Choosing qualified subcontractors for your project will directly affect your bottom line. Successful projects result in happy owners, future work, lower insurance premiums and better EMR.
Assisting contractors and subcontractors on our projects helps them improve their own programs resulting in retention of good workers, higher employee morale and may present a better opportunity to get competitive bid pricing on future work from these subcontractors. The success of a construction project is highly dependent on the solid foundation you build on, so starting off with a strong team of competent contractors and subcontractors gives you the best opportunity for success. As a result, we end up with a qualified subcontractor base for repeat business and an owner preferred contactor.
In order to be successful, both the owners and contractors need to have established processes in place. Some of the more common steps in this process may include:
Solicitation for bid
Submission of the contract with safety and health requirements to the bidders
Review statistical data such as incident rates, OSHA citation history, safety and health procedures and EMR history
Have candid discussion with prospective bidders to learn about their safety and health culture
Contractors will be selected upon acceptance of their bid
Every contractor and subcontractor must acknowledge they have received the owner's site specific safety plan and will comply with all safety procedures
Hold HSE preconstruction meetings with the contractor or subcontractor to review safety submittals and clarify expectations
In Hawaii, due to the tight knit community, many of the contractors and subcontractors know each other quite well and frequently exchange information. This is how most companies hear about upcoming work.
Meeting prospective contractors and subcontractors at the very beginning of the bid process will help establish a cohesive unit and lead to more open communication as the project progresses. However, at this stage of the bidding process, there may be very limited safety and health specifications and greater emphasis on scope of work and timeline schedules.
