Selecting the right contractor and navigating contract administration can be a challenging prospect. But at Kipcon we’ve been helping our clients move through each step in this process with ease and peace of mind for years. So today, we’re offering insight into what to expect from your contractor negotiations and contract administration processes.
Why Are Contractor Negotiations A Critical Part of Your Project?
Contractor negotiations are a vital part of any project. From confirming low bids to discussing work hours, they help to clarify expectations. Negotiations also provide specifics around schedules, penalties, subcontractors, and cost savings-based terms of payment. Negotiations are also a stopgap where all parties can assure that the specifications are clear, address any potential areas of misunderstanding, and answer any questions before moving forward.
Further, this is the point in the process where it’s essential to confirm that Bid Proposal Form requirements are fully clear and that bidders have bid expectations that align with the bid documents. Simply put, negotiations are clarifying and help all parties to affirm their expectations for collaboration moving forward.
Contract Administration:
Contract administration involves the services an engineer provides that allow for a review of general conformance with the construction documents.
This involves a series of important reviews including:
- Reviewing field reports and work for conformance with design documents
- Providing interpretation of contracts if requested
- Evaluation and suggested additional work (especially critical for renovations)
- Review of project progress for payment authorization purposes
- Punch List preparation including damage to be corrected prior to retainage release
These services do not include means, methods, or supervision but can prove critical to the success of a project.
Potential Cost Reduction Technique
Some approaches may help to reduce your project costs. For example, you may choose to consolidate a set of projects during bidding when they are the same type of project.
You may also research any potential rebates or incentives you may qualify for, and you may use your Reserve Study as a starting point for reviewing break-even periods as you include maintenance and energy costs.
Additionally, you may reach out to a team of professionals for insight on other potential avenues for cost savings specific to your project.
How To Mitigate Potential Risk
There are always potential issues that can arise in any construction project. But when it comes to contract administration with a contractor there are some steps you can take in an effort to mitigate potential risk.
First, it’s vital that everyone involved understands the role of each party for clarity’s sake. Namely, your engineer develops the construction documents as the Owner’s Representative, and your contractor executes those construction documents accordingly. Defining roles clearly from the beginning of a project helps prevent missteps and misunderstandings throughout the course of the project.
Second, it’s important to recognize that a low-cost approach is not always the best approach in terms of outcome. Recognizing this fact can help protect you against selecting approaches or materials that, while perhaps more affordable, may not be the best solution for your specific project.
It’s important to establish payment terms, when possible, based only on work completed. This helps to potentially protect you against financial risk.
Finally, it is important to consider, from the outset of your project, whether it may be beneficial to enlist the help of professionals to guide you through the process. Getting the right support from the beginning is often far more time and cost-effective than reaching out after an issue arises. And the peace of mind that you receive from an easier, more supported process, can’t be overstated.
Connect With Kipcon for Help With Contractor Negotiations
Want to streamline your contractor negotiations and get expert support as you make key decisions about your next project? From specifications to selecting your contractor to contract administration and the final walk-through, you can rely on the Kipcon team to support you throughout the bidding and contract administration process.
To learn more about how Kipcon can assisit you with bidding and contract administration for your next project, be sure to contact Kipcon at (800) 828-4118 or click here!