How mechanical contractors get on a GC's bid list, and get priced first

On most new builds, a mechanical contractor never meets the developer. The developer hires the general contractor, and the GC decides which mechanical subs get to price the work. If you are not on that GC's list, the project does not exist for you.

But getting on the list is only the entry ticket. Every GC has a short list inside the long one: the two or three mechanical subs they call first, ask for budgets during design, and bring into design-assist. That inner list is where the good work is. Here is how to get on both.

How GCs choose their mechanical subs

A GC is putting its relationship with the owner in your hands. The mechanical package is often one of the largest subcontracts on the job, and a weak mechanical sub can sink the schedule for everyone. So the GC is asking a few simple questions:

• Can this firm handle a job this size without stretching its people or its bonding?
• Is the safety record clean enough for our site and our insurer?
• Will the number be complete, or will we find the gaps after award?
• Do they finish on schedule, close out properly and handle warranty calls?
• Have we worked with them before, and how did it go?

GCs want several mechanical numbers on every bid to stay competitive. But when it is close, or when the job is negotiated, they lean toward the sub whose answers to those questions they already know.

Get prequalified before you need to be

Most GCs require subcontractors to prequalify before they can bid, increasingly through an online form or portal. The questions are similar everywhere, so build one package and keep it current:

• Company details, licenses and years in business
• Annual volume and your largest completed project
• Bonding capacity, with a letter from your surety
• Certificates of insurance with your limits
• Safety information: experience modification rate (EMR), OSHA logs, your written safety program
• Financial statements, often reviewed or audited above a certain size
• References from GCs and owners
• A list of relevant projects by sector, size and delivery method

A firm that can return a complete prequalification in a day looks organized before the GC has seen a single number from it.

Know who actually decides

The bid list is usually owned by the estimating and preconstruction side of the GC, not by the project managers you meet on site. The people to know are the chief estimator, the preconstruction manager or director, and on larger firms the MEP coordinator who handles mechanical and electrical scopes. Project executives matter too, because they remember who made their last job easy.

Do not forget the MEP engineers. They design the systems, they sit in the same meetings as the GC, and on retrofits and smaller projects they often recommend contractors directly.

Get known before the invitation to bid

The invitation to bid goes out after the important early conversations have happened. To be part of those conversations, the GC needs to know you before the drawings are done.

• Introduce your firm with specifics: two or three recent projects in the GC's sectors, your size range, your territory.
• Ask what they have in preconstruction right now, not what is out to bid.
• Offer budget pricing on a project that is still in design. It costs you a few hours and shows how you think.
• Follow up when you see their name on a new project, not only when you want something.

Use value engineering to open the door

Nothing builds a GC's trust faster than taking cost out of a job without taking performance out with it. During design, a good mechanical contractor can often suggest:

• Alternate equipment selections that meet the spec at a lower installed cost
• A different system type where it suits the building better
• Simpler duct and pipe routing that saves labor and coordination time
• Prefabrication that shortens the schedule on site
• Phasing that keeps an occupied building running during the work

Value engineering is not cheapening the job. It is the same outcome for less money, and the GC gets to take that saving to the owner. The firm that brings it is the one they call first on the next project.

Bid like you want the next one

When you do bid, the way you bid is part of the relationship. Send a clear scope letter with your inclusions, exclusions and clarifications. Get it in on time. If you lose, ask the estimator where your number landed and what drove the decision. Most will tell you, and the question itself tells them you are serious about working together.

Finish the job like you want the next one

The next invitation is decided by how the last job ended: punch list closed quickly, closeout documents complete, warranty calls answered. GCs remember the subs who made their project manager's life easy, and they remember the ones who did not even longer.

Keep it going

One GC relationship is a start. A steady backlog needs a handful of GCs who know you well, and new ones added every year as people move and firms change. That means a regular rhythm of staying in touch with the GCs you know and meeting the ones you do not.

Meeting new GCs, developers and facility managers before their work goes public is what Arclede does for mechanical contracting firms, fully managed through to meetings in your calendar. If you are earlier in the process, start with our guide on how to get more commercial HVAC work.