Anyone who’s taken on even a small property improvement or maintenance project knows just how challenging and frustrating the process of soliciting bids from vendors can be. Estimates can be all over the board, and some may not even include the scope of service you’re looking for.
To ensure you’re getting quality work for a fair price, you’ll have to do some legwork during the bidding process. Here are some factors to consider when determining how many bids to solicit.
Is 3 the Magic Number?
Generally, we recommend soliciting at least three bids for any given HOA project, but that could vary drastically depending on your project’s scope and complexity. Larger and more complex projects may benefit from a competitive bidding process. For smaller or routine maintenance projects, it’s less critical to collect multiple bids. Before pursuing any type of HOA project, be sure to review your governing documents to verify if there are any requirements in terms of soliciting bids.
Consider Past Relationships with Contractors
If your association has established positive relationships with reliable contractors in the past, you may choose to work with them again without necessarily seeking multiple bids. That said, the board must ensure that the selection process remains transparent and fair.
Quality and Reputation Count
If there are reputable and highly recommended contractors known for their quality work in your community, you may not need to call up every contractor that shows up on your Google search. The focus should be on selecting a contractor based on their track record and suitability for the project, so long as they fit your budget.
Contact Us for All Your Association Management Needs
At First Community Management, we offer full-service management for condo associations throughout the greater Chicago area. This includes assistance with meetings, management and financial aspects of your association. If your board has allocated budget resources for an upcoming repair or maintenance project, we’re here to help solicit bids, prepare a bid summary for the board, and supervise contractors as they complete the work. Contact us today to learn more about all the ways we partner with Illinois HOAs.