Establishing relative weights for contractor prequalification criteria in a pre-qualification evaluation model

Abstract

Pre-qualification criteria is a screening methodology to select contractors. Each contractor attribute has its own importance in relation to the others. It is an essential process that the relative importance'weights' of each selection criteria be identified. Several methodologies are used to identify such weights. A Delphic technique together with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) utilizing pair-wise analysis was used to establish such weights through a structured questionnaire. The established weights will then be used to develop a contractor's pre-qualification model using a hybrid technique by combining a Neural Network and a Genetic Algorithm.