Related Links: Read the Comments on Don Short's The Competitive Advantage Nobody Needs Blog Series I recently overheard a contractor bragging about how he could gain a cost advantage over his competition. It caught my attention, so I listened.It seems that in his bidding practices, the contractor priced materials and equipment that were not approved in the specifications. To avoid giving away the bidding advantage to his competitors, the contractor decided not to request these items to be approved in the bidding period. After he was designated the low bidder, the contractor planned to press for the materials to be

Electric cars and trucks are the signature of the green movement, but they may also become a symbol of economic recovery for the construction industry. Even if the recently reported disappointments with electric cars are true, such as maximum distances between recharges of only 100 miles and top driving speeds of only 60 to 70 mph, imagine theneed for the infrastructure to support our electric cars and the stimulating effects of creating it. SHORT Imagine just one part of our interstate highway system: Interstate 80, from New York to San Francisco (via Omaha, my hometown), is about 2,900 miles. A

Just the other week I heard of two bid openings in which qualified bidders lost the opportunity to pick up work and in both cases unqualified bidders got the job. How did it happen? The low bidders “bombed” their respective jobs, meaning, they bid the work substantially lower than the other competitors for the project. SHORT The low bid on one project was 25% to 30% below the second and third low bids. The rest of the bids were slightly higher than these two. You may say, “So what? The low- bidder apparently thinks it can do the job cheaper