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Painless Price Proposal Review: 12 Questions to Ask

This week’s blog post is authored by Keith Greene, Director of Special Projects at The Gordian Group.
Keith Greene has reviewed hundreds of Price Proposals in his 30+ years of experience with Job Order Contracting. He suggests these tips, along with 12 key questions to ask while reviewing to make Price Proposal Review a painless process.

Tip 1: First, review the Detailed Scope of Work prior to reviewing the Price Proposal, to ensure all parts of the project are represented.

For pre-priced tasks, ask these questions during the Price Proposal Review:
1.    Is the task listed correct?
2.    Is the quantity correct?
3.    Did the contractor apply all the quantity discounts and other appropriate modifiers?
4.    Was the correct Adjustment Factor used?
5.    Were assembly tasks used versus component tasks?
6.    Are the most efficient construction methods being used, versus the most expensive methods?

For non-pre-priced tasks, ask these questions during the Price Proposal Review:
1.    Should the non pre-priced task be a pre-priced task? 
a.    Verify that the task should be non pre-priced by searching the Construction Task Catalog
2.    Have quotes been provided to back up the cost of the material or the subcontracted work?
3.    Is the quantity correct?
4.    Was the non-prepriced Adjustment Factor used, or if there is none, an Adjustment Factor of 1.0000.
5.    Are the number of labor hours used appropriate for the task?
6.    Was the non pre-priced task formula followed?

Tip 2: After reviewing, submit the Price Proposal comments to the JOC contractor to revise or clarify. If needed, conduct a Price Proposal Review meeting with the contractor.

Tip 3: If it is difficult to reach an agreement on the tasks in question, revisit the project site.
Tip 4: Remember to work together; the goal should be to produce an accurate and detailed Job Order.