Background
A commercial mechanical contractor engaged Advastar as equipment lead times and price escalation began to affect bid accuracy. The firm bid a mix of negotiated and competitively tendered work, and had absorbed several material losses on projects where equipment prices had moved between bid and purchase.
The Challenge
Estimating had effectively become guesswork on long-duration projects. The firm’s estimators were competent on labor and installation but had no method for pricing escalation exposure, and leadership was reluctant to add contingency that would make bids uncompetitive. Prefabrication was a second gap: the firm had invested in shop capability without a project manager who understood how to plan work for modular assembly, so the shop was underused. Systems turnover documentation had also become a source of friction with owners at closeout.
The Solution
Advastar recruited an estimator who had managed equipment procurement and escalation exposure at a previous employer, prioritizing candidates who could describe a method rather than express a view. Screening questions focused on how they had handled long-lead equipment pricing and what they had done when a supplier price moved after award. Separately we placed a project manager with genuine prefabrication and modular assembly experience, assessed on work personally planned for shop fabrication. A commissioning coordinator was added to tighten systems turnover documentation, which the firm had identified as a problem but had not connected to the same engagement.
The Outcome
Escalation is now priced through a documented method that has been adopted across the estimating team. Shop utilization has risen as work is planned for prefabrication from the bid stage rather than retrofitted to it. Closeout documentation disputes with owners have stopped, which the firm had regarded as an unavoidable cost of doing business.