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5 Things You Shouldn't Ignore Before Bidding for Construction Projects
You don't want to risk your construction business unnecessarily, but that's exactly what you're doing when you don't prepare accurate cost estimates. You can spend all day counting accurately, but if you haven't fully assessed the scope and requirements of a project, you may find that bidding on low-priced construction projects isn't the answer.
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Don't miscalculate! 5 things to check before bidding on construction projects
While no project is perfect, it's important to be diligent and intentional in calculating and estimating potential costs or expenses, especially if you want to win projects that are likely to be the most profitable for your business.
Here are 5 things you shouldn't miscalculate in your Final Bidding:
1. All necessary equipment
Calculate each piece of equipment, from company pickup trucks to cranes and specialty forklifts for hire. Be sure to divide depreciation by hourly rates to get an accurate cost estimate.
2. Where will the excavated things be put? (Excavation work)
Carefully examine the area and calculate the number of cubic meters of material to be excavated. For example, if you win a bid for a swimming pool with a low bid, but the excavation costs a lot of money, your capital will be lost and your profits will shrink!
3. Product waiting time
Long lead times for some items may impact your deadline. Be sure to plan for items that require longer lead times, such as glass curtain wall systems, escalators and steel structures. How will you manage these items in your bidding process to avoid delays in construction?
4. Standard safety equipment in use that is enforced
Don't overlook the cost of safety equipment that must be provided, such as cones. Guardrails or fences, nets, barriers or other similar protective devices. There may be additional regulations from the Ministry regarding the proper disposal of hazardous waste.
5. Actual work site
Be sure to visit the actual job site to see all the physical conditions. Unfamiliar job sites, such as working in a cramped urban area, can increase costs and decrease your profits.
Check wage rates
When you rush to bid, it's easy to make the same mistakes over and over again. Have you forgotten about the suppliers that gave you headaches or the deals that were delayed? No one wants a 5% project to end up sucking up all of your 50% profits, but it happens to everyone, even seasoned subcontractors and general contractors.
For example, you want to check the minimum wage for the construction of an 8-story parking garage or the painting of a 60,000 square meter wall.
Instead of spending time with an accounting department to determine or refine your actual labor cost calculation, you can take a shortcut by simply estimating the minimum labor cost and adding 26 percent.
Also, don't forget to consider hourly rates when hiring extra labor or skilled workers. All of this can benefit your construction business if these issues are detected early in the project.
Move on to the next construction project
If you dig a little deeper into your estimating process, you may find that there is some room for improvement. Fine-tuning your estimating workflow is one way to avoid this.
Here are a few more great tips and tricks to help you get moving on to your next project:
- Track progress against your original estimate to make it easier to predict how long the next task will take.
- Visit clients after project completion and provide positive or corrective feedback to the evaluators and team.
- Complete each task with a profit and loss (P&L) statement so everyone knows they contributed to making each task profitable and that they can even make more profit than the last one.
Have a personal construction materials sales representative
This is a point that many contractors overlook. Your time may be more valuable than the time it takes to research the prices of each item, and there are so many items that need to be bid on, which is incredibly time-consuming.
Sure, you might get a lower price than your usual vendor, but the next three, five, or more items will be more expensive when you average them out. Or if they're cheaper, they might be only marginally cheaper. Isn't that a waste of time?
If in the matterProducts Having someone to help you find the right product is much better than finding it yourself. If you think it's too expensive, try negotiating the price or trying to find someone else to compare prices. But those in the industry know that the big players in the Thai construction industry have to work hard to get the right price.
I can say in three words: Sh...sh...sh!
But not at AY Contento, let me tell you (let me sell something). Sales here are fast, powerful, and immediate, for sure!
If interested, please contact a sales representative to take care of you.
Use construction programs
Another great way to win big contracts is to use digital tools that allow you to record your past calculations to see the impact of project delays and overspending. When you consider that reworks can cost an average construction project $51t3t or more, it can be difficult to calculate costs and estimate them yourself.
If you're still struggling to use some manual estimating methods, consider how much you'll spend on printing, photocopying, shipping, handling and storing documents – all of which have a cost.
Many contractors save tens of thousands of baht per year by switching toEstimation software Let alone collecting and analyzing data, it's much more complicated than on paper.
Importantly, manual data entry is more prone to errors and is much more difficult to correct. If you make a lot of changes to your data on paper, or if you're entering data into Excel and copying and pasting it into a spreadsheet, you're more likely to miscalculate labor and material costs, which can be costly.
It's important to consider whether digital tools are a good fit for your business, as they can potentially lead to significant savings. There's no doubt that greater accuracy in estimating and forecasting construction timelines can translate into significant cost savings for subcontractors and general contractors.
Articles about construction contracting business
- 5 strategies you need to know when starting a construction contracting business
- 10 great strategies to attract customers and create success for new construction contractors
- Bidding for a big project: a nightmare or a golden opportunity? Check this 10-point list before taking the risk!
- 10 Secret Strategies for Choosing the “Right” Construction Project for You
- 5 Things You Shouldn't Ignore Before Bidding for Construction Projects
