Compare engineering proposals

Compare the work offered before comparing the bottom-line fee.

Use the same comparison columns

Prepare a local worksheet with one column per proposal. Record the service, study level, buildings/elements, sampling, credential, access/testing, deliverables, meetings, schedule, reimbursables and exclusions. Use unknown when a proposal does not say. This website does not collect bids or identifiable property records.

Questions to carry forward

Are all providers pricing the same service and inspection depth?
What access, quantities or drawings have they assumed?
Which fees are fixed, estimated, optional or excluded?

Separate a bundled amount

Ask for allocations across reserve study, SIRS, milestone phases, testing, design and administration. If no allocation exists, compare the bundle as a bundle. Do not attribute its whole value to one component or call several bids on one property independent market transactions.

Questions to carry forward

Which services are included in the total?
Are later phases optional or already authorized?
Can excluded and reimbursable charges be itemized?

Prepare a board decision

Show the comparable scope, unresolved questions and proposed decision. The planning interval is discussion context, not a fairness test, approved quote or recommendation of a provider.

Questions to carry forward

What needs clarification before selection?
Which scope difference explains a fee difference?
What must the board authorize and what remains open?

Resolve travel, occupied access and repeat visits

Before comparing professional fees, ask how site travel, occupied-unit access, common-area access and return visits are handled. Keep owner names, precise addresses, access codes and schedules in the association’s authorized systems; this public tool needs none of them. These are scope questions, not new collected fields or priced add-ons.

Questions to carry forward

Is travel included, separately charged or limited to a stated service area?
Who arranges occupied-unit access and what happens when a location is unavailable?
Are lift/scaffold access, weather delays, repeat visits and reinspection included?
Which inaccessible elements and assumptions will appear in the report?