What do you do if you have to hold your bid for an extended period of time? Let’s say that there is a $1.2 billion project that you bid on in a joint venture. In the bidding documents it states that you have to hold your price for 120 days after the bid before the [...]
I sound really old but there is a basic bidding knowledge that is missing in today’s construction industry! IT USED TO BE: Contractors relied upon estimators and their bid managers that would not blindly accept the goofy low subcontractor’s bid. They knew there was a problem. Contractors had estimators and bid managers on staff that [...]
Construction firms are the most optimistic companies in the world. They bid on projects and enter into construction contracts where conflict is inherent and the terms are loaded against them. The commercial terms of the contract can consume page after page of small print. These pages should be reviewed carefully prior to submitting the bid [...]
Perhaps the title on this one should be the Competitive Advantage Everyone Needs. In the previous blogs on this subject the responders mentioned innovation and better ideas by the contractors. If they have one, keeping it secret was one option. The thing is, cheating on the specified materials and workmanship is not a competitive advantage. [...]
My recent blog on The Competitive Advantage Nobody Needs generated some interesting responses on ENR.com. There were some very insightful comments, even from the one responder that thinks everybody is a crook in the construction industry. Bidders that short circuit the specifications are taking something of value from the owner of the project. In the [...]
Is there room in the construction market for cheap? After all, cheap really has a couple of meanings. How about when cheap is low in price and worth more than its cost? This has a place in the market for the buyer. The phrase, “I bought it cheap!” can be thought of as bragging when [...]
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 [...]
There are several levels of market pricing in the construction industry today. These markets generally are the open competitive bid, invited competitive bid, competitive negotiated, sole source negotiated and specialty bid market. These markets may involve firm price or cost reimbursable terms. The least expensive market for owners today is in the open competitive bid [...]
I was working on a project recently. When doing the review there was a note that was on the civil drawings – about work that the electrical contractor was supposed to perform. There was no symbol on the civil drawing just a note and there was no reference to the work on the electrical drawings. [...]
I was talking to an estimator and he said he had to train his new estimators how to use a scale and roller! It seems they only had a paper copy of the drawings instead of on-screen take-off. With the advent of new technology, what do you think will be the next thing that will [...]
