In order to further strengthen the engineering general contracting management of housing construction and municipal infrastructure projects and promote the orderly and healthy development of the construction market in Jiangxi Province, the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Jiangxi Province has issued the "Measures for the Administration of Engineering General Contracting of Housing Construction and Municipal Infrastructure Projects in Jiangxi Province (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures"). The relevant content is interpreted as follows:

1. Background of Issuance

In recent years, with the promotion and application of the engineering general contracting system, it has played a positive guiding role in accelerating the reform, development, transformation and upgrading of the construction industry and enhancing the comprehensive strength and core competitiveness of construction enterprises in our province. However, during implementation, individual construction units, under the name of engineering general contracting, have engaged in the practice of "tailoring to measure" by setting specific conditions to achieve "precise" winning of bids by certain enterprises; in order to rush the construction schedule, they have hastily awarded contracts before the conditions for engineering general contracting were met, resulting in the unfavorable situation that construction costs exceed the estimated project investment.

Facing some new situations and new problems that have emerged during the implementation of engineering general contracting projects in our province, with the goal of further standardizing the behavior of construction market entities and comprehensively improving the comprehensive benefits of engineering general contracting projects, the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Jiangxi Province has formulated and issued the "Administrative Measures" to comprehensively strengthen the management of engineering general contracting projects.

2. Basis for Formulation

1. The Bidding Law of the People's Republic of China;

2. The Implementing Regulations of the Bidding Law of the People's Republic of China (State Council Order No. 613, revised in 2019);

3. Opinions on Promoting the Sustained and Healthy Development of the Construction Industry (Guobanfa [2017] No. 19);

4. Several Opinions on Further Promoting the Development of Engineering General Contracting (Jianshi [2016] No. 93);

5. Code for Management of Engineering General Contracting of Construction Projects (GB/T 50358-2017);

6. Notice on Issuing the "Measures for the Administration of Engineering General Contracting of Housing Construction and Municipal Infrastructure Projects" (Jianshigui [2019] No. 12);

7. Opinions on Promoting the Transformation and Upgrading of the Construction Industry and High-Quality Development (Ganfutingfa [2020] No. 34);

8. Several Opinions on Strictly Implementing Bidding Laws and Regulations and Further Standardizing the Behavior of Bidding Entities (Fagaifagui [2022] No. 1117).

3. Formulation Process

(1) Research and drafting of the preliminary draft. In July 2023, our department launched the drafting of the "Administrative Measures." On the basis of summarizing research and studying the practices of brother provinces, after organizing relevant regulatory departments of districts and cities with districts to repeatedly demonstrate the drafting ideas, structural framework, and key content of the "Administrative Measures," the draft for soliciting opinions of the "Administrative Measures" was formed.

(2) Public solicitation of opinions online. In accordance with the requirements of fair competition review, in November 2023, opinions and suggestions were solicited from relevant offices of the department, relevant provincial units, housing and urban-rural development departments of all districts and cities with districts and Ganjiang New Area, industry associations, and construction enterprises, and at the same time a 15-day public consultation was posted on the department's website to solicit opinions from society.

(3) Holding discussion meetings. After the public consultation ended, our department held three discussion meetings to deeply listen to the opinions and suggestions of regulatory departments, construction units, and other relevant parties. After sorting and summarizing, there were 12 items, of which: 6 were adopted, 5 were not adopted, and 1 was partially adopted; for the remaining opinions and suggestions, explanations were given to the units and individuals that raised them.

(4) Deliberation by the department affairs meeting. In January 2024, the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Jiangxi Province held a department affairs meeting, deliberated and approved the "Administrative Measures," and released it in accordance with procedures.

4. Main Content

The "Administrative Measures" consist of 29 articles and mainly include the following content:

(1) Clarifying the approval department and contracting time for engineering general contracting. First, it must be approved by the people's government at or above the county level or the competent department of the project investment entity; second, enterprise investment projects may be contracted only after completion of approval or filing, and government investment projects may be contracted only after completion of preliminary design approval.

(2) Clarifying the responsibilities of the construction unit. First, describe in as much detail as possible the requirements for the scope, scale, standards, functions, and other aspects of the project construction; second, bonus points may be set for adopting new technologies and new processes such as BIM, prefabricated construction, and green construction; third, for government investment projects, the prepared bill of quantities must be submitted to the finance department for review; fourth, for large and medium-sized projects with complex processes, the bidding period shall generally be no less than 30 days; fifth, the "evaluation and separation" bid evaluation model may be adopted, and the winning bidder shall be determined on the basis of merit; sixth, increase the number of members of the bid evaluation committee, refine the professional composition of bid evaluation experts, and clarify that the representative of the construction unit shall possess professional competence.

(3) Clarifying the conditions that an engineering general contracting unit shall possess. First, it shall have corresponding qualifications, similar project performance, project management capability, and a certain ability to resist financial risks; second, the proposed project manager shall be familiar with laws and regulations and possess good professional quality and management capability.

(4) Standardizing the behavior of construction units and engineering general contracting units. First, require bidders to provide performance, honors, and other materials in compliance with stipulated requirements; second, the proportion of provisional estimates and provisional sums shall be set reasonably; third, the setting of construction period and cost control shall be realistic; fourth, ensure project quality and prevent the occurrence of safety accidents.