Contributed by Margaret Fisher Submitted Title 'Waaaaay too much information!' The Prequalification Form Gone Rogue
Ever since man stood up and decided he wanted something to cover the opening of his cave, the question exists, “Who can I rely on to do this work?” It was the dawn of the pre-construction qualification process. Back then, word of mouth or whoever was standing nearby got the job. Things stayed pretty much the same until just a few short decades ago. As the availability of more folks to do the job appeared on the scene, it became necessary to try to find some way to pick just one. But, what should the criteria be? So some GC’s, not all, started coming up with forms that ask fairly routine questions including your companies vital stats, such as your location, number of employees, last year’s sales, one or two recent projects that they can check out if they are so inclined, etc. This seems reasonable. In the end, the GC most often thought about who they worked with last and how it went. If it was a pretty good experience, they went with that gut feeling, the comfortable choice. “More” Isn’t Better; it’s Just More Today, we are in pre-qualification hell. It is not unusual to be asked to complete a 10-17 page form that takes a minimum of 10 hours to complete. More than one full work day for some. Smaller trades with less than 25 employees probably do not have one person who can afford to dedicate one full day completing these forms. If they are to be completed online, this adds another layer of complexity and additional time. In some cases, the forms cannot advance to the next page if you don’t have one answer at the ready and need to come back to it. Asking, Asking and More Asking . . . More and more subcontractors are now calling into question the very nature of some of these questions. The savvy subcontractor has brought prequalification questions to their attorney and accountant prior to completing forms. Generally, recommended by our attorney and our accountant, we do not answer some questions on manual or electronic. Basically, these would be the ones you wouldn’t ask in a hiring situation: Universally unacceptable to ask are questions regarding: Race, Religion, Marital Status, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Age, Military Involvement, Criminal conviction, Political Background, Ethnic Origin. HIPPA laws prohibit additional info sharing. Here are some examples gathered from various prequalification forms I have seen that are highly questionable:
That last one, well, if you think about it, how long would it take you to put that info together on just one project that you did 4-5 years ago? Now multiply that times perhaps 50 projects per year and multiply that times 5. As you can guess, it would take weeks to create that whole list and it would be about 125 pages long. How does this help anything? And I’m sure all those contacts they are asking for would not be pleased to find out we broadcast their phone numbers and email addresses on a form that could be viewed by who knows how many people. Again, how does ALL this prove skill or quality? That important information never comes up.
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Contributed by Cherise Lakeside This past February, for the first time, I attended the World of Concrete in Las Vegas. I was invited by the Tao Group for their Praxis event to do a presentation on Specs 101 for anyone who cared to attend. Tao Group is passionate about maintaining design intent and providing the best possible outcome for the Owner. I was thrilled to be asked to share some CSI contract document education with folks who traditionally do not get exposure to it.
Like anyone in our industry, I have areas where I am particularly passionate. One of those areas is better interaction and education for our emerging professionals. Another, and the subject of this blog, is improving communication, coordination and collaboration on our projects. I will take any opportunity that I can get to share this education across disciplines. I am especially grateful now that I had this opportunity at World of Concrete. I would venture to guess that I get out of my specifier cave a little more than some due to my rather aggressive involvement in CSI and ever increasing speaking engagements. This gives me the chance to talk to folks from a lot of disciplines which is invaluable. What I learned this week is that I need to get my hands dirty. Like a lot of people who work strictly as a specifier, I don’t have many opportunities to get out on the jobsites and talk to the people who are actually doing the work. There has been very little opportunity to get feedback from the people who are using and interpreting the specifications that I write. There has been almost no chance to see, first hand, how it all comes together. How it actually gets built. This has been a critical mistake and it changes today. I have done this Specs 101 class a number of times. It is geared to provide some very general knowledge of specifications, contract documents, roles and responsibilities and risk. You can only cover so much in 1.5 hours so I try to lightly hit a lot of pertinent areas to hopefully spark my attendees to ask more questions and get further education in contract documents and project delivery. I have presented this class to architects, contractors, engineers, product reps and manufacturers – in and outside of CSI. Not once has anyone told me that the information was not helpful. The attendees always walk away with some homework they intend to do because I said something they didn’t know or didn’t understand. At World of Concrete my audience for this particular presentation was approximately 50 concrete subcontractors. With the exception of a scattering of subs among my other presentations, I don’t typically see this group at CSI meetings or in my presentations. I was thrilled to have a chance to talk with them. I was thrilled not only because I want to know what I don’t know, but I also had a chance to clear up misconceptions about specifications. I wanted to learn how it really goes down once those documents leave my hands. I started with a couple of questions:
Damn if I hadn’t just received a 2×4 smack in the head. How have I been missing this knowledgeable and valuable group in my CSI adventures! How have I not been getting this crucial feedback so that I can do a better job? I also shared a few things with them:
It drives me insane when I see a continuing problem that doesn’t get fixed. What drives you crazy at work? That question always results in the areas we need to improve. This is one of those areas and change starts with me. There is no way that I am taking on concrete issues in construction in this blog. I don’t even pretend to be knowledgeable enough to do that. BUT I will tell you what I am going to do:
Today, I invite my CSI compatriots to do the same. World of Concrete was an amazing experience that I didn’t see coming. I now wish I would have stayed all week. I thank all of the subcontractors and tradesmen who took the time to share with me, show me things and let me play with the big toys. I have the utmost respect for the work that they do. I definitely hope to have the opportunity to attend next year and really get my hands dirty. I encourage anyone to go outside your industry and learn from others in the process. Be the change you wish to see in this world! |
AboutLet's Fix Construction is an avenue to offer creative solutions, separate myths from facts and erase misconceptions about the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Check out Cherise's latest podcast
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