It is important for an estimator to attend pre-bid meetings for all projects they are planning on submitting bids on. Some are mandatory and need to be attended in order to be a qualified bidder but most are on a voluntary basis.
There are several advantages to attend the meeting. First, you have the ability to see who else is interested in the project including your competition, subcontractors and prime contractors.
More importantly, you can see actual site conditions. Drawings and even pictures can show only so much detail and they never depict actual site conditions. Having to work in a tunnel can be very labor intensive or I have seen some that are better to work in than most hallways. Also, going through the site investigation can help determine what type of productivity you should use in the estimate.
This time also allows you to ask questions about the project which you would have to spend the time anyways submitting in RFI for the estimate, might as well kill two birds with one stone.
Even though anything said in a pre-bid is not considered part of the project unless it has been issued in an addendum, there is still valuable information that can save you time or money. Such as finding out the architect is completely changing the design and the plans are going to be completely reissued in an addendum next week.
The knowledge gained at a pre-bid can help you determine if you should pursue bidding the project. Sometimes it is better to pass on a project so you can bid on another that is more favorable to your company.
