We have a DesignBuild firm in San Francisco, we do architecture, DesignBuild projects and recently we have been going after some construction only jobs. As one person commented, it can easily take 40+ hours to prepare a thorough estimate for a $500K remodeling job. We analyze each opportunity and decide if we want to competitively bid, at our expense, or if we think it is appropriate to have a "Pre-construction" agreement where we get reimbursed for some, or all of our time.
Some considerations:
- If we are competitively bidding, how many other contractors are bidding? More than three, we are typically not interested, a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 chance is not good enough.
-Are the drawings a true "Bid Set" with specs so we are not left guessing? If not, then we will not bid, without a pre-con agreement.
- If we are asked to prepare early pricing we see this as a service, to help the architect and owner fine tune project scope and budget, so we charges for this time.
- If we are already busy, as is everyone in my market these days, we are less inclined to offer free pricing.
- We are more inclined to competitively bid commercial work, it is usually a more even playing field.
- We very often set up the pre-con agreement to credit back 25-75% of our time billed if we are ultimately hired to build. The percentage credited back is dependent on the job size, risk, our desire to get the job etc.
- Most residential work is best not competitively bid, but negotiated after an interview process. Bid jobs are best left to the commercial and institutional sectors
More and more I think of construction as a service, just like architecture. What part of the design job are you as the architect willing to provide 30-100 hours of "Free Service" to the client. Is this not what you are expecting the contractor to do? Are you willing to compete for a new project with 2-3 other architects, providing a week of design at your expense, to land a job? If not, why do you expect the contractor to do this? To just say "it's typical, it's part of their overhead" does not really cut it anymore. Most architects I know would be offended if they were asked to do a mini-competion to get a job, particularly a run-of-the-mill $500L-$1M residential project.
Just my two cents, with experience from both sides of the fence.
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James Zack, AIA
Architect / Principal
Zack/de Vito Architecture + Construction
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2018 17:29
From: Herbert Tenenbom
Subject: Fee for a bid?
Hi Stephanie,
This is somewhat common in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone is very busy and don't have a lot of free time. It is not the same as a potential new client interview for an architect -- a bid can take 40 hours! That's a lot of time for marketing. However, many good contractors can give a ball-park number within about 10-20% and don't charge for those kind of numbers.
Good luck!
Buzz Tenenbom
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Buzz Tenenbom A!A
Seattle, WA
Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2018 08:47
From: Stephanie Sola-Sole
Subject: Fee for a bid?
I recently reached out to a new contractor to add to a bid list of 3 for a residential addition, roughly a $300K project. He indicated that he would look at it but that he charges a fee to submit a bid usually in the range of $1500 - $5000 depending on the size of the project. I was very surprised to hear this. In 25 years of practicing architecture, I have never been asked to pay a fee for a bid. I understand that it takes time to submit a bid, just as it does for me to meet with a client to discuss potential work and then write and submit a proposal, but to me it is a necessary marketing cost.
Has anyone else experienced this? Do you think it is a fair ask? Thanks.
Stephanie Sola-Solé, Architect
Sola-Solé ARCHITECTS
Direct: 202.744.3251
Website: www.solasolearch.com
Email: stephanie@solasolearch.com