RFP Questions to Ask Your Next Self-Perform Construction Partner

Many factors go into creating and fostering a safe environment—both physical and psychological. There are real cost implications for unsafe jobsites, including loss of productivity, delays, rework and claims-related financial impacts. Ask your potential partners:

• What is their scope-specific incident rate?
• What kind of safety training is provided to their skilled workforce?
• How is safety embedded into their company culture?

A consistently employed, in-house skilled workforce can be available when needed without going through a contract phase. They also have more flexibility with schedule, timing of trades, and can complete various types of work—from large critical path trades to smaller specialty scopes. Ask your potential partners:

• How many in-house skilled workers are employed today?
• Do they employ enough skilled workers right now to support your project, without hiring?
• What is the average tenure of their craftworkers?
• What is the retention rate of tradespeople from project to project?
• What scopes can they self-perform?
• How much can they self-perform on your project?
• What recent experience do they have self-performing scopes that are needed on your project?

Changes that happen after a building is designed and contracted out can add significant cost. A self-performing GC brings expertise to the table early and can find value-add enhancements to help optimize your budget, often without outsourcing to other specialty trades. Ask your potential partners:

• At what stage of the project do they engage self-perform subject matter experts?
• How is self-perform expertise leveraged during preconstruction?
• What direct relationships do they have with suppliers and vendors?
• How do they leverage previous volumes of purchases, particularly for equipment and materials needed for self-performed scopes?

A GC that self-performs gets involved earlier to collaborate with the design team, identify conflicts between design and existing field conditions, and make recommendations that might otherwise only be identified during building. This can translate to a higher quality process and build. Ask your potential partners:

• How do they include self-perform teams in their constructability reviews?
• How do they manage and measure productivity for self-perform scopes?
• How do they use self-perform capabilities to track and resolve real-time issues in the field?
• How have they demonstrated creative problem solving and innovation throughout the building process?

Employing a workforce that clearly understands your overall project goals is critical. When the workforce is embedded within the organization of a larger GC, information is easier to manage, and communication is more seamless. Workers are also often more invested in the success of your project, especially when you and their employer share the same goals. Ask your potential partners:

• What tools do they use for collaboration?
• How do they handle communication related to project goals, expectations and changes?
• What is their experience with design-build, design-assist, integrated project delivery, and other delivery methods that foster collaboration and transparency?