Most boards get three bids because the documents say to get three bids. Then they pick the lowest one, because nobody on the board is a contractor and the numbers are the only thing that looks comparable. Six months later the change orders arrive. This post is the checklist I use as a CAM (CAM34850, firm CAB3255) when I put bids in front of a board, informed by what I know as a general contractor (CGC1528750) about how those bids get written.
Before you read the price
- 📜 Verify the license yourself. Look the number up on the Florida DBPR site. Check that the license category matches the work — a general contractor cannot pull a roofing permit in Florida; a handyman cannot do either. Check that the name on the license is the name on the bid.
- 🛡️ Get the certificate of insurance sent directly from the agent, with the association named as certificate holder. General liability and workers' comp, both. A contractor who "has a guy" without comp puts the injury on your association.
- 📋 Confirm the bid is against a written scope. If three contractors each wrote their own scope, you have three different jobs, not three bids. The manager should have issued one scope; if not, the bids cannot be compared until someone reconciles them.
Now read the price — line by line
Allowances. Any line marked "allowance" is a placeholder, not a price. A $5,000 allowance for "concrete repair as needed" on a balcony project is where the real number lives. Ask each bidder what quantity their allowance assumes and what the unit price is beyond it. The low bid often has the smallest allowances.
Exclusions. Read them before the inclusions. Permits, engineering, dumpsters, lift rental, painting after repair, landscaping restoration, and "unforeseen conditions" are the usual suspects. A bid that excludes the permit fee and the engineer's letter is not lower — it just moved those costs to your side of the ledger.
Payment schedule. A deposit is normal; a deposit over a third of the job on a contractor you have not used is not. Progress payments should be tied to inspections or defined milestones, and there should be a retainage held until final inspection and lien releases. If the payment schedule is front-loaded, ask why.
Duration and sequencing. On an occupied building, how long residents lose their balconies, parking, or elevator matters as much as the number. Ask for a schedule and a plan for notices.
Warranty. Labor warranty in writing, separate from the manufacturer's material warranty, with a term and a named party. "Standard warranty" is not a warranty.
The questions that expose a lowball
- "Which permit are you pulling, and is its cost in this number?"
- "What happens to the price if the engineer finds more deterioration than the scope assumed?"
- "Who is the superintendent on site every day, and how many other jobs is he running?"
- "Give me three associations you finished in the last two years, and one where something went wrong."
The contractor who answers those cleanly is usually not the cheapest. He is usually the one whose final invoice matches his bid.
A note on milestone and SIRS work
Condo boards facing milestone inspection repairs or structural reserve work are getting bids under time pressure, with engineers' reports that contractors read differently. That is exactly when a board benefits from a manager who can read the report, write one scope, and hold every bid to it. That is the service, and it is the reason a licensed contractor's eye on the management side pays for itself.