Before award
Six Questions for a Healthcare Project
Healthcare bids are hard to compare because the differences are in what was assumed, not in the numbers.
Tell us the space, the specialty, and whether the facility will be licensed. Those three answers decide almost everything else.
The six
Ask all six of every bidder, including us.
- What did you assume about licensure and plan review, and who told you?
- Show me a containment barrier detail, including above the ceiling.
- Who verifies your medical gas, and did they install it?
- How will you handle life safety impairments in an occupied area?
- What is your assumption on review duration, and where did it come from?
- How did you build the program around the clinic schedule?
The two answers that should end the conversation
"We will certify the medical gas ourselves." Verification is independent for a reason, and a contractor who does not know that should not be installing it.
"We will keep the dust down." That is not containment. Ask for the detail, the pressure monitoring and the log, and if none of those exist the barrier is decoration.
Comparing bids
Before comparing numbers, confirm every bidder assumed the same regulatory category, the same review duration and the same working hours. They very often did not, and the lowest bid is frequently the one that assumed the easiest version of the project.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why do healthcare bids vary so much?
- Usually different assumptions on licensure, review duration and working hours rather than different trade pricing.
- Is self-certified medical gas acceptable?
- No. Verification is independent by design.
- What proves containment is real?
- A detail, continuous pressure monitoring and a log. Without those it is decoration.
- Should we normalize bids before comparing?
- Yes, on regulatory category, review duration and working hours.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.