Construction Bid And It's Administration

  Developing a good construction administration process takes TIME and EXPERTISE. Especially if your current purchasing staff is not working full time in this field due to the infrequency of remodeling or new construction projects. The saving grace is that construction projects break down into manageable phases.

Let's step over the design or technical specification development phase as it is covered in another discussion. Once a construction project has been designed by the architect, engineer or in-house staff, the resulting information must be incorporated into a construction bid solicitation document along with an agreement form which becomes the basis for the contract with the construction contractor. Let's first look at the stages or phases of the overall construction process after the design phase:

  1. Bid document preparation
  2. Bid solicitation advertising
  3. Pre-bid meeting
  4. Addendum(s)
  5. Bid submittal phase
  6. Bid opening
  7. Bid analysis or evaluation process
  8. Bid award
  9. Finalizing contract documents (insurance, bonds)
  10. Pre-construction meeting (material submittal, shop drawings)
  11. Commencement of construction (Notice to Proceed material and/or work)
  12. Payment process
  13. RFI (Request for Information)
  14. Change orders
  15. Liquidated damages
  16. Punch list and walk through
  17. As-built drawings
  18. Notice of Completion/Occupancy
  19. Warranty period(s)
  20. Release of retention monies
  21. Close-out of the construction project
  22. Long term warranty and maintenance monitoring

With these phases in mind, the buyer/administrator must now understand their role throughout the project by knowing each of the above terms, all of the following terms, and the responsibilities that go along with each:
  • Buyer (includes assistants, aides, senior buyer, etc.)
  • Specification or spec writer
  • Contract administrator (includes assistant contract administrator)
  • Space programmer
  • Engineer
  • Architect
  • Space planner
  • Project manager
  • Construction manager
  • Owner's representative
  • Owner
  • User (includes occupant, using department)
  • Drawings

Construction administrators must insist upon having copies of all applicable agreements which include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Architect
  • Consultants (any involved with the project)
  • Landowner's title (lease or ownership and their restrictions
  • Grants/Funding Contracts
  • Interlocals/Cooperatives/Joint agreements
  • Complete set of bid documents
  • Modifications or change orders
  • Conformed construction documents (including insurance and bonds)
Most of these agreements should have been reviewed prior to the project design, but the administrator must now also know when a requested change order will/can affect or be affected by one of these agreements.

During the construction process, the administrator will have to personally maintain excellent detailed records such as:

  • Field Reports
  • Meeting Notes
  • Correspondence Tracking
  • Daily Diaries
  • A file for future document wording changes

Some of these records will actually be prepared by others, but the administrator must carefully monitor them and be sure the documents are being carefully preserved for the future. Indexing and cataloguing, with cross-references, is absolutely necessary if one is to access the information later.

Equally important is the administrator's role of communications. Informing or copying all applicable parties is a must for successful projects. A partial list of those to keep informed is:

  • Appropriate staff/peers
  • Architects
  • Bonding company/surety
  • Consultants
  • Contractor

Construction administrators should visit the project site on a regular basis, and attend all meetings.

Be prepared to document problems, requests for information, change orders, and all price changes.

This is normally accomplished by:

  • Including it in your Daily Diary.
  • Making official reports.
  • Insisting that all requests and reports be made in writing.
  • Placing the topic on official construction meeting agendas.
  • Placing all appropriate parties on notice.

Consider reviewing all contract changes with your legal staff BEFORE ACQUIESCENCE. After all facts are discussed and a resolution is proposed, then the administrator should prepare a report (or agenda item) for the owner's approval/information. Subsequently, all parties should be notified of the official decision. Do not forget that either party may seek redress in arbitration or through the courts.

Throughout the term of the contract, the administrator should consistently be thinking about trying to improve the bid, related professional services, and the construction contract documents. If the administrator has kept a good record or file, then there should be no problem with asking the following questions of all participants near the end of the project:

  • Do any of our contracts need language revisions?
  • Do we need to change a procedure?
  • How could this project have been better?

And I suggest that the administrator prepare a summary evaluation of the participants' service in order to provide documentation on "bidder responsibility" for future award evaluations.

© 1998 by Donald L. Woods, All Rights Reserved