Definition and nature of published price information (government guidance prices): reference price information published by cost management agencies (GB/T 50875-2013 clause 2.1.16)
The published price information (government guidance prices) is the 'published construction cost information' defined in clause 2.1.16 of GB/T 50875-2013 "Standard for construction cost terminology": price information for labour, materials, permanent equipment and construction plant machine-shifts, together with cost indices and indicators for various works, published by cost management agencies — reference and indicative prices, not mandatory transaction prices. They must be developed as data under the three channels of market price / published price information / vendor quotation, strictly separated (T/ZBD 100.1-2022 clause 7.2.3), and serve as the base price and dispute fallback in settlement price adjustment.
Applicable Codes
- GB/T 50875-2013 工程造价术语标准
- T/ZBD 100.1-2022 建设工程造价数据建设通用标准
Topic Positioning
This card answers "what is published price information (government guidance prices)": the official terminology definition, its nature and boundaries of use — for correctly understanding and using published price information in cost compilation, price adjustment and dispute handling.
Core Conclusions
- Definition: per clause 2.1.16 of GB/T 50875-2013 "Standard for construction cost terminology", published construction cost information = price information on labour, materials, permanent equipment and construction plant machine-shifts for construction works, together with cost indices and indicators of various works, published by construction cost management agencies. I.e. the authoritative reference prices periodically published by provincial/municipal cost management agencies (cost stations / cost information networks).
- Nature: reference and indicative prices, not mandatory transaction prices; published price information exists objectively but inherently differs from actual market transaction prices and cannot be used directly as market prices.
- Classified use: per clause 7.2.3 of T/ZBD 100.1-2022 "General standard for construction cost data development", element prices should be acquired through three channels — market price, published price information (government guidance prices), and vendor quotation (with transaction prices primary) — and the three categories must be developed strictly separately, never mixed.
- Role: published price information mainly serves as the contract-agreed adjustment base, fallback reference in disputes, and the starting point for filling gaps of materials for which no published price information exists; the general priority of price bases is contract-agreed price > price confirmed by both parties > published price information > market price enquiry.
Applicable Boundaries
Applies nationwide to understanding construction cost terminology and to price-data development conventions; the publication cycle, issue number and whether VAT is included for published price information follow the local cost management agency's current release. This card covers definition and nature only — no regional, project or specific price values.
Further Reading
See GB/T 50875-2013 "Standard for construction cost terminology" clause 2.1.16 (definition of published construction cost information); T/ZBD 100.1-2022 "General standard for construction cost data development" clause 7.2.3 (three-channel acquisition and classified development of market / published price information / vendor prices).