Finding and Selecting Your Bidders

Finding and selecting adequate bidders is one of the most important and time-consuming tasks of pre-construction work. Remember that your proposal must be backed by meaningful subcontractor pricing. Meaningful pricing can only come from a bidder that you have vetted adequately on capability, capacity, availability, and more, and who has put enough effort in developing a complete price based on a (by you) predefined scope of work. Now, how to go about this more efficiently? Here is what I try to do…

First tap into existing resources: Start by checking if there are bid lists from similar previous projects. Check also with your project managers and / or superintendents if they have any recommendations. Very often I find them to have a couple of very reliable contacts.

Next, tap into existing networks to find the right subcontractors: Bidders you are already talking to might definitely have a couple of contacts they are willing to share. Just ask them if they know some other trades they have worked with before. In their perspective sharing those contacts makes sense as they improve the chances of ending up working with someone they know and evidently improving their chances of a smoother / more successful project.

Site visits represent an excellent opportunity to meet local bidders at the job site, and to build better relationships from the get-go. The message you want to convey during these meetings is this project being a great deal to you as no bidder will spend a substantial amount of time in any project if he / she doesn’t think this project is a priority to you. Through a well-organized site visit with face-to-face meetings, you can increase the odds of getting more, and better-quality proposals. It is understood that site visits can represent a greater time and financial commitment, which sometimes is just not feasible to do.

While doing site visits it is recommended to spend some time also driving around town to explore and investigate. Find out what construction jobs are currently happening in the neighborhood. You can go and visit those job sites (don’t be shy), and actually talk with the superintendents, who might have a couple of recommendations, even a list you can copy. You are going to be amazed what you can find if you go for it. Furthermore, company cars and trucks often carry contact details of local contractors. You can give them a call then and there and arrange for a meeting. Previous projects I worked with in the past – earthwork, concrete and roofing tends mostly to be local.