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Article: Building industry probe uncovers illegal practices
- Article from:
- Lincolnshire Echo
- Article date:
- September 23, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Lincolnshire Echo. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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IT was an eagle-eyed NHS auditor who spotted the devil in the
detail while probing bids for work at Queen's Medical Centre in
Nottingham.
His spot paved the way for the largest ever probe into illegal
practices in the building industry. The Office of Fair Trading
investigated 112 companies nationally, of which 103 were fined a
total of Pounds 129.5million.
Most of the offences involved so-called 'cover pricing' between
2000 and 2006, where one or more bidders arrange for competitors to
put in high bids.
These bids are not to win the contract but are submitted as
genuine and give a misleading impression to clients about the level
of competition - potentially increasing the cost of work at ...