conference

I attended an oral presentation session, and sat through two presentations. Both threw around words I have never heard and did not understand a whole lot. The first presentation was given by Kristen Johnson over alkene hydroacylation. This was a presentation on new methods to do this reaction, which creates new synthetic materials. She went over her new method using a metal catalyst, and all of the positives of this reaction versus previous reactions involving other materials that weren't as atom-economical, and catalytic. It was all rather confusing, but her presentation was well put together.

 The second presentation was about wear and tear on concrete and precast in buildings, and how rocking affects it. So, Mr. Demitrious studied structures and their displacement due to a rocking phenomenon. He went through the energy displacement, and talked about the stress and strain on concrete and precast due to this rocking energy. He continued to conclude which models and designs gave the most stabilization, and least amount of wear.

Research Paper

            Ever shop around to get the best bargains? I’m sure you do, as do many other people in today’s world. Construction Engineers do the same when hiring subcontractors. The difference is that they don’t actually “shop”, but use documents called bid scopes and bid proposals. In preconstruction, bid scopes and proposals are the main portal of communication between general contractors and subcontractors, and are used to negotiate prices, terms, work specifications, and many other aspects of the subcontracting work.

Background

When starting a construction project, the first step in communication is for the general contractor, the company hired out to control and compete the project, to reach out to subcontractors via bid scopes. These bid scopes are offers to other smaller companies to several different aspects of the job that they specialize in. For example, the general contractor would hire a plumbing company to do all of the piping for the entire project, a carpentry company to handle all of the framing, and other trades in that manner. For each type of work needing to be done, the general contractor would put together bid packages to be sent out to several different companies, to get different offers on prices, quality, and time for the specific job. The varying subcontractor companies would receive these bid scopes, and put together bid proposals, which are sent back to the general contractor. These documents include their price and many other contractual details if they were to take the job. From this, the general contractor can choose to hire the right fit for their specific building project.

Bid Scopes

            When general contractors put together a bid scope, there are many important aspects to be aware of. The formatting of these are very specific and straightforward. Time constraints do not allow a lot of room for extra wording and explanations. It tells the subcontractors, “This is what I want, this is how I want it done, and in this time period.” Although this is put together in a multiple pages, there is no waste of wording or time.  While these bids are written as explicit as possible, contractors like to leave a little “wiggle room”. This “wiggle room” is made up of the smaller details sometimes left out to be able to negotiate later when the contractors have received bid proposals from multiple companies. With these, they then can play their offers against other companies to get more for their money, because subcontractors are competing for the job at that point.  Examples of this would include leaving out the details on which specific pieces of equipment might be provided by who or things of that manner.

In addition to the very forthright language used within bid scopes, they also include many sections that are split by headings, bolded lines, and numbers which often change and depend on the type of template used. These sections consist of any inclusions and exclusions of work, the time frame, safety standards, and cost allowance among many others, which are often referenced back to during the building process. In addition, within the section of subcontractor work inclusions are sometimes directions and methods of completing different tasks assigned throughout the job. This is due to the many methods that can be used in completing a particular task, and some companies prefer certain ways over others because it is either cheaper, time efficient, or produces higher quality of work. An example of this would be the general contractor giving step-by-step directions on how they want rebar placed in concrete, how the concrete will be poured, and the surfaced smoothed.

One might ask, “How does the general contractor know which method to choose from and how to do complete every specific task?”  General contractors often get these plans from specification books, which contain plans and documents for every piece of work that goes into constructing a building.  These also contain job information from previous projects in which they can use as a reference and tweak for the present situation. Other times, a company will standardize a particular job, and it is done the same way every single time in all projects.  

When putting together bid scopes and hiring subcontractors, the general contractor must be sure not to double up on a job or leave one out. If this were to happen, they would either end up paying double for one job, or else risk the scheduled completion date (which results in a penalty of hefty dollar amount), price, and quality by hiring someone for the job last minute. 

In addition, the general contractor must be prepared to make a decision and choose a subcontractor based on the response subcontractors give them after receiving their bid scope. To do this, the general contractor must evaluate the subcontractor in many different parameters, often based upon price, quality, trust, contractual reliability, reputation, and company size among others. According to Vito Albino and A. Claudio Garavelli in “A Neural Network Application to

Subcontractor Rating in Construction”, the chosen parameters that the subcontractor hired is based upon are different for all companies and situations, but have stressed evaluations based on the bidding price and sometimes intangible assessments, such

as contractual reliability and quality performance(13).

           

 

Iowa State University. Bid Scope Example. Ames, IA: n.p., 20 Dec. 2013. PDF.

Bid Proposals

The subcontractor response to the bid scopes they receive from general contractors are bid proposals. When subcontractors send back bid proposals to a general contractor, they are sending back a contract that the contractor can then sign and choose to do business with the subcontractor under the conditions stated in the proposal, or not to. Many times, the contractor will call back to negotiate anything that doesn’t please them, and the subcontractor can choose to change it to get the job, or let the offer stand as is. Bid proposals are formatted and written very much like their counterpart, bid scopes. They are written very straightforward, and laid out in a way that is easily and quickly understood. There are many basic features that make up a bid proposal: a statement of purpose, background information, the scope of the work, the outcome and performance standards, term of the contract, payments, incentives, penalties, and other terms and conditions. All of these are included within sections of the document itself.

 In one of the sections, often the first, a general paragraph will usually give the statement of purpose, which is what work the subcontractor is willing to include, i.e. labor, supervision, equipment, material, and safety. This paragraph often also includes background information on the company’s history, and includes anything special about it that may set it apart from others. For example, in the “Five Star Window Cleaning” bid proposal, it mentions the special training they put all of their employees through, and the safety meetings that take place before every job.

Another very important section is the compensation section. This is where the subcontractor states all of the costs that the general contractor will be charged if the deal is made. The total cost is often broken down into different portions, organized by the type of work, or the location of the work. This subdivision of the document also shows any extra expenses that the subcontractor may have to finance and fees the general contractor. A prime example would be if a subcontractor would need to rent out a man lift or boom lift to accomplish some part of their job.

A third vital section of a bid proposal in construction is the work specifications, or work specs. In this part, the subcontractor describes the plan of action on how their duty will be completed if hired. This gives a step by step process on the methods they will use to complete the job they were hired to do.

Outside of these very essential paragraphs, you will find many other small sections, some only containing two or three short sentences. All of these sections give the rest of the relevant information of the job and contract. These sections include but are not limited to: safety, special services, service schedule, invoicing, supervision, supplies, equipment, insurance, employee status, and the agreement, where the general contractor may sign if they please.

When a bid proposal is assembled by a subcontractor, many factors are held in mind. As stated above with bid scopes, among the most are bidding price, and the quality of work and contractual reliability, which can be translated to trust. Price and trust are often viewed separately, and the subcontractor is chosen solely on one or the other. But according to Andreas Hartmann in “Subcontractor Procurement: The Interplay of Price and Trust,” this is not the case. Hartmann says, “A strong case can be made that price and trust are not irreconcilable, but rather are intertwined procurement mechanisms” (354). He goes on to conclude that initially, price plays a major role, and general contractors will choose favorable bids based on price and reputation when choosing new subcontractors. Once a good relationship is conceived between the two companies, trust plays a major role, and that specific subcontractor will receive much of the future work, even if their quality has varied in past jobs.

Five Star Window Cleaning. Bid Proposal Example. Ames, IA: n.p., 2 Jan. 2014. PDF.

In the preconstruction process, general contractors and subcontractors use bid scopes and bid proposals as the main source of communication and negotiation, keeping in mind several factors when hiring or being hired. Very much like the bargain shopper, the construction engineer looks for the greatest deals with the best quality.

Works Cited

Albino, Vito, and A. Claudio Garavelli. "A Neural Network Application to Subcontractor Rating in Construction Firms." International Journal of Project Management 16.1 (1998): 9-14. Print.

"Construction Proposals." Sample Proposals. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. <www.sampleproposals.org>.

Hartmann, Andreas, and Jasper Caerteling. "Subcontractor Procurement in Construction: The Interplay of Price and Trust." Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 15.5 (2010): 354-62. Print.

Tenold, Chad J. "Communication in Construction." Interview. N.d.

"Writing an RFP." RFP Template, FREE Template and Sample. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. <http://rfptemplates.technologyevaluation.com/rfp-template.html>.

response

Coming back from spring break, it is very difficult for me to settle down and focus on my topic of communication between contractors and subcontractors in construction. I must be coming off of some spring break high, and am down because I have to get back to work.  There are many important aspects to my research topic. I know the information will be important to other construction engineers because, and new people entering the field. Other construction engineers will find the information on the subcontractors communication process useful because it will help them further understand the people they work with. The new Construction Engineering students will find the research paper useful because it should give them an insight to what a lot of the writing and communication they will do on the job will consist of. In addition, it will help them to understand how they will need to communicate with other companies in the future, and what they might be shown or taught in classes past their general education classes.

In the first steps of my research process, I was having trouble finding sources, but as soon as I discovered some scholarly sources, I had the information I needed. There was a lot of information to be picked out from these long journals for my research, and still some to do. I still wonder if my examples of bids are considered visual. They are PDFs, but they are written documents, not an actual photo or video. It will help as a visual aid when describing the format to my audience in my paper.