Selecting the right civil contracting provider for your project can be an incredibly difficult choice.
The industry is incredibly competitive and sometimes it’s hard to know what to look out for when assessing your options.
With over 15 years of experience operating within the industry, we thought it might be useful to cover off some of the key attributes you should be looking out for when selecting your contractor!
1. Look at the scale and size of your project – what sort of budget has been set aside? Depending on these factors, you should be able to quickly refine your list of potential service providers based on their project delivery history. Ask them to send you case studies and references – make sure you consider their project delivery history. You’ll quickly find out if they’re real deal or not!
2. What sort of systems and processes do they have in place? Ask them about what sort of processes and systems they have to deliver projects on time and to expectation. Operators without well-documented systems and processes usually struggle to be transparent and ultimately, you’ll lose oversight of your project.
3. Are they aligned to peak bodies and associations? Are they on preferred supplier panels? Understanding what industry affiliations and associations they are members of is important. Contractors without ties to the industry usually are not across best practice approaches to project delivery and may not be across legislative changes. If they are on preferred supplier panels, like a local council, you’ll quickly know if they are reputable!
4. Communication is key! Get a feel for how they operate. How do they interact with you? Are they open and honest or are they not? Getting a feel for how they treat you during the scoping and tendering process is important. Selecting a provider that has values and principles aligned to your own can mean project success or failure!
These are just a few considerations to take into account when thinking about selecting a civil contractor for your project. Being diligent in your selection process is critical and doing so may save you time and money on your project.