Low Bidders: A Cancer on Commerce
Although many people steadfastly defend their efforts at becoming a project’s low bidder by saying, “There’s just no other way to bring in the business,” the sad fact is that this practice is a cancer — one that degrades the product, leaves the clients unhappy and diminishes the overall reputation of the watershaping industry.
Frequently, when a project comes up and the architect or general contractor seeks a watershaper to install a pool or fountain, contact is made with production-oriented builders who, free of charge, will provide quotes based upon a flat square-footage or perimeter-footage calculation. The builder usually attaches a flat plan or architectural rendering (translation: a pretty picture) and offers a bid. Almost invariably, all of this is directed toward installation of a watershape that barely meets minimum standards for quality.
So now architects and custom homebuilders have the volume builder’s figures in hand when preparing a construction budget for the client. No structural engineering is part of the picture; no hydraulic calculations or plumbing schematics have been devised; no equipment has been specified; and finish materials and installation practices are undefined. In short, none of the fine details have been worked out, nor has any scope of work been stated.
In other words, with all of these great, gaping holes, arbitrary and false figures come to be part of the construction budget and are quoted to the property owners, who actually think for some reason that the project can be built at the indicated price. Never mind that they were envisioning imported, hand-cut mosaic murals inside their swimming pool along with Bellagio-style interactive water displays.
Later on, of course, everyone recognizes that the basic numbers stink. This happens as soon as the geotechnical reports and structural engineering recommendations arrive and finish materials start being selected.
Guess what? The low bidder wins again!
The architect or general contractor will see the handwriting on the wall and will have a decision to make: sacrifice on quality when it comes to the watershape, or surrender a significant portion of a dwindling profit margin to give the clients as much of what they want as possible. Of course, the quality of the project is what suffers in most cases, because the project will be awarded to the lowest bidder.
All of this is why it’s best to get a skillful watershape designer involved early on in a project — ideally during the design phase for the home itself. These professionals know which questions to ask and how to work within a predefined budget. In other words, they operate on the same exact assumptions upon which the architect works.
It all boils down to aligning reality with clients’ expectations — the most important factor in keeping projects on budget. As it now happens all-too-frequently, however, invalid or entirely fictitious construction budgets pervert the process and ultimately undermine clients’ faith in the architect or general contractor.
Good players get tarred in this process: It makes quality watershapers who come in with valid, fully considered figures look like gold diggers who want to do nothing other than pad their bids.
A final note: If it is apparent that the architect and/or general contractor have swallowed the bait offered by low-bid predators, it might be worthwhile for the watershape designer to propose removing pool construction from the architect’s or general contractor’s scope of work.
This has the effect of freeing up the incremental profit margin that they would charge on top of pool construction costs, and allows these funds to be folded back into making the pool come closer to the clients’ desires. It may not be enough to allow the homeowners to see their vision become reality, but it certainly can help the cause.
Paolo Benedetti, founder of Aquatic Technology Pool & Spa in Morgan Hill, Calif., is an internationally renowned pool designer and builder, as well as a longtime contributor to WaterShapes magazine.