[Paul]

It's mostly because we do larger jobs and look to schedule material better and more closely watch our costs.

[Lanelle]

I agree with Paul. Seems that bid jobs are larger projects and design/build are often residential jobs with access limitations and clients who tweek the design after the crew is on the ground.
I wonder if people in the business also have different expectations of these jobs. Do you 'forgive' poorer production numbers because of the custom nature of some design/build jobs?
Is it Custom vs Production? I'm wondering if we fall into having preconceived notions about this that may hinder our improving the crews?

[Stonehenge]

I would agree that with a larger sized company, and particularly with larger companies that do mainly bid/build, costs are more closely tracked and there is little wasted motion.

But also, in the bid/build, one possibly time-consuming step is eliminated...design. Design/build is really design/bid/build. And, inherent in the design/build, at least with a residential, is handholding, probing, talking... Moreso than bid/build.

[Bexter]

Very true … Our cost of a sale is around 8% … from what I can find out a bid /build cost is around 4%.
Bid / build can make use of relationships but it is more about understanding specifications and contract requirements. …just by definition the client is looking at many bids and is primarily interested in price.

I know that there are times that we add in a fudge factor just because we know the customer is very talkative and prone to change his/her mind. You can tell up front most times that you will have to hold the customers hand throughout the whole process….Right there we are adding in for inefficiency.

[Paul]

Don't think we don't do the same.....With different La's or Villages we tag on an extra here or there The more hand holding you have to do the more time is spent on the job.

[Tim]

A class I took at the World of Concrete discussed this "Head Ache" factor in detail. The guide lines they drew, were to add between 2-5% of the job cost, plus additional material, to compensate for your efforts in conforming to your client's indecisions and preferences. My company is fortunate in that we have mainly a singular construction focus, and can track our performances on an averages basis monthly. Depending on total square footage of the projects scheduled; combined with an assigned level of difficulty factor, we typically classify our work into three categories: 1. residential and patch. 2. Light commercial or under 80 cubic yards. 3. Large industrial or volume discountable. This all together determines how much square footage we should be achieving per laborer, per day. The last Friday of the month meeting is take out the trash, or take 'em out to dinner day. / Tim