I recently attended a breakfast educational meeting. It involved a panel discussion on construction. The panel members were an architect, contractor, subcontractor and an attorney. It focused on project delivery methods and some of the problems associated with the various types. The one common thread, for all of the problems discussed, was the lack of [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Bid postponements are a common occurrence in our industry. They can range from a day or two to an extended postponement of weeks or months. There are many reasons for them. There are good and bad reasons for the postponement and the length of the postponement. The bad reasons really exist. Nobody may confess to [...]
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) extensively revised the MasterFormat system of specification for the 2004 edition. This revision replaced the 1995 edition of 16 divisions with 50 or so divisions. The “new & improved” 50 division system is or was to greatly enhance the dissemination of information projects. While the issuer is touting the widespread [...]
A few years ago I still received the majority of plans and specifications in the paper format. Even fewer were available via an ftp site. Now it has done a 180. The great thing about the paper format was the information was neatly organized and put into a set for you. Now that things are [...]
Hard copy plans and specifications are usually organized very well. So why do architects think that since plans are in electronic format that they can throw file organization out the window? On a regular basis I look at plans and specifications for projects around the country and it amazes me how the files are clustered [...]
On a recent project being performed on a fast track, GMP basis we came across some specifications that would increase the cost to the client. I will give the nationally renowned engineer the benefit of the doubt since they were clearly marked as draft. However, they were also being issued for GMP pricing. We brought [...]
Report Outline Some items that need to be included when writing a qualifications report for your bid. Date of report Name and address of client Project name and location Plans and specifications received Addenda received Estimate assumptions Estimate exclusions What do you include in your report?
