You’ve spent the time and resources to develop a project from design through requesting offers. Don’t squander those efforts by shorting yourself during the proposal review process. Contractors have taken the time to carefully read your request for offers (RFO) and to put together a package that details how they are the best fit for your project.

Good communication is often a topic of discussion when it comes to safety and/or quality, as poor or insufficient communication can lead to serious problems. When performing a root cause analysis for a safety incident or non-conformance item discovered during a quality inspection, it’s not unusual to discover poor communication as a root cause or contributing factor.

A contractor’s track record of performance on a project in the area of quality is a huge factor in their success. Not only in earning repeat business, but also in attracting new customers. It’s inevitable that a contractor will experience at least some failure in the form of non-conformance items (services or constructed/installed items that do not meet specified requirements). What separates the successful contractor from the rest is their ability to learn from these mistakes as well as calculate the cost of these failures or mistakes.

You just got off the phone with your project superintendent. It wasn’t a good call. He phoned to tell you that a dump truck just tore out an overhead distribution line while backing up with the dump bed raised. The spotter who was assisting the dump truck driver hadn't noticed the overhead hazard.

Unfortunately, a few of the other workers on the site did see the hazard but didn’t say anything. They assumed the operator of the dump truck or the spotter would catch it so they didn’t speak up. Now you have to add these additional costs and delays to your project. What could you have done differently to help prevent this incident? How about instituting a Stop Work Authority policy?