How do you find and work with construction contractors?

Construction has been a huge part of my life. From residential, commercial to large Industrial projects . I’m so Blessed to have worked for the best contractors in the business. The very best being MMR. This family atmosphere is key in retaining the best and brightest talent. You want a contractor who works safe and has the safety record to prove it. A unsafe contractor can cause a huge amount of problems and delays in your project. You want a contractor with a large knowledgeable craftsman pool to staff your project. This will help maintain your schedule and help you stay in budget.

I've found the bigger projects to be highly competitive and the people that win the bid will give you a base bid and not have any profit, counting on extras to make their profit by gouging. This practice forces your subcontractor to cut corners to make some profit, and also increase the price of extra work that always comes up. Always remember you get what you pay for. It would also be beneficial to know the average price of your subcontractors costs so you can make an informed decision and award a professional fair contract. This makes the contractor happy and ensures a higher quality of workmanship. There are very few developers with a good reputation, ask yourse look f what you want to be known for, quality or a slum builder.

In my experience, due to labour shortages there is an increase level of unwillingness for contractors to tender on projects which are not well scoped, or where the specifications are not well defined. It the tender package is not appealing, contractors - spoilt for choice - simply refuse to provide a tender.

This is probably among the first steps where corners are cut by developers. Their limiting beliefs are that negotiating lower Architectural/Design fees will help them with their overall budget. The irony is that it does the exact opposite. Research has shown that an error that costs $100 to address during pregnancy-planning could cost $1,000 to address during design phase and $10,000 during construction. Know what you want and take the time to vocalize it accurately, or as best you can, do that it can be picked up and incorporated. Surrounded with the right fit team, you will drastically minimize the amounts of omissions and subsequent surprises ($$$).

Although research and pre-qualification are important, we are missing one vital step prior to going out and doing so and that is possessing the ability to accurately describe how you foresee your relationship with your build team as well as overall project to look and feel like. Contrary to further belief, not everyone is meant to work with each other. So, having this vivid vision will empower you to attract and select the contractor you know you’ll be able to collaborate with in order to achieve these results. Hint: It won’t be the cheapest.

In my experience it certainly pays to invest in researching potential contractors prior to engaging; there are too many who are under qualified and/or unwilling to invest the effort required to complete works to a high standard. To assist with the procurement process, we utilise contractor management software to establish KPIs relating to financial stability, quality or work, and previous history of achieving on time completions of work.

All I can tell you is that you’ve best have done your homework on surrounding yourself with the right team and produced (as) accurate (as possible) drawings and specifications if you are to undertake proper and fair comparison. This does not take away from the meticulous tender breakdown analysis which also involves asking questions and acquiring confirmations.

Question: If you’ve produced a good tender package and issued and managed it fairly to your interested bidders each of whom you’ve pre-qualified (and hopefully established relationships with) prior, then why the need to negotiate? The whole premise of producing a detailed tender package and being properly informed owners/developers means that you’re doing so with the intention of getting the best competitive bid. There should be no need to negotiate if you’ve done your part(s) and given them everything they need to give you a price they’re willing to stand behind for executing the project. Stop dealing with this as if you were at the market haggling for a deal.

Communication with contractors is - needless to say - paramount to the successful delivery of construction projects. In my experience, industry is moving away from the email heavy communication methods seen over the past decade, and a return to traditional in-person and telephone correspondence is occurring. Of course, written communications where necessary for record purposes, but the day-to-day communication appears to have returned to traditional means. This is positive, as it fosters greater collaboration and relationship building too.

The traditional way of communication either on phone or physical in person can go a long way in making difference on the Job. For tracking if need requires it, a follow up email ?? is surely a great idea. Communication is key to drive the Job, it aids all parties to be on the same page.

Close-Out stage is overlooked in terms of a walk through of the site with the contractors for certain trades and owners. This allows for the owner to get a first hand training into the safe operating practices and contractor tips for the machines or sub systems. I would recommend everybody try including this so it makes the builders and the clients life much easier throughout the project lifecycle.

Human interaction is paramount. Leadership is not only required from your contractor, but you (the owner/developer) need to possess it as well. Relationships are how you’ll achieve human interactions. Therefore, remember to: ?? Listen ?? Respect ?? Influence ?? Care ?? Trust It might feel counterintuitive, but you need to give these in order to get them back. One of the best ways to achieving these and ultimately the solid relationships you need to achieve the success you seek on your project is to embrace vulnerability. Because vulnerability drives trust and it’s also the door to connectivity.

Encontrar un contratista que se alinee con la calidad necesaria es complicado, sin embargo creo que ahí la clave, está en la supervisión y comunicación. Es necesario estar al pendiente de los procesos siempre, pero cuando el contratista es nuevo, hay que estar pegado con ellos hasta que el trabajo refleje la calidad que nosotros buscamos. Así mismo, la comunicación es clave para que ambas partes trabajen de la mano y existan los menos problemas que se se pueda.