RESERVE & REPLACEMENT PLANS - BID VERIFICATION TOOL



​Being an informed buyer will no doubt help to minimize the costs, time and stress involved with repair and replacement projects. A comprehensive reserve or replacement study will provide accurate measurements and costs related to these components.

verify bids

Site Inspection

During a site inspection a reserve professional will complete a comprehensive visual inspection of the components and thoroughly quantify components of the community or organization. This inspection can take hours or days depending on the size of the project and is the base for which the remainder of the study is developed.

 

Reserve / Replacement Study

The final study will have this comprehensive component list included, a 30 to 50 year timeline of expenses related to these components, repair & maintenance suggestions and current & future cost projections of all these components.

 

The completed study is a very valuable tool to adequately educate, inform and prepare a reader for the expenditures related to the components in the study.

 

Bid Verification

When utilized correctly a reader of the reserve study can utilize the results and suggestions to make very informed decisions with relation to cost of the components and vendor selection as they arise. We have seen many clients utilize their reserve studies to help negotiate more accurate bids and lower prices from vendors. With the accurate measurements in the reserve study and average cost figures it is much easier to spot bids that are out of line. Inaccurate bids can often be due to inaccurate measurements or rounding of measurements which can cost an organization a significant amount of money specifically for large projects where measurements are not known to the Client and reliance on vendor assumptions and measurements can sometimes result in much higher cost than what could be negotiated as a more informed Buyer.

 

Reserve Professionals Are Independent

A reserve or replacement study is independent and unbiased with respects to cost and useful life of components. The goal is to provide the client accurate and reliable information to make budgeting decisions. What vendor you utilize at a future date is of no consequence to a reserve professional.  It has been our experience that outside of budgeting purposes a reserve our replacement study is an extremely valuable tool that can be utilized for bid varication by parties that are often times not familiar with construction techniques and costs.  

 

Written by Joel L Tax - Professional Reserve Analyst - 02/12/2016