Prequalification

Regional councillor wants new screening policy for contractors

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“A policy for screening contractors needs more teeth, according to a regional councillor who says it could be costing taxpayers cash.

Region of Waterloo Coun. Sean Strickland wants changes to the region’s screening policy for contractors to keep projects on budget and on schedule.

“It’s costing us $2 million, it’s late,” Strickland said. “We spend a lot of money on construction, we spend a lot of money on capital projects, and we need to make sure we’re getting the best value.”

Delays on the $108-million upgrade will cost about $2 million extra, most of which won’t be covered by the treatment plant project’s existing budget.

For the Waterloo waste water treatment plant, the general contractor was screened, but the subcontractors were not.”

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Fountains at Farah in East El Paso will feature 60-80 tenants

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“After almost a decade of starts and stops with two different developers, two different owners, and wrangling over city tax incentives, the 55-acre site once housing the city’s largest garment factory has finally begun its transformation into a major retail center.

The $70 million, 600,000-square-foot The Fountains at Farah is scheduled to open by November 2013 at the site bordered by Hawkins Boulevard and Interstate 10. The 1.2-million-square-foot, 145-store Cielo Vista Mall is across the street.

Ray Catlin, executive vice president of EMJ Corp., a Tennessee builder specializing in retail centers that is the general contractor for The Fountains at Farah, said this is one of probably three or four major retail centers under construction in the United States. The recession’s lingering effects have held back projects, he said.

“Not a lot of these are going up. I’d say this will be one of the premier ones. It will be pretty nice” because of the architecture and amenities, Catlin said.

Catlin said EMJ wants to get as many local subcontractors involved in building The Fountains as it can. It is now getting subcontractors’ bids for portions of the project, he said. The developers’ agreement with the city requires at least 25 percent of the companies and/or labor involved in the project to be from El Paso.

Catlin estimated more than 500 construction workers will be involved in the project.”

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Assurance Screening has contracted with EMJ Corporation to assist with improving efficiencies with subcontractor prequalification on the The Fountains at Farah in El Paso, TX. Assurance will assist with the collection and verification of requested documents, as well as, perform comprehensive business screening checks on all companies submitting bids for the project.

Companies wishing to bid on The Fountains at Farah in El Paso can email enroll@proqualverified.com for more details and to begin the prequalification process for EMJ Corporation.

Subcontract Bonds and Default Insurance: A Benefit to the Project Owner

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“How well do your general contractors’ subcontractors measure up? The answer to this question, and a general contractor’s ability to prequalify its subcontractors and manage the consequences of their default, could make the difference between success and failure of an entire project.

When a general contractor enters into a construction contract with an owner, it assumes the risk of timely and complete performance of all of the work. It will often provide the owner with a bond to assure its own performance. In many cases those bonds are required by statute. But, how does that general contractor gain the same assurances from the tradesman who will perform a substantial portion of the work? This is of critical importance when one considers that failure by subcontractors and general contractors alike is not a fortuitous event, like a random bolt of lightning, but something foreseeable and avoidable in these tough economic times.

Most general contractors have developed practices to screen out unqualified subcontractors, monitor subcontractor performance, and protect against subcontractor failure.

In competitive economic environments, the success or failure of a project will depend on the increased vigilance of the general contractor to make wise decisions on which subcontractors it employs. ”

Assurance Screening can assist general contractors in the prequalification process and provide them with necessary data and checks to ensure they are protecting themselves and the project owners. Let Assurance Screening help your company select only qualified subcontractors and Be Sure.

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