Trending

Article by Paul Gladysz, AIA, NCARB, CSI, ICC

Getting Started: Selecting a Contractor

A common topic of discussion during almost every building project involves the selection of the contractor. More often than not, veterinarians looking to construct their first hospital aren't sure how to proceed. They might know what they want, where the hospital will be located and how they'll pay for it, but all the planning in the world won't help if the builder is either incapable of the work or has other ideas about what is needed.

So, the question is, what should you look for in a contractor?

• Find a builder with experience in animal care projects – ideally, you'll want to select a contractor that has completed several clinics in your area that you can see first-hand and speak with the hospital owners to learn about the construction process.
• Find a builder who has a good reputation with problem solving – expecting to find a builder who's never had a problem is unrealistic. What's important is to learn how problems get resolved. Check with the BBB and your state's licensing board to find unresolved complaints.
• Good companies will work to understand not only the plans but the reasons behind them – you want a company that knows the reasons you specify things like higher-performing floors or advanced HVAC systems, and that won't make the wrong substitutions.

Knowing what to look for, the next question is, how do you find a great contractor?

• Personal references are by far the best option – ask someone you know who recently completed a veterinary project, or if you're active in your professional association, send a query to see who had a good experience. If you can't find someone, maybe you know another business owner who completed a project of similar complexity.
• Ask members of your project team – your architect, banker or insurance agent, or even a construction supplier or city building department employee, might recommend someone.
• Bid your project – either by inviting three to five contractors you feel good about, or opening it to all interested companies to submit a proposal; just be cautious if you do the latter.

What things should you watch out for when looking for a contractor?

• Be cautious about open bidding – you can attract a large response with open bidding, but you will have no way of knowing the quality or capacity of most bidders without doing considerable research. Also, their lists of exclusions will not be identical, making direct comparisons difficult.
• Use caution against selecting a contractor based on a personal relationship – hiring a cousin who is a builder who doesn't have the expertise or sufficient resources to do an excellent job can lead to bad results and cause lasting damage to both the business and the relationship. (This goes not just for general contractors but for subcontractors as well. The brother-in-law plumber can end up being a problem.)
• Hiring clients can also be risky – clients who are qualified contractors can be a great fit, but don't settle for "probably good enough" when you make what will likely be your biggest professional financial investment.
• "Close enough" isn't enough with project experience either – builders who specialize in small-scale projects may not understand the reasons for specifying specific elements, and builders who specialize in human healthcare might think you need the same infrastructure as in human hospitals, neither situation is helpful to you.
• Beware the change order – "Buying the job" is an expression that means the bidder intentionally underpriced the work with the expectation that change orders will be made after construction is underway and you have committed to the builder. Change orders are often warranted, but requesting one based on profit is not.

Things you can do for a successful project:

• Ask about the good and the bad – when you ask for contractor recommendations from others, ask not only for people's top choices but also about contractors to avoid.
• Seek the best value at a fair price – Honest bids for a given amount of work should all be in the same general range. Outliers, both high and low, should be looked at skeptically.
• Include the builder as early in the process as possible – modifying and staying within a budget is much easier and less expensive when the builder is involved from the start.

Finally, things to remember as you proceed:

• Construction involves a huge number of shifting variables – without real-time, quantity-based pricing from vendors and subcontractors, the best history-driven estimate will be plus or minus 20% for rough initial budgeting only.
• Every building is a prototype – a specific building on a specific site at a specific point in time has never happened before or will again.
• The price of your building is only one variable – the number says nothing about the cost of land and land development, soft costs, and mortgage rates.
• The only one who can quote a price is the builder – your architect can help with budgeting, but only the builder can quote a price and even then, the cost is good only for a limited time.

The information for this article comes from Paul's column published in Today's Veterinary Business. Read the full text here: Assembly Required.

View all trending »