After my company was selected as the GC for a 10-story office bldg, we sent out bids for the concrete package, and 3 subs have tight bids within 3% off each other. the scope of work includes framework, rebar, pour, and finish. the concrete and pump will be taken care of by my company.
after the lowest bidder was selected there was an interview conducted with the subcontractor to make sure the scope of work and schedule are covered. their bid did not reference any drawings, but in the interview, they mentioned that the concrete work was shown on both architectural and structural drawings. This was asked because there were some concrete housekeeping pads, and steel stair infill was shown on arch, drawings and wanted to make sure that it was picked up. The sub acknowledged this and notes on this were taken on pre-award meeting notes.
The contract was awarded and the agreement was sent around the time the work began. the sub calls back asking why there was a reference made to the arch. drawings and we remind him of the housekeeping pads and stair infill. 2 weeks later the sub sends the signed agreement but the reference to arch drawings is crossed out. several walls were shown on the arch drawings but not on the structural drawings.
An (RFI) is written and structural engineer responds with appropriate sketches, but the architect does not attach a directional document such as a (CCD) to the (RFI). As a result, the sub refuses to accept the contract as originally written, and will, not install the walls unless a change order is issued. the walls are worth $50K and my company or the sub don’t have the funds to make amends.
In this case, the bid from the subcontractor should not have been accepted in the first place without seeing their architectural and structural drawings to make sure that everything was being acknowledged. the sub should have also not crossed out the reference to the architectural drawings on the agreement and the architect should have attached a directional document. the architect, GC, and sub all share faults for not communicating properly. Although the owner was not involved directly, he would have to, unfortunately, put up money for the work to be done properly.
