Lighting package in Ca Mau: Second invitation to bid still has petitions

The package is worth VND 9,498 billion, with the Phuoc Long Regional Project Management Board, Ca Mau Province as the investor, issuing bidding documents (BID) from August 11 to 20, 2025. By August 14, 2025, the package had 5 documents requesting clarification and 1 recommendation, in which many contractors did not agree on the key personnel.

Specifically, of the 6 key personnel, the investor required 5 personnel to have: “Certificate of training in fire prevention and fighting (PCCC) and rescue (CNCH)”. Contractors cited that, according to Decree 136/2020/ND-CP and Decree 50/2024/ND-CP, which stipulates the subjects and list of works that must be trained and fostered in fire prevention and fighting skills, Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Training Certificates only apply to personnel directly involved in fire prevention and fighting work or to works on the mandatory list. Therefore, requiring 5 key personnel to have this certificate is unnecessary.

For the position of personnel in charge of labor safety, HSMT requires a university degree in labor protection. According to the contractor, the labor protection major is currently only offered by Ton Duc Thang University and Trade Union University. Meanwhile, Clause 5, Article 13 of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP stipulates: “The person performing the labor safety management work of the construction contractor must be trained in the field of labor safety or construction engineering and meet other regulations of the law on labor safety and hygiene”. Thus, this position can be opened for many training majors to meet.

For the personnel in charge of managing the quality of supplies and materials, the contractor believes that this is an inappropriate criterion, not reflecting the true nature of the work.

The HSMT requires the personnel to “attach documents to prove that they have been in charge of the construction of a completed technical infrastructure project put into use with the structure specified in Section 4 “Experience in performing similar construction and installation contracts” and the contract value ≥ 4,500,000,000 VND”. The contractor said that the current law only requires the level of personnel participating in the project to be determined at the time of project approval.

Also related to personnel, in the technical evaluation criteria, the HSMT requires the contractor to mobilize at least 25 workers with certificates or vocational training certificates of over 3 months. Attached documents include: vocational training certificates; certificates of fire prevention and rescue training; citizen identification cards. In addition, the contractor must arrange an additional 10 workers to meet the schedule. The contractors said that the above criteria limit competition.

According to the petition of Thien Phuc Technology Investment and Development Trading Service Co., Ltd., the HSMT also has inappropriate criteria that need to be abolished. Specifically, the HSMT requires that 120W lamps must meet more than 30 standards certified by qualified laboratories; lamps must have tests by independent units that are valid for no more than 6 months…; The product is certified for the ISO50001:2018 energy management system – which is a non-mandatory management standard for energy enterprises; the product is certified to comply with ENEC standards, an electrical standard applied to European countries…

Talking with reporters, a representative of Phat Loc Construction Investment Consulting Company Limited (consultant for preparing the bidding documents) said that they are reviewing the bidding documents to report to the investor. Many of the contractor’s recommendations related to the technical requirements of the lighting system are in the previously approved design documents.

According to bidding experts, the bidding documents must comply with Decree No. 214/ND-CP and Circular No. 79/2025/TT-BTC with the principle that the evaluation criteria must closely follow the nature and scale of the bidding package. Accordingly, the investor needs to clearly define the role of each key personnel to ensure the best implementation of each position, avoiding making inappropriate requests. In addition, Article 86 of Decree No. 175/2024/ND-CP does not stipulate the value of the contract that key personnel undertake. For technical workers, if the HSMT provides an excessive number of workers, along with specific requirements for degrees, certificates, and professional certifications right from the stage of preparing the HSDT, it may lead to competition restrictions.