Job Order Contracting: Collaboration Made Easy

The status quo in the construction industry places contractors and owners in opposition. Contractors suspect they are underpaid. Owners suspect they are overcharged. Neither side has the other’s back.

Job Order Contracting (JOC) rejects the project delivery status quo and turns the adversarial contractor/owner association into a partnership built on collaboration. Gordian’s JOC, in particular, creates the conditions for stakeholders to work together toward the same goal.

A Trusted Process

Every Gordian JOC project follows a proven process that’s been benefiting owners and contractors alike for more than thirty years. The first step in that process is a Joint Scope Meeting. At this special site visit, the owner, the contractor and the local Gordian representative walk the area where the work will be completed to get on the same page. This meeting is an opportunity to discuss value engineering options, talk about potential problems and develop a Detailed Scope of Work.

Collaborative scope development, where contractors and Gordian let their expertise shine, improves project efficiency, diminishes change orders and helps to eliminate scope creep. With these potential hurdles off the table and a complete scope in hand, contractors and owners can work together amicably.

Preset Costs

In traditional construction project delivery, communication and collaboration between owners and contractors often break down over price. Gordian’s Job Order Contracting solutions use local, preset construction costs, effectively putting an end to delays over price negotiations and extinguishing any price-related acrimony.

Here’s how it works. Our cost engineers research and verify local costs for material and labor and publish them in a custom Unit Price Book called a Construction Task Catalog® (CTC). Contractors then apply a multiplier (called an Adjustment Factor) to the CTC and are paid a fair unit price for every task they perform.

With a single source of truth for pricing, contractors can be sure they are receiving a fair price and owners can be sure they are paying a fair price. This assurance creates a foundation for collaboration and trust.

Ready to get involved with a Gordian Job Order Contracting program? Attend a pre-bid meeting in your area!

A Contract Based on Performance

A Gordian Job Order Contract creates a new set of incentives for contractors because it creates the potential for a steady – and possibly escalating – stream of income. A contractor starts out eligible to perform JOC projects of a given monetary value, based on the contractor’s experience. If the contractor does quality work in a timely and professional manner, they can not only get repeat work from the owner, but they become eligible for higher-value projects.

This reframing of incentives benefits contractors and owners. Owners have access to contractors they trust, who do good work and are familiar with their facilities, their staff and their processes, and contractors do more and more valuable work, and can grow their businesses. Everyone wins.

Job Order Contracting: Collaboration at Its Finest

Job Order Contracting is a team sport. When owners, contractors and Gordian representatives work together, projects run smoothly, contractor businesses succeed and communities improve.