Hard Bid

A contractor receives a set of plans and provides an estimate for those plans. If errors occur as a result of another party (architect, engineer, designer, etc.), change orders are put into place. A majority of clients usually contract with the lowest bidder. However, a contractor who bids low may underestimate the cost involved in producing a well-built quality project. Low bid somtimes requires that a client is surprisd by costs later on in the project. Fine Construction prefers to be honest about all the costs up-front and let the client know what it will cost to do a quality job.

Time and material quote with a “Not To Exceed” amount

An estimate is produced and the contractor anticipates that costs for labor and material will not exceed a maximum amount.

Cost plus a fixed fee

A negotiated fee, plus the cost of the project, is established between parties.

Negotiated work

A ROM (Rough Order of Magnitude) is compiled and the parties agree to commence work. The proposed work will be in the ROM.

It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little.
When you pay to much, you lose a little money...that is all.
When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.
--John Ruskin 1819-1900