This has become a hot topic for both contractors and project owners. Contractors want to protect their indirect costs and margin, while owners want flexibility during construction and adequate budgeting. The bottom line is that there are often conflicts between contractor takeoffs and the bid schedule. That’s not to say that designers are blatantly making errors, but we are humans, and we make mistakes.

It the responsibility of the contractor to find these mistakes and bid the units in a way that makes the most sense for their business. With increased restrictions on what can be included in lump sum items, this makes bid balancing more difficult than ever. If a quantity under-runs and you had fixed indirect cost tied into that unit cost, you are going under water. If your expectation was to make a certain amount of profit on the project as a whole and you have a percent of margin tied to a bid item that under-runs, then you are going to have a write-down on your financial forecast.

It the responsibility of the contractor to find these mistakes and bid the units in a way that makes the most sense for their business. With increased restrictions on what can be included in lump sum items, this makes bid balancing more difficult than ever. If a quantity under-runs and you had fixed indirect cost tied into that unit cost, you are going under water. If your expectation was to make a certain amount of profit on the project as a whole and you have a percent of margin tied to a bid item that under-runs, then you are going to have a write-down on your financial forecast.

It also creates risk for project owners that can be avoided with proper checks and balances. When quantities over-run, owners may end up paying for costs that the contractor is not incurring. This is why having an accurate bid schedule during procurement is imperative.

Let Dynamic Preconstruction Services assist your team with quantity takeoffs today. We can provide an initial takeoff, a secondary takeoff as “cheap insurance,” or both. We’re accurate, timely, and trustworthy. Our success is dependent upon your success, and we are dedicated to achieving goals together.

It’s the Dynamic way.