Picking a Consultant

 

Text Box: HOW TO PICK A CONSULTANT COMMON ITEMS THAT SHOULD ALWAYS BE CONSIDERED ERRORS AND OMMISSIONS INSURANCE – Does your consultant have it, if not, why not?? Not only is this insurance an indicator of financial stability it also shows appropriate experience and success in the field exists and is backed by a public insurer which protects your investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Are they too small, too arrogant, to unknowing, or do they have a history of problems and can not be insured? This insurance does nothing except PROTECT YOU, THE CUSTOMER. TRADE GROUP MEMBERSHIP – Do they belong to groups such as the RCI (The Institute of Roofing, Waterproofing, & Building Envelope Professionals, www.rci-online.org) , CSI (Construction Specifications Institute, www.csinet.org), USGBC (US Green Building Council, www.usgbc.org), BETEC, (Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Committee of NIBS , www.nibs.org/betec.html),and SWRI (Sealant Waterproofing and Restoration Institute, www.swrionline.org)? If not, why not? These groups provide appropriate and ongoing training which keeps Consultants current with standards, material applications, and ever changing requirements and best practices. Membership in professional organizations also shows that a Consultant is conversant in and understands the latest industry happenings, customer needs, and regulatory requirements. Do they belong to any organizations such as IREM, BOMA, ICSC, IFMA, NAIOP, CREW, and CoreNet, to understand the current market and its requirements while contribuiting toward making the industry better? DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS AND INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS – Will they be providing in depth, specific product/installation requirements and guidelines? Are all drawings and in depth details being provided for these? These show the precise requirements of each component and exactly how each of these is to be installed/built so that manufacturers warranty requirements are met and exceeded. Manufacturers do not warrant many details regarding the installation/use of products so these installation requirements are your only protection against future problems. This is particularly important where something is considered “difficult” to install. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS – Does their bid include bidding documentation, contract creation, administration, and quality assurance inspections? Having comparable bids is dependent upon your Consultants ability to create a bid document that specifically details what will be done. Otherwise, there is no assurance that what is installed/built will be what you need. Only use a Consultant who is familiar with and will help you use AIA, CSI, and RCI based contracts that provide proper protection for you and control the payment schedule and any necessary changes. The Consultant should be willing to sign off on every application for payment signifying that their specification and other requirements have been met. INSURANCE AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS – Does the Consultant’s bid include the contractor’s needed insurance and safety requirements, and, are they familiar with local, state and OSHA requirements? Simply contractually requiring the contractor to be responsible for safety does not remove the property owner’s and manager’s responsibility to the workers. A good Consultant takes contractual responsibility for generating necessary safety requirement documentation and reviewing every safety plan. Failure to provide this protection leads to lawsuits against property owners and managers, not Consultants.