Competitive Bid

Negotiated Bid

Bid contracts are generally awarded solely on

price
Owner defines the scope of the project with
detailed plans and specifications
Contractors submit lump sum bids, unit price,
or combination of both
The owner may or may not require
performance and payment bonds from the
contractor.

Work Items

Unit of
Measure

1. Mobilization

lump sum

2. Traffic Control
3. Erosion Control
4. Clearing and Grubbing
5. Embankment in Place
6. Culvert Pipe
7. Aggregate Base
8. Asphalt Pavement
9. Seeding
10. Signage

lump sum
lump sum
lump sum
cubic yards
feet
square yards
square yards
square yards
each

Estimated Unit
Quantity
Price

Bid Amount

$16,000

$16,000

1
1
1
5,000
600
2,000
7,000
4,000
5

$3,800
$7,000
$16,000
$12.50
$70.00
$12.50
$52.50
$2.50
$120.00

$3,800
$7,000
$16,000
$62,500
$42,000
$25,000
$367,500
$10,000
$600

Total Bid Price:

Five Hundred Fifty Thousand Four Hundred

Dollars

($ 550,400)

Invitation to bid to contractors

Contractors receive invitation to bid and decide
Pre-bid conference
Contractors prepare and submit bids
Bids opened and evaluated
Verification that the lowest bidder complied with requirements
Verification that the lowest bidder can perform the work
Lowest bidder submits bonds (if required)

Contract Award

Project Information

Your firm has recently obtained the plans and specifications for the
Armada III Warehouse extension project. The project involves the
extension of an existing warehouse facility with a new tilt-up
concrete structure . The client has decided to bid this project to a
select list of eight contractors and not negotiate. The bid opening
will be private /closed.
Having examined the plans and specifications, your boss has
determined this project is well within your firms abilities, and is very
interested in acquiring this potentially lucrative project.
Although you have only limited exposure to the project, your boss
has asked you to attend the pre-bid meeting to represent your firm
and learn what you can about the upcoming lump-sum contract.

What you know going in

Break up into groups of 5-6 people
Read What you know going in for the contractor

your group has been assigned.

Write 2-3 questions you will ask at the pre-bid
meeting
Explain why you asked the questions to your
classmates
10 minutes to develop your questions.

While you were examining the documents to

prepare for the meeting, you notice that
eight large garage-type doors to access the
warehouse are indicated on the plans,
however the door schedule in the
specifications only lists six.

While you were examining the documents to

prepare for the meeting, you notice that
there is a significant quantity of earthwork
and backfilling to perform. Having worked on
this site on a previous project, you are aware
that the existing soil to be excavated contains
hazardous materials.

While you were examining the documents to

prepare for the meeting, you notice that a
section of the existing employee parking lot
would provide an excellent staging location
to prefabricate roof trusses. Without access
to this space, the trusses will need to be
fabricated off site, and shipped one at a time
on oversized trailers. If accessible, use of this
staging area would permit significant savings
to the project.

While you are examining the documents to

prepare for the meeting, you notice that
there are no provisions regarding the use of
the existing facility's services for temporary
power and water during construction of the
addition. During your experience as the
concrete contractor on Armada II, you recall
that the owner was very cooperative on this
issue, and a significant cost savings was
observed.

You have not worked on this site before. On a

previous project your earthwork subcontractor
ACME Excavation, excavated unsuitable
materials including tree stumps, large boulders,
and organic debris from your site and imported
the material to this site in the area of the
planned expansion. The client has prepared a
soils report and in the four test pits performed,
none of the debris has shown up. Rather, the
soils report indicates that all of the existing onsite material is suitable for backfill.

The previous project was designed and built

prior to the new ADA laws and code revisions.
This new design does not incorporate the
new ADA with respect to elevators, wheelchair curb cuts, handicap parking, handicap
bathrooms etc.

The architect has sole-sourced suppliers in

ten different specifications sections. He is
using standard language such as "and no
other allowed." You have had off-line
discussions with the architect and he has
indicated that this is a misprint, and he will
open up those specification sections to other
suppliers.

Used more often by private owners

Typically criteria is
cost,
project duration,
expertise of project team,

contractors safety record,

existing work load
Experience with similar projects

1ST STEP

Contractors submit qualifications

Most qualified contractors are
selected and invited to submit
proposals
Owner reviews their proposals and
suggest changes
Owner issues addendum clarifying
any issues
Contractors submit the final or
their best proposal
Contractors may make a
presentations

2ND STEP
Owner selects the best
contractor based on his criteria,
then negotiates price and
project duration
The owner may or may not
require payment and
performance bond