Questionnaire Survey on Bidding in Construction

Abstract

Bid decisions are heuristic in nature as they are made on the basis of experience, judgment, and perception. In an attempt to uncover the underlying factors that characterize the bidding decision‐making process, a questionnaire survey was conducted among general contractors. This paper contains results based on the response obtained from 400 of the top general contractors in the United States. Characteristics of the group, factors affecting bid/no‐bid and percent‐markup decisions, and policies and practices of the contractors are reported. The study reveals that bidding decisions are greatly influenced by subjectively evaluated criteria, such as type of job, location, size of job, need for work, Owner, subcontractors, degree of hazard, and degree of difficulty. Competition and profitability, although significant, are not the topranked factors.