At CB&A, we know that construction subcontract management, through both administration and coordination, is a key element to finishing a job efficiently and quickly. We begin with a specific subcontracting strategy during the conceptual and preliminary engineering phase of each project to ensure a smooth process the whole way through.
A proper subcontracting strategy identifies contractor requirements, helps define project scope, results in a more accurate estimate and schedule, prioritizes engineering deliverables and due dates, defines site logistic requirements and defines contractor interface points.
At CB&A, we bring the project team together early in order to define scope and project requirements. We find this prevents and minimizes future scope changes. Once we have defined scope and project requirements, we identify a qualified contractor for the subcontract. We do not stop there — during contract execution, we have the experience to manage and coordinate contractors to meet project safety and quality goals, supervise contract budgets and manage schedules. Finally, even after the contractor is demobilized, CB&A provides performance evaluations and Lessons Learned reports for future execution planning.
Following is a detailed look at our subcontract administration and coordination capabilities:
- Subcontracting Strategy/Planning:
- Work with project team to develop subcontracting strategy.
- Identify number of subcontracts, pricing strategy, and basic scopes of work with the project team.
- Establish the quality requirements for anticipated subcontracts with the project team.
- Identification of special handling, storage, and maintenance requirements with project team.
- Site logistics planning with the project team.
- Identification of contract inquiry/bid dates and durations.
- Qualifying Bidders:
- Prepare preliminary list of potential bidders based on subcontract scope.
- Obtain updated information from bidders (safety, quality, project experience, financial information, management capabilities, etc.)
- Qualify bidders based on contractor information.
- Subcontract Inquiry:
- Prepare inquiry based on engineering documents, special conditions, general conditions, site requirements (safety, QA/QC, and logistics), project controls requirements, and schedule milestones.
- Work with project team to establish inquiry bid format for bid comparisons.
- Issue inquiry to approved bidders.
- Conduct pre-bid meetings to review scope, answer questions, and emphasize safety and quality requirements.
- Ensure that all bidders receive responses to questions (technical and commercial) and any new information pertaining to the inquiry by issuing addenda as necessary.
- Evaluation and Award:
- Receive bids and review with project team.
- Evaluate commercial, technical, and construction aspects with project team.
- Contact bidders for proposal clarifications (as required)
- Select best proposal or short list of bidders with project team.
- Conduct proposal review meeting with selected bidder(s) and project team.
- Select successful bidder with project team.
- Subcontract Administration/Coordination:
- Evaluate requests for changes and initiate change orders with project team.
- Provide contractor cost forecast.
- Assist with schedule development and progress verification.
- Verify and approve subcontractor payment schedules.
- Work with project team to provide technical and commercial responses during the execution of the contract.
- Contract Close-Out:
- Verify all punchlist items are completed with project team.
- Verify contractor demobilized properly and there are no site restoration requirements.
- Final approval of subcontractor payment schedule and retainage.
- Evaluate contractor’s performance and archive for future reference.
- Provide Lessons Learned report and review with project team for future execution plans.