Expecting a contractor to spend time and resources to produce a free budget estimate is wrong! Just recently, I helped a client rebid a project that originally bid the end of January. In January the plans were only 60% complete and the bid form forced the contractors to honor their quote for 180 days by stating that any alterations to the bid form (which would include the 180 days) would cause the bid to be rejected.
Now, the project is back out for bid with 95% complete plans even though 180 days has not expired yet according to my math calculations. No major changes were made to plans except the normal modifications you would expect to see as a design progresses.
My question is why did they bid it back in January?
I believe the answer to my question is to have a free estimate performed to ensure the project was staying within budget. Another possible answer is they are trying to receive a cheaper price. Either way, it is wrong for owners and/or construction managers to mislead/trick contractors into spending their own money for budgeting purposes.
Another question that I don’t know is whether or not they ever formally cancelled the first bid? It is possible they could be holding two different yet valid bids from each contractor. Could they then pick and choose which bid they are going to hold the contractor to by threatening to enforce their bid bond? The bid bond was not a standard percentage of the bid either, but for the cost difference to use a different contractor and all expenses related to obtaining the other contractor.
What are your thoughts on this?
