SPR 2013 Prime KTC: Contractor Evaluation

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet currently requires a contractor performance report to be completed for every contractor at the completion of every Cabinet project. These performance evaluations are one of the metrics used to determine a Contractor’s Maximum Eligibility Amount (i.e. the total dollar volume of Cabinet work they may perform). The intention of including the contractor performance evaluation system in the maximum eligibility amount determination is to encourage high quality work on Cabinet projects and to minimize the number of contractors executing Cabinet contracts with an established history of poor performance. However, there is some question as to whether the current process is effective in limiting contractors with a history of poor performance from Cabinet contracts. For example, a contractor with a large maximum eligibility amount can still continue to bid on a significant number of Cabinet projects despite their documented poor performance. A potentially more effective approach might be to link a contractor’s performance evaluation to the bidding process rather than the maximum eligibility amount to encourage high quality performance on every project. The current research will seek to answer the question, What is the most effective and efficient means for using contractor performance evaluations to encourage the participation of high performing contractors in Cabinet projects while limiting the participation of contractors with a history of poor performance?