9 Construction Communication Gaps — How to Talk to a Contractor
Construction lingo can lead to confusion before your job even begins. This could lead to cost overruns and frustration. This article tells you what to look for in a construction bid so you can avoid surprises.
Anywhere you see something you don’t understand, you should expect to be surprised by a cost that you didn’t anticipate. If you don’t know an acronym, a brand name, or a word in the bid, just ask. That’s the purpose of reviewing the bid with a contractor.
Here are nine common communication issues that can cause you pain. (Don’t worry; they’re easy to avoid.)
Allowance: This is a dollar value that a contractor has noted for something in your project. For example, your allowance for your bathroom tile is $2,000.00. If the cost of the tile goes up or down, then you pay or save the difference. A large number of allowances means that the contractor is shifting the responsibility of getting certain products for a specified price to you. Be careful of more than five allowances in any bid, and make sure you know how to buy something for the allowance price noted. Often, an allowance for windows is just a small fraction of the windows that you probably want to buy.
OPCI: Owner Provided, Contractor Installed. You will be paying for these products and storing them on site for the contractor to install. The contractor is responsible for installation costs. This can be a great way to save money, but you certainly want to be aware of what you have to buy. If you buy the wrong thing (or too little of it), then the contractor is justified in charging you hourly to go out shopping for you.
PBO: Purchased by Owner. This is the same as OPCI.
NIC: Not in Contract. This is work that the contractor is not responsible for. You will have to accept a change order and pay additional money to get this work completed.
By Owner: This is the same as NIC. You, as the owner, are responsible for all materials and labor to complete this work.
TBD: To Be Determined. There will invariably be something needed that costs you money. TBD should rarely, if ever, be part of a construction bid. The point of a contractor is to eliminate TBD.
Verify in Field or VIF: This typically refers to dimensions or other things that are hard to determine before construction begins. You may see this on design drawings as well. The contractor may need to verify if some work needs to be completed after he or she starts work, for instance work that may be needed to fix framing after interior walls are opened up on a remodel project.
Existing Condition: The current condition of anything such as underground utilities, underground rock/soil issues, mold, asbestos, and dry rot. These should almost all be determined prior to accepting a bid. For example, many roofers will say that dry rot (which is a visible fungus) is an existing condition and is not part of their bid, but they could easily look at rafters from outside and see that dry rot is an issue.
T&M: Time and Materials. The contractor will work by the hour and will bill you for their hours plus their materials and then will typically mark it all up by 15%. This puts all the risk on you as the customer and gives them an incentive to take their sweet time while running up both labor and material charges. There’s no reason to use T&M for anything other than a small job that takes just a few days.
One other tip is that it cost money to make changes once work begins. It is better to stick with the original design as drawn rather than talk to your contractor about changes. It is also easier and cheaper to test changes on paper before doing it in the field. If there is a change you want to make after construction has started, first talk to your designer and talk through what the change is and why you want it. Let them do the needed drawings and communicate the change to the contractor. In fact, if you talk to your contractor about making changes they should refer you to the design team!
Now that you know what to look out for, you can keep your communication lines open and productive, making your project much less stressful.
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