Two weeks ago, we hosted part one of our popular Beyond and Price and Quality WEBSHOP series for property managers. The topics centered on sourcing and selecting the best contractors. This session was built for property managers and building owners who want to improve their contractor selection procedures to ensure their projects are successful. This time through, we incorporated AI and how to use various AI tools to source, vet, and select contractors. Our audience asked a number of great questions that added significant value and takeaways to the session. Let’s take a look at some of the specific questions and our answers so that you can improve your contractor selection knowledge and processes.
AI Screening for Contractors
Our participants were very curious to learn how AI can be used to source contractors. We suggested a best practice is to ask AI what you should be looking for in a contractor for your project type prior to asking for a specific contractor recommendation. In this way, you build the AI agent’s knowledge and requirements for your specific project. Here’s an example of a prompt you could use when looking for a contractor for a balcony restoration project:
Conducting In-Person Tender Meetings
A number of our attendees asked about in-person tender meetings. Are they of value, given that these meetings can take significant time and can be difficult to coordinate?
The answer is an emphatic yes! In person, tender meetings offer remarkable value in terms of gaining alignment with your contractors for the scope of key project logistics, schedule, and administration. The tender meeting is likely your best chance to review apples-to-apples quotes from your contractors. At this meeting, you will answer questions, review the site, discuss building materials, and perhaps get suggestions from the contractors in terms of scope and building materials
We provide a few examples of prompts that will work
Project outlines
One attendee asked: Do you think providing vendors with a structured but flexible spreadsheet—containing key details—would limit their creativity, or would it help streamline the shortlisting process and improve efficiency?
The answer is most definitely! We recommend providing a basic project outline for every project. This acts as a key prequalification document for you and a resource for contractors to decide whether or not they want to bid. Here’s an example of the key areas required for an effective project outline document:
Testing out Contractors
When selecting a contractor, would it be beneficial to have them quote on a small service project as well? Could this provide insight into their day-to-day service quality, allowing for a better comparison beyond just larger project bids?
Great question, and the answer is yes! Testing contractors on smaller projects is a great way to gauge how they perform. Smaller projects can be as complicated, logistically, as larger projects. Monitoring contractors as they navigate a small project will give you a great feel for how they communicate, problem-solve, and deliver as promised. A perfect method of predicting performance for larger projects when more dollars are at stake
We hope the article provided you value and insight for your contractor selection process. If you have additional questions about contractor selection or would like access to our best practices and tools, you can download our resources by clicking here. If you need help with a Building Renewal or paint project, please reach out to us at [email protected] or 604.420.552
