Oh, By The Way…

I recently overheard a contractor bragging to others on how they could have a cost advantage over their competition.  This caught my attention.  So I listened.

It seems in their bidding practices they priced materials/equipment items that were not approved in the specifications.  They would not request these items to be approved in the bidding period.  They did not want to give away their bidding advantage to their competitors. After they were determined to be the low bidder they would press for the materials to be used instead of the specified items.

There are several reasons I believe this practice is totally unacceptable.

• The first one is they are not bidding on the project scope the owner wants.  Given the owner is knowledgeable, the materials and equipment were selected for a specific reason.  They are subverting the owner’s intent and the designers’ specifications for their own gain.

• The next is there is customarily a provision in the bid documents that substitution requests must be submitted prior to the bid so the materials can be evaluated.  If determined to be equivalent, then all bidders are notified.  This allows the competition to be on the same basis.  This enables the owner to decide the best pricing or most suitable contractor on the same scope of work basis.

There are more reasons, but the contractor using this bid approach will cost the owner more money for the project in the long run.

Oh, By the Way…  The contractor using this bid approach does not have a competitive advantage over their competitors.  I believe they have a substandard, underhanded approach to bidding the project.  What will happen when they are selected to perform the work on this basis?