BSF bidders Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Kier and Willmott Dixon were among 112 construction companies named in the OFT’s report last month into bid rigging activities, in particular ‘cover pricing’ within the public sector. Carillion and Balfour Beatty have been granted lenience by the OFT for cooperating with their enquiries.

Cover pricing describes a situation where one or more bidders collude with a competitor during a tender process to obtain a price or prices which are intended to be too high to win the contract. The tendering authority or customer, for example a local council, is not made aware of the contacts between bidders, leaving it with a false impression of the level of competition, which may result in it paying inflated prices.

The OFT’s Statement of Objections will be fully published in May and then construction companies will have two months to respond. Any firms found guilty could be fined up to 10% of their annual revenues.

www.kier.co.uk

www.balfourbeatty.com

www.willmottdixon.co.uk

www.oft.gov.uk