Saving Money on Construction

Selection of Professional Services

The primary objective of procuring professional services is to select the firm(s) you feel will provide the most value for your money. Maximizing competition – fair competition – is the best way to achieve this objective.

Fees should not be considered when selecting firms for design or other professional services, so a thorough process of comparing qualifications should be used. There are three basic steps: request for qualifications, checking of references, and interviews with shortlisted firms.

Request for Qualifications (RFQ): The qualifications requested should be of the proposed project team and individuals, not just of the firm overall. To ensure an apples-to-apples comparison, provide a very specific description of the qualification information requested. An outreach process should be used to ensure highly-qualified firms are aware of the solicitation.

Reference Checks: Calls to references from similar projects should involve specific questions regarding performance and results, and confirm that the key individuals on the proposed team played key roles on the referenced project. Because general rating terminology may vary from person to person, it is best to use yes or no questions – “did they meet all deadlines?” or “did they stay within budget throughout?”, and to request factual information – “what was the change order total as a percentage of the original bid?”

Interviews: The interview process should involve only the top ranked firms who have a chance of being selected number one. Three (3) is a desirable minimum. It is helpful to provide the topics you would like each firm to address in their presentation, and have additional questions available to ask at the end of their presentation. The interview process should also be designed to give you a feeling of the rapport between your key staff and that of the proposed team. Often more than one team will be considered “qualified”, and the selection will come down to which firm you feel will offer the best working relationship.

Bottom Line: Investing the time to select the best firm for you and your project will save you money, reduce your risk and increase the value you receive.

To learn more about saving money on construction, visit www.constructionsavings.com 

School Superintendents

Illinois School Superintendents: Visit our booth at the upcoming IASA Annual Conference on April 23-24.

Missouri School Superintendents: Unfortunately the exibit hall is sold out for this year's MASA Annual Conference. See you next year.

Independent Construction Advisors

Independent construction advisors, such as Sitton Construction Group, are available to assist you in making objective assessments and decisions. When done correctly, an outside consultant’s value should far exceed the cost of the services. 

Headed by a 27-year veteran of the design and construction industry, Sitton Construction Group, LLC, provides hands-on services to manage construction projects more effectively. The firm’s focus on saving money, reducing risk, and increasing value, is based on experience on hundreds of construction projects with a total value in excess of one billion dollars.

To request help on a specific issue or an entire project, go to: www.sittoncg.com/request help or call Doug Sitton at 314.412.5677.

ConstructionSavings.com

ConstructionSavings.com is a website dedicated to saving you money on construction, as well as reducing your risk and increasing your value.

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