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The importance of written contracts

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

In a recent post, we advised organizations looking to hire the right contractor for a paving project to make sure they get any contracts in writing. While a written contract is important, it’s worthless if it doesn’t contain the right information. All written contracts should include:

  • a date when the work will begin.
  • details of the improvements that will be made.
  • the quality of the materials to be used.
  • an estimated date for completion.
  • terms for making payments.

Organizations should make sure they read the contracts carefully including any fine print. If the contract language doesn’t agree with the organization’s understanding, they shouldn’t sign it. For more on paving projects, visit our education page and contact us.

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Try reverse bidding instead of RFP

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

If you need to bid out a paving project but don’t want to go the request for proposal (RFP) process, you can try reverse bidding.  Reverse bidding is especially helpful for organizations whose budget isn’t large enough to accomplish all of its projects.

With reverse bidding, the organization reveals to potential contractors its budget for the project from the outset.  The bidders then submit the amount of work they can get done for the budgeted amount.  The organization then picks the contractor who can accomplish the most goals.

You can read more about reverse bidding on our education page, including how organizations can utilize the process over several years to finish a large, expensive project.  Then, for help on paving and repaving work, contact us.

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Does my paving work require an RFP?

Friday, January 14th, 2011

For commercial paving and repaving work, clients issue a request for proposal (RFP) to a number on contractors. This is by no means the only method for obtaining bids on a pavement project, but it is an accepted and popular one. Here are a few things to keep in mind about the RFP process.

  • An independent professional should assist with creating the RFP. This could be a pavement consultant, reverse study engineer, or a contractor you trust.
  • A pre-bid meeting with the three to five contractors who received the RFP is standard procedure. Other stakeholders requesting the bid should be part of the meeting, which should be a Q&A session to make sure everyone understands the scope of the work.
  • The RFP should be open for editing during the pre-bid meetings.

The advantage of going through the RFP and pre-bid process is that everyone leaves the meetings understanding the work that needs to be done. That way, when the bids come back they’ll be easy to compare. You can learn more by visiting our education page. For more on paving or to get help with your paving project, contact us.

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Hiring the right pavement contractor

Friday, January 7th, 2011

So your driveway, parking lot, or other roadway has been beat up or worn to the point that it needs to be fixed and repaved. It’s definitely a project you can’t tackle on your own, so you need to find a contractor to do the job. How can you be sure you find the right one? Here are six easy tips.

  1. Make sure your contractor has its proper licenses.
  2. Ask the contractor for references and check with those references.
  3. Look for contractors who offer a warranty with their work and get that warranty in writing.
  4. Ask to see the contractor’s certificate of insurance.
  5. Do not pay more than one third of the cost in advance (which is typically illegal anyway) and avoid contractors who pay only in cash.
  6. Always get the contract for the work in writing.

For more on these points, please visit the education section of our site. Then contact us to get your paving work done. We’re licensed, insured, put everything in writing, and would be happy to supply references.

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