Choosing a Contractor: Part 2

As discussed in my latest blog, there are many different delivery systems you can choose when deciding your approach to hiring a contractor. And depending on which method you decide to go with, different factors will have a different weight as you move forward. But as mentioned before, it will likely still come down to experience, capabilities, confidence, trust and best value.

Some basic background elements that you will always want to gather information on are:

Experience – ask for a list of at least 3-5 comparable projects to yours that they can provide to give you examples of both their capabilities, the level of quality in their work, the scope and size they can handle, etc. Their depth of experience here will indicate your ability to trust them to pro-actively solve problems for you as your project moves forward.

Company Personnel & Project Team – Ask them to provide a list of proposed personnel that will help execute your project – this should include the Project Executive, the Project Manager, and the Project Superintendent.

References – Primarily linked to the Experience and the Team they propose for your project. You can also ask for references from architects, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers, and others to get an idea of how well they work with the entire project team.

Stability – Ask for some basic information regarding their financial stability – Average revenues over the past several years, Bonding Capacity, Bond rate, Insurance Certificate. Also ask for Bank & Bonding references you can contact.

Safety – Ask for information regarding their safety record. The best options are for either their MOD rates for the past several years or their OSHA records for the same period.

Interview – If using any of the negotiated systems, schedule a time to interview the project team. It doesn’t have to be formal, just something that gives you time to ask the questions that most concern you, and whatever will help you gain confidence that they will be good partners to work with for the long haul.

Depending on the Delivery System, the weight of these factors can vary…

With Design/Build: the Experience, Team, and the Interview are probably the most important pieces, provided they qualify in the other areas as well. The key elements of the services they will provide are managing and driving the comprehensive budgeting and scheduling. If they lack experience with driving the preconstruction process, that could lead to issues down the road.

With CM-at-Risk: the same factors apply, but another key factor that becomes important is their ability to work with your design team. Hiring the CM first, and consulting with them as you select the design team is one option to help ensure a good working relationship among all parties. Preconstruction abilities are again a key component.

With CM-Agent: Experience and Team are the keys. Their ability to manage the whole process from beginning to end as your advocate is critical. Since they carry no risk in the contracts under this method, the financial stability is less critical than with other approaches. Their ability to advocate safety and quality will also be important during construction.

With Select-List bidding: experience is obviously a factor is identifying the limited list you want bids from. Beyond that, making sure they have the financial stability to execute is really the other paramount concern.

In Open / Public bids: most of the factors mentioned above are negated, and low number only drives the decision. Confirming bonding capacity is likely the only qualification. This method can often lead to an adversarial relationship with all parties involved.

In Summary – picking a building partner is obviously a key element to the success of your project. Take your time and do your best to find the one that you can trust has the experience, the capabilities, and the team to deliver for you.

If you would like any other info, please contact our office by phone: 913.962.5888 or email info@harmonconst.com.