Pre-Bid Meeting
If you are like most people, you have a busy life—working, taking care of your family, or both. You do not have enough time to spend a couple of hours talking with each contractor. The amount of time it takes to review the project details with each contractor will depend on the project’s size. Holding a meeting prior to bidding, often referred to as a pre-bid meeting, is a great way to control the amount of time that you spend with bidders.
The Project Profile Form you have already started completing in Planning – Project Profile has a place to put in the dates and times of your planned pre-bid meetings. Look at the calendar. Pick a couple dates and times that work with your schedule, and is as close to regular working hours as possible, to ensure you get the most contractors to show.
On the day and time of your scheduled meeting, be prepared to meet with everyone together and walk them through the project. As contractors are arriving, get their business cards or have them sign in so that you can keep track of all of the contractors who attended the meeting. Wait about ten minutes to start the meeting, to give time for any stragglers to arrive.
Have a copy of the bid package with you, and do not worry about having copies for the contractors. As you recall, you have already sent the documents to them. You don’t need to baby them. If they don’t have it with them make note, you can always send it to them later.
When you start, walk the contractors through the construction diagrams and, if you are holding the meeting at the project site, show the contractors the spaces indicated in the diagrams.
When people ask questions, refer to the bid package to answer their question, and let them know where they can find the answers. If there is a question you cannot answer with the bid package, and you know the answer, tell them; then, make note of the questions and the answers to send to all potential bidders in a bid addendum after the meeting.
You are probably wondering if it’s a good idea to let the contractors know other contractors are bidding the project. It is most definitely a good idea. Contractors tend to keep their pencils sharper and writing clearer when they know there is competition.
It is much easier and more efficient to have one or two meetings with all the contractors, than to hold three or more similar length meetings with each contractor. Pick two different days with a couple of different times for potential bidders to view the site and ask questions. For example, you might pick a Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, and give a three-hour window. If you give them a couple weeks advance notice, the interested contractors will make it a point to show up.
TIP: Having a pre-bid meeting can cut the time it takes to discuss the project scope of work with contractors by as much as 80%.
Plan for each meeting to last up to three hours, depending on the project size, any longer will not make it a better meeting. In fact, it can hurt the process if you discuss and disclose too much to any one contractor. You want to keep the contractor(s) honest and make sure you do not “tip your hand” and find yourself negotiating with any particular contractor right then.
Use the Bidders List Form to keep track of bidders who attend the pre-bid meeting making it easy to communicate with bidders, by keeping all their contact information in one location.
Use the Bidders List Form to record each bidders name and contact information.