public tendering procedures in iTWO tx (tender exchange) and iTWO e-tendering public (iTWO ep). Bidding companies have access via the platforms to the new bidder area of iTWO tender.

By taking the step of introducing compulsory digital bid submission in large-scale EU processes, the housing association is aiming to create an incentive for bidders to engage more intensively with electronic tendering. “The feedback of the companies is consistently positive without exception,” explains Ursula Siedenhans, head of the procurement, contracts and quality management department at GESOBAU. “Many trades, painters for example, are already showing very progressive thinking; about 95% submit their offers digitally. With others, we are required to introduce them step by step to the advantages of e-tendering. For this reason, the bidders can still submit paper offers for all processed undertaken according to VOB (German construction tendering and contract regulations) and VOL (supply and services regulations).”

Berlin Reinickendorf

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The company increases bidder acceptance through the direct linking of current public calls for tender on the e-tendering platform to the company website. “The companies thus arrive directly via our website to the process,” procurement employee Erika Hockauf explains. Further advantages for the companies are created by GESOBAU AG through an intelligent form on the platform. “With the aid of this form, GESOBAU prompts the bidders to submit missing documents. This speeds up and simplifies the working process for the procurement staff and makes submission on time easier for bidders by ensuring a swift and transparent mailing, so that as few people as possible – nobody, hopefully – will be excluded from the process for this reason,” adds Hockauf, who actively supported the e-tendering project at Gesobau from the beginning onwards. ast but not least, GESOBAU benefits from the extensive Q & A area on the platform, which helps to clarify bidder questions of all kinds as quickly as possible.

The e-assignment with the Berlin awarding platform will be consistently expanded at GESOBAU AG and supplemented with new functionalities.

Benefits for Gesobau:

  • High transparency in the planning process
  • Improved coordination of all involved in planning
  • BIM as an all-encompassing method ensures quality in the project