Mr. Lanh referred to Circular No. 12/2021/TT-BXD but did not see any guidance on determining the cost of appraising bidding documents and contractor selection results.

The Ministry of Construction responded to this issue as follows:

The responsibility for organizing the appraisal and approval of bidding documents and contractor selection results belongs to the investor according to the provisions of Clauses 1 and 2, Article 78 of the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15.

According to Mr. Lanh's question, this is a case where the investor hires a bidding consultant to prepare bidding documents and evaluate bidding documents. However, it has not been clearly stated whether the appraisal of bidding documents and appraisal of contractor selection results are performed by the investor himself or by hiring a consultant.

In case the investor hires a consulting unit to appraise the bidding documents and evaluate the bidding documents, the hired contractors must ensure the principles of competition in bidding as prescribed in Article 6 of the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15, Article 3 of Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP dated February 27, 2024 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Bidding Law on contractor selection.

The Ministry of Construction notes that hiring consulting units does not reduce the investor's responsibility for possible errors, the investor is fully responsible before the law and competent authorities for the contractor selection process as prescribed in Clause 12, Article 78 of the Bidding Law No. 22/2023/QH15.