The state has accelerated the search for building designers

Prague - In recent months, the state has been trying to catch up with the shortage of construction projects that is mainly hampering investments in transport infrastructure. Just in July, state institutions announced contracts for project work totaling 155 million crowns, which is an increase of 115.1% year-on-year. This is evident from the latest analysis by CEEC Research, NESS, and the Chamber of Public Procurement Administrators, which ČTK has available. The most sought-after are suppliers for railway track renovation projects.
      The Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) was the most active in July of this year, launching tenders for the revitalization projects of six sections of existing railway tracks. Specifically, these are sections between Bludov and Jeseník, Opava East and Olomouc, Okříšky and Zastávka near Brno, Frýdlant nad Ostravicí and Valašské Meziříčí, Pardubice and Ždírec nad Doubravou, as well as Hradec Králové, Jaroměř and Trutnov. SŽDC also intends to spend additional millions on technical supervision during the construction of the tunnel in Ejpovice or for the construction of a new section between Most and Chomutov. On the other hand, the Directorate of Roads and Highways of the Czech Republic (ŘSD) did not initiate any significant new construction preparations in July 2014.
      Large railway projects have caused the value of project contracts announced in July to more than double, even though their number decreased by 9.1 percent. The value of requested project documentation has increased. For example, in the first seven months of last year, the average price of one contract was around 6.2 million crowns, which has risen to an average of 13.3 million crowns this year.
      The number of tenders for construction project work has been increasing throughout this year. From January to July 2014, 102 new tenders for project offices were published in the Public Procurement Bulletin, which represents almost a 50% increase (by 45.7 percent) compared to the previous year. Public investors have prepared 1.4 billion crowns for them, which is twice as much (by 210.3%) money as last year.
      "The state plans a significant increase in investments in construction. For example, the Ministry of Transport alone wants to raise the SFDI budget to nearly 100 billion crowns for 2015. However, it is not possible to invest without prepared projects. This is why there is currently a significant effort from public investors to catch up on the shortfall in project preparation caused in previous years. The problem that hinders everything is the long deadlines and complicated tender procedures, which sometimes drag on for more than a year," pointed out Jiří Vacek, director of the analytical company CEEC Research.
      According to the director of the project company HBH Projekt, Radovan Hrnčíř, the minimal share of ŘSD in this activity is particularly shameful. "The fact that ŘSD, as the largest investor in the field of transport engineering construction, contributed nothing to the statistical results in July since it did not announce or assign any contracts, is a sad fact regarding the influence of personnel changes in the company's management on its operations," noted Hrnčíř.
      Directors of project companies expect nearly a three percent increase in work this year, but it will not fill their companies' spare capacities. Currently, the average utilization of designers is around 83%.