Cabinet approves blacklist rule for contractors who abandon state projects

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved in principle a draft ministerial regulation defining acts regarded as work abandonment, as proposed by the Finance Ministry.

The regulation aims to raise standards in public procurement, increase contractor accountability and protect public safety.

Rachada Dhnadirek, Government Spokesperson, said the draft regulation was introduced because several state construction contractors had caused serious damage in recent cases, affecting people’s lives and property.

However, in some cases, state agencies did not terminate contracts or propose that the contractors be listed as work abandoners. As a result, the same operators were still able to bid for government projects.

The current provisions under the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act B.E. 2560 (2017) do not fully cover such cases, making it necessary to update the criteria to reflect current circumstances and improve protection of the public interest.

The key substance of the draft regulation is that any bidder or contractor working with a state agency who causes serious damage to construction work, resulting in danger to people’s lives or property, shall be deemed to have committed an act amounting to work abandonment.

This applies where the damage arises from action or failure to act without reasonable cause during the contract period up to the date of final work inspection and acceptance.

Once the Permanent Secretary for Finance orders a contractor to be listed as a work abandoner, that contractor will be barred from submitting bids or entering into contracts with state agencies for a period of not less than two years and not more than 10 years.

The names of blacklisted contractors will be circulated to all state agencies, published through the Comptroller General’s Department information system, and formally notified to the affected operators.

Rachada said the measure would prevent operators who had previously caused serious damage from returning to undertake state projects.

It would also reduce the risk of repeated problems in government projects and improve the efficiency of selecting contractors, ensuring greater transparency, quality and value for money in public spending.