(I) It is the need to further deepen the reform of engineering cost management system
The preparation and examination of current investment estimates, budgets, bid bottoms, and enterprise quotations are usually based on the engineering quotas and corresponding expenses issued by various departments and regions. When evaluating bids and determining the winning bid, the final price is determined within a certain range close to the bid bottom as specified by the regulations. Even if professional personnel in engineering cost estimation have high levels of expertise, they are generally unable to escape from pricing according to the quota book, which is an engineering cost pricing system formed under the long-term planned economic system. With the deep development of the socialist market system, the gradual introduction of national measures for the deepening reform of the investment system, especially the "Bidding and Tendering Law" implemented this year, has proposed the reduction of emphasis on the bid bottom, allowing enterprises to quote individual costs, and determining the winning bid through the review of the lowest price. All these indicate that the engineering cost management system will undergo significant changes. In the future, engineering cost estimation will gradually shift from the original state-issued mandatory quota pricing to a new pricing model where quotes are determined according to the individual costs of enterprises under the guidance of national quotas, and engineering costs are determined through market competition and contracts. This is a new situation faced by our professionals in their work.