CE Study Session - Contractor Substitutions

Thursday’s 6pm ET Zoom study session is titled, “Contractor Substitutions” You’ll take the first five minutes of class to answer the question alone, but if you would like to get a head-start on that, here is the assignment.

A four-story unbraced masonry and wood building is undergoing a renovation through stipulated sum with traditional design-bid-build project delivery (invited builder bids). To bring the historic building up to seismic code compliance, new brackets will need to more firmly attach the existing wood joists to the existing exterior masonry walls. The structural engineer, concerned about using unproven products on such an important connection, wrote a close-proprietary specification for a well-known, but expensive, bracket brand and model number. After the Owner-Architect agreement was signed, but before construction began, a less-expensive substitute bracket was discovered that was found to perform comparably. Which of the following statements best describes the status of the substitution request? Select the best 2 answers.

After the contract is signed and construction has begun, if the substitution for the less expensive brackets is approved, the money saved from the substitution goes to the contractor (his bid remains the same but he pays less for the brackets than originally planned when he bid the job, pocketing the difference)

After the contract is signed and construction has begun, the owner will need to be notified and a change order signed

The architect should never approve a substitution once the contract is signed

Even though a winning bidder has been chosen, losing bidders must be given a chance to re-bid when there’s a major substitution that would change the bid

The architect must give written approval for the substitution

The contractor should ask the structural engineer if the substitute is acceptable before ordering the less-expensive brackets

Please don’t post your answer.

The Zoom study session will take place at 6pm ET Thursdays in our Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83922907346

It’s free for everyone, so join us. You’ll increase your odds of passing the exam. . . Plus, it’s fun.