Cover pricing
‘A report exploring procurement in the construction industry’, published by The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in 2010 states: ‘Cover pricing, a form of bid rigging, is the act of placing a high bid at tender stage to clients. Contractors work in collusion to do this, as they require a base price that the other contractors will place a serious bid for. The said contractor will usually increase their own price by approximately 10% higher than the ‘serious’ bidder knowing that the client will not select them, but will still have seen their credentials and that they have the resources to work on future projects.’
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