The method we use when selecting our subs considers many factors. We obviously look at the price, since we’re most always in a competitive situation and therefore need to offer a fair (anticipated) price otherwise we’d never gain any customers. However, it’s not always the lowest bid that we take. When you’ve been in the business for as long as we have (60+ years), you know that a bid needs further investigation to ensure that the sub can deliver on their promises and that they aren’t bidding a low price to get the project with the hopes of making up their costs through change orders.
Once we receive the bids and review the price of each, we have a pre-construction meeting to help us qualify our selected subs and ask them the tough questions about what’s included in their bid price, that way we’re sure that we’ve compared the rest of the bids apples to apples. Next, we go through the list of items that we find are important to protect our client from any deviation in the sub’s performance, including:
- Insurance requirements
- Bonding capacity
- Past track record/references
- Licenses/Qualifications
- Backlog in relation to annual sales
- EMR Safety Rating
- Condition of equipment they’re using
- Warranty standards
Furthermore, you may not know that we offer our own trades for site work, rough and finish carpentry and mill work, but we don’t always take our own bid for the work. If we are at full capacity and a sub's quote is reasonable and their quality is comparable, we’ll certainly entertain their bid to help us keep all of our projects on schedule.
If we've missed anything regarding what value means to you, please let us know. Should you require a design/builder or a general contractor for your building, please call us to help you find the best value for your construction project.
