The Importance of Transparency

Many times in construction the word “transparency” is tossed around very loosely.  At times a contractor can provide a brief scope of work with a lump sum price or just a lump sum price.  Or, a contractor will reference a set of prints in their lump sum proposal in which the problem is that sometimes the prints may not provide enough detail of what a contractor should or should not provide. For example, a print may say that the electrical contractor shall provide a 2” EMT Conduit from Panel A to Panel B.  The problem is that the print nor the contractor’s lump sum price spells out how that conduit is to be support, or routed.  This reflects a lack in transparency, which may lead to confusion during a review by the owner that could result in the owner being vulnerable to additional costs associated with the project.  Transparency is a tool that a detailed, localized unit price book, such as the Construction Task Catalog® (CTC), provides that allows the owner to remain protected from being a victim or being taken advantage of by discrepancies.

When using any of Gordian’s JOC solutions the contractor is building a Price Proposal based on a CTC.  Building a proposal from Gordian’s CTC is like providing to an owner a contractors “take-off” sheet.  So not only does the owner get a Detailed Scope of Work (DSOW) but also receives an itemized list of task items based off that DSOW.  Gordian’s CTC contains over 260,000 construction related task items along with quantity or quality modifiers associated with those task items.  So when a contractor starts to build a JOC proposal out of the CTC he/she must think of every tiny detail associated with the DSOW.  This includes not only the 2” EMT referenced above or other relevant conduit to the project, but also the means and methods of how that conduit is going to be supported and routed.

This service provides the owner a transparent document provided by the contractor that includes verifiable quantities and an understanding of the proposed means and methods of construction.  With this ongoing cooperation is the final result of additional successful projects for both the owner and the contractor.  Contractors love the transparency produced by the CTC because it shows the owner that the contractor is using the best construction practices, which highlights their abilities as a performing contractor in providing the best possible solution to the owners’ needs.