Before award
Six Questions for an Industrial Project
Industrial bids differ mostly in what was assumed about the ground and the floor.
The geotechnical report, the intended clear height and the likely tenant profile. Those three tell us more than a full set of drawings.
The six
Ask every bidder, including us.
- What did you assume for below-grade conditions, and from which borings?
- What flatness and levelness numbers did you price, and how will you measure them?
- Who places and finishes the slab, and have they hit those numbers before?
- What commodity class did you price the fire protection for?
- Do you self-perform dewatering, or is it subcontracted?
- What is your assumption on the truck court pavement design?
The one that separates bids
The slab. Ask what numbers were priced and how they will be verified, because a bid that assumed a general commercial standard will be lower than one that priced a real warehouse specification.
That difference is invisible in a bid comparison and extremely visible on the day a tenant's narrow-aisle truck cannot work in the building.
Normalizing
Before comparing numbers, confirm every bidder assumed the same ground conditions, the same slab specification and the same commodity class. They frequently did not, and the lowest bid is usually the one that assumed the easiest version of all three.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why do industrial bids vary?
- Mostly assumptions about ground conditions, slab specification and commodity class.
- What is the most important question?
- What flatness numbers were priced, and how they will be measured.
- Does self-performing matter?
- On Florida dewatering, considerably.
- Should we normalize before comparing?
- Always, on ground, slab and fire protection assumptions.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.