Note: This is the second of a five part weekly series covering the subject of roof leaks and what you can do when you get one. The first three articles are focused on preventing construction defects. The last two articles will focus on remediating the effects of a leaky roof including whether or not you may be able to get the architect or contractor to pay for the repairs. (Here’s a hint. The statute of limitations for most school district construction defect claims is 10 years.)
Hiring the right contractor may be the most important decision of your superintendency. In almost every case, no matter how much lead time you’ve had running up to the actual procurement of the contractor you will find yourself in short on time and long on demands for quick action. Pressure seems to come from every direction.
Your neighboring school districts are building and there is a shortage of qualified builders in the local market. Your board is concerned about the rising price of steel and labor. You have a natural sense of anxiety because in the time between the passage of the bond and the hiring of the architect, you are the quarterback trying to get the ball to your best receiver. This is the time when administrators call asking about how they can get around the full bidding process and so on.
You need to follow the bidding laws. Plain and simple. People worry about the length of time it takes to solicit bids but, in reality, the process is not all that lengthy. What takes more time, normally, is the architect’s development of a set of plans and specifications sufficient for the purpose of bidding the project.
Most of the time the architect will provide you with a project manual for use in the contractor procurement process. You can save time by having your attorney prepare the contracts you intend to use for the project so that they can be inserted into the project manual before bidding. This will save you an enormous amount of time because if you structure your bidding package correctly you will be able to avoid a lengthy contract negotiation process that would otherwise have to take place after the board selects the contractor it wishes to use for the project. This shouldn’t be the district’s only contribution to the project manual, however.
The whole purpose of bidding is to find interested and qualified contractors to do the work for you. It would be nice if low price always correlated with high quality but the fact is, it doesn’t. In order to investigate the contractor’s quality you need to ask good questions. No softballs allowed. Contractors are big leaguers. Remember – they do this for a living.
To assist you in developing your questions you can start with some of the standard qualifications statements that are provided by the American Institute of Architects. But don’t stop there. You know better than anyone what your district wants. If you want to know about previous disputes then you have to ask them to tell you about more than just previous lawsuits. You need to ask about previous bond claims that may have been filed against the contractor. You need to ask about previous arbitrations that the contractor may have been involved with and so on. You also need to ask the contractor’s previous clients about any disputes that may have arisen during their project so you can learn how your contractor deals with criticism.
Don’t expect to get the information you need unless you ask specific questions about the items that are important to your district. Asking for three references is virtually worthless if your intent is to ascertain the quality of a contractors work. Even the worst contractors can come up with three people that think they did a great job. They may give you references from several years ago when they may have been doing a different quality of work then they are currently performing. If you want a better picture of a contractor’s ability then ask them for their last ten or fifteen jobs. If the contractor answers truthfully you won’t have to worry that you received a cherry picked sampling.
Finally, keep your contractors at arms length. This is a business transaction. Being friendly is something that successful contractors do well – at least when everything seems to be going well. Friendliness, however, should not be mistaken for competence and it is much more difficult to demand the highest degree of competence when the relationship has changed from a business relationship into a friendship relationship.
How do you demand the highest degree of competence from your contractors? That is the subject of next week's article - Construction Documentation. There we will address some of the fundamentals of construction documentation and the documentation methods you can use to help your client get the project your board of trustees expects.
What's New
Avoiding the Leaky Roof and What To Do When You Get One
June 13, 2007 & July 19, 2007
The problem with roofing systems and construction in general is that we don't know what we don't know. This training will give you the foundation you need to ask the right questions of your design professionals. We will provide you with information concerning your course of action in case of a roof failure. You will also learn how to properly document construction defects or suspected defects.
Our presenters for this sessions are David Hansen, pioneer in the area of preventive construction law and Steve Patterson, PE, CPRC, RRC of Roof Technical Services, licensed professional engineer and certified professional roofing consultant with 30 years experience.
Visit www.edlaw.com for more information and to register online.
Summer School Webinars
June & August 2007
Visit www.edlaw.com for more information and to register online.
Schwartz & Eichelbaum, P.C. and TASPA
jointly present
A Tropical Summer Personnel Law Conference
July 11, 2007
Austin Doubletree Hotel, Austin, TX
Visit www.taspa.org to register.
Seventh Annual
Schwartz & Eichelbaum, P.C. and the Equity Center
Seminar on School Finance and Legal Issues
July 20-21, 2007
Austin Marriott North
Round Rock, TX
Visit www.edlaw.com to register.
