Watch Out for Performance Pitfalls: The Importance of Qualifying Bids

With material prices rising throughout the construction industry, contractors and owners are doing whatever it takes to save budgets and deliver on projects.  Recently, we have been hearing more and more stories of instances in which price was taken into consideration above all factors and performance suffered.

The first example was on a project that our team is currently working on.  We were the basis of design on the project and were fortunate to win most of the project.  A portion of the project was won by another manufacturer because of a price discrepancy of close to 40%, which, on the surface, we completely understand.  What the contractor did not realize is that the window package that was quoted was only rated to go up to three stories and this was a five-story building. Suffice it to say, once this was caught, the upgraded performance package needed on this window system put them right in line with our original pricing, which satisfied the specification requirements.

We heard about a similar situation from a colleague in which the contractor was able to save the owner over $30,000 on an elevator system.  The only problem – which was caught after the contract had been awarded and during submittals – was that they saved over $30,000 because the elevator was 20% smaller than what was specified. Now the project needs to be reworked, inevitably costing the project more money.

We understand that financial considerations are always a driving force in decision-making, but with recent laws being passed here in the state of Texas, now more than ever, doing your due diligence into qualifying bids with products performing up to specifications is of the utmost importance.