Rule of Threes

Architecture is not all about pretty pictures and drawing.  A lot of the job is dedicated to providing a full range of services.  There is pre-design where an architect can be involved in the project's site selection, programming, and budgeting.  Then there are the two following phases which are most common and recognizable, especially within CJ Architects' realm of projects:  Design and Construction Documentation Phases, which include the processes of creating the structure theory and translating those ideals onto paper for contractors and municipal plan reviewers to understand in our universal "language".  The final phases are Construction Administration and Closeout, where the building is under construction and the Architect is involved with observing the Work and procuring ongoing documentation, and then the Substantial Completion, Quality Assurance, and Final Billing.

However, before the Construction phase comes the Bidding and Negotiation Phase.  In this phase, the Architect can assist project owners and clients with the contractor selection process.  The first step is usually soliciting the bids.  The client may come into the project with a list of prospective contractors, or the Architect can refer some of their own resources based on past experiences.  In some rare cases, the list of contractors can come from other sources or be pre-generated by a third-party, including contractors who pre-qualify as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises... usually for government and civic projects and some other publicly funded work.  Usually with our type and scale of work, the client usually comes along with one or two prospective contractors and we provide another one or two for consideration.

The rule of threes that this post refers to is that we always encourage clients to at least consider three contractors for bidding their projects - regardless of size or scope.  This helps establish a finite range of prices and expectations.  The project owner can compare three bids and feel confident with the conciseness of their results.  We always recommend the at-least-three-bid rule for ALL subcontractors as well, representing each trade.  A general rule of thumb is that if you use three bidders, you should select the one in the middle, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule and each individual bid should be examined closely for accuracy and thoroughness.  It is just an assumption that the one in the middle will be the most reasonable while including all aspects of the project, whereas the high bidder may just be too expensive or is adding or misunderstanding things and the low-bidder may be missing details or just undercutting the competition.  If a bid comes back on the extreme end of high OR low, it is best to contact that bidder and go over the project and their bid together to make sure you're on the same page.

Obviously we will also always recommend that a project owner have a good set of proper working drawings before soliciting all three bids.  It's never a bad idea to speak to a contractor first to get a ballpark estimate, and we actually get plenty of work and referrals form our contractors (so we don't want to bite the hand that feeds us).  However, this should just be a budgetary exercise and not a strict proposal submission.  The project scope can change so rampantly from inception through the architectural process that those numbers can be null and void once hammer and nails are really ready to be implemented.  Plus, after drawings are developed the client will be getting a more apples-to-apples comparison from their three or more contractors because they're all bidding off the same set of criteria.  Bidders will appreciate this whole process as they realize their valuable time is not being wasted - but, again, most of them would be happy to help see the project through from start to finish and that adds a lot to the comfort level in the relationship, which is another key factor in proper contractor selection.