Concrete Service Companies - How To Evaluate Service Bids & Maximize Value"

Having been a project manager, I have a lot of experience in selecting concrete service contractors.

Bids are typically FREE and they give you the opportunity to learn more about the methods to do the work and perhaps even to form a character assessment of the prospective concrete company (but keep in mind that some contractors are prone to personality changes AFTER they have won your work).

It is beneficial to take full advantage of any free information made available to you during the selection process, which is often referred to as the bid / award process by constructors.

Analyze all of the bids, qualify & compare the pricing and included scopes (items of work), and do not be afraid to ask the service company ALL the questions you want to.

Try to establish the sensible price point for your work from the spread of prices provided by the contractors.

The lowest price is not always the right price.

A suspiciously low price could mean that something was low-balled or missed in the bid (or quote) by the contractor.

When that happens, some contractors will look for a creative way to make the missed $$ back from you.

"Oh Sir or Miss Customer... we did not include epoxy sealer in our bid (even though it was obviously needed) so we will need you to pay this change order ( = contractor's best friend) amount of $XXXX.XX to complete the work."

The above scenario happens all too often, but please know there are many top notch concrete contractors & suppliers available that conduct business with honesty and sincerity.

In fairness and as an FYI, construction projects are dynamic and there are situations (i.e. unknown site condition revealed, you decide to change the layout of your patio after the contractor installed form-work to the originally specified layout) where a change order is indeed appropriate.

After you have analyzed and compared the quotes, trust your gut and select a concrete company based on best value, completeness of quote, your character assessment of them, and each one's reputation for work quality.

Why not take it even further and ask to see product samples, or even to visit their shop to see the operation in action...

The big engineering and construction firms employ quality control professionals that do that on EVERY project.

Just like them, you have every right to do so and if a contractor disagrees with your methods, it is probably a good idea to remove them from the bid list.

P.S. Never make verbal contractual agreements - always get everything in writing so that all the details are definitive, rather than subjective.

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