2021 Commercial Competition

2021 Associated Schools of Construction – Great Lakes Region III Commercial Estimating Competition Welcome!

Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2021 Associated Schools of Construction Commercial Estimating Competition. Best of luck to you and your team! Enclosed you will find a breakdown of the competition rules and submission requirements. You will be provided with electronic copies of the proposal form as well as electronic copies of the drawings and specifications at the beginning of the competition. Two half size sets of documents (excluding Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical) and one set of specifications (also excluding Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical) will also be provided to each team.

The teams will be assigned their company name. This is meant to allow the teams to think more about the actual proposal and less about creating documents that are not necessary. In other words, we would rather you spend time on the project then on business cards.

Refer to the Commercial Division Problem and Rules for requirements of what is to be addressed in your written proposal and your oral presentation.

Should you have questions or concerns refer to the attached Competition Rules for advice on how to answer your query.

Good Luck,

Suzy Jillson Chief Estimator The Walsh Group sjillson@walshgroup.com www.walshgroup.com Phone: 708.870.8509

The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

2021 Associated Schools of Construction – Great Lakes Region III Commercial Estimating Competition Commercial Building Division Problem This year’s problem will be a project a retail project.

Each team will be judged on a scale of 10 points for team dynamics during estimate preparation, 60 points for the written proposal, and 30 points for the oral presentation. Teams can also receive additional points for value added in their proposal books or oral presentations (i.e. ethics, creativity, etc.). Points for value added will be awarded at the discretion of the evaluating team, which will consist of the judges.

Scoring criteria will be assigned to each main category and to subcategories to establish a consistent guide for the panel of judges.

The successful team will have demonstrated full knowledge of the plans and specifications, problem solving, methods of construction, presentation and communication skills. The problem will involve application of scheduling techniques, estimating, risk management, budgeting, evaluation of client criteria, and coordination.

Teams will be judged on the following criteria and are advised to prepare for the competition by utilizing the following skills: 1. Team Dynamics (10pts) – During the preparation of the written proposals the judges will be visiting the teams to observe how they are working together as a team and their ingenuity, teams will also be judged on how their workspaces are organized.

2. Written Proposal (60pts) Judges will be reviewing the following items in the proposal: Organization and appearance; completeness, address owner concerns, special provisions, etc.; submission of proper proposal package, spelling and grammar, etc.; were the issues, features, benefits, and proofs demonstrated and addressed?; does the proposal demonstrate a full understanding of what is required by the owner?; is the proposal original and specific to the project?; Does the proposal address your ability to meet the customer’s needs and requirements?; How did you differentiate yourself from the competition?; Have the RFP instructions been followed and is there complete compliance with the proposal request?

Boilerplate material is not acceptable. Judges will be looking for this and will mark down any proposal containing “boilerplate” material (this includes plagiarism).

Written Proposal shall include the following sections a. Proposal Cover Letter (2) –Introduce your Corporation and provide a brief outline of the proposal submitted. Cover letter shall include: Date of Proposal, Guaranteed Maximum Price from your Proposal, acknowledgement of date of drawings the Proposal is based on, acknowledgment of addenda, signature of corporate officers. b. Proposal Breakdown (10) –Include the Excel Spreadsheet Proposal breakdown detailing your Proposal. Some allowances will be provided for work that will be assigned to you as The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

the general contractor. Each team is responsible for ensuring that all formulas within Excel spreadsheets are correct. i. Does your Proposal Summary add up correctly? ii. Evaluation of Insurance, Contingency, and Contractor’s Fee Requirements c. Organizational Chart and Job Descriptions (5) –Include an Organizational Chart and separate Position Description for each member of your project team. All members will be required to participate in the Oral Presentation. d. Project Schedule (10) –Provide a project schedule in the format of your choice. Please include a narrative to explain your logic and identify any concerns you see fit.

NOTE: Schedules should be reproduced on 8 ½ x 11, 8 ½ x 14, or 11 x 17, as PLOTTERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED. Schedule should be legible in the size provided. e. Project Specific Safety Plan (5) –Include a project specific safety plan befitting with your corporate standards and practices f. Quality Assurance Plan (3) – Include your project specific quality assurance plan.

Include any information relative to your corporate practices including all roles that your project team will play in delivering the utmost in quality construction. g. Site Logistics (5) – Submit a site logistics plan. Please include a narrative and visual aids relative to your particular construction means and methods. h. Estimates of work (20) - Provide an estimate for the scope of work as requested on the project proposal form. Please only include pricing as requested per plan, spec and proposal form. Please include all take offs. Points will be awarded for work shown. Team should include all work that is listed on the specific estimate breakdown sheets, these worksheets must be included as part of your submission documents. Teams are responsible for ensuring that all formulas within the Excel sheets are correct.

Additional Worksheet(s) have been provided to help substantiate some of the pricing included in the proposal. Scopes of work that require detail estimates include: i. Concrete (3) ii. Rough Carpentry (3) iii. Masonry (3) iv. The Following Trades teams will be charged with writing the scope of work for the trade and analyzing quotes from subcontractors. Teams will need to determine if the subcontractors are including the correct quantity for their trades and make adjustments accordingly 1. Precast (2) 2. Doors/Frames/Hardware (2) 3. Flooring (2) v. General Conditions/General Requirements (5pts) The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

3. Oral Presentation (30pts) – oral presentations are an important part of getting new work in the construction industry. This is an opportunity for the teams to present their proposal to the judges. Judges will score the teams on the following criteria a. Appearance – professionalism, voice projection, verbal skills, etc. b. Project overview including problem solutions, schedule, etc. c. Use of text, graphics, charts, visual aids, overall participation by team members d. Logic, order, clarity, technical accuracy, organization etc. e. Response to questions concerning written proposal, knowledge of project by all members. f.

Is the team cohesiveness and organization as displayed during judges room visits, followed through into the oral presentation.

Rules 1. Teams may have a MAXIMUM of six students. Students must be currently enrolled on a fulltime basis in the Construction Curriculum. Alternates are not allowed.

2. The competition teams will be presented the Problem on October 21 , 2021 at the opening meeting at 7:00 a.m. During the presentation of the problem from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., everyone is welcome to attend (coaches, friends, spouses, students other than team members, AGC members, ASC members, etc.) The teams will start the problem at 8:00 a.m.

October 21 and end at 11:00 p.m. on the same day. Once the problem has been distributed, each team will be on the honor system regarding outside help. No one other than the team members are allowed in the designated hotel room during preparation of the proposal response and oral presentation (with the exception of the Judges). This includes faculty, coaches, friends, spouses, etc. Teams must work from one hotel room – multiple rooms are not permitted.

3. The judges will be making several trips to the individual team rooms throughout the competition. Teams are required to work in their rooms with the room door kept unlocked at all times in order that the judges may enter.

4. Student team members will not be permitted to join their team after the problem is distributed during the morning session on October 21, 2021.

5. Each team will be assigned a company name. Company names will be given to the teams at the presentation of the problem.

6. Additional guidelines for specific RFP requirements will be handed out at the opening conference.

7. The original proposal package shall be in color and all written proposal documents, working papers and support data (original plus one electronic) must be submitted for review by the judges October 21, 2021 by 11:00 p.m. sharp. For scoring purposes, any proposals (or portions thereof) turned in after the deadline will have points deducted from the written proposal score.

8. All proposal books should be submitted in a three-ring binder (1 ½” or 2”). Teams will be required to submit one original hard copy of their written proposal and one electronic copy on a jump drive. Electronic files should be provided as PDF documents. The use of outside or “offcampus” commercial copying businesses is not permitted during preparation of the proposal response. All equipment required for the production of your proposal must be brought to the The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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team’s designated hotel room prior to the start of the competition at 8:00 a.m. on October 21, 2021.

Each team will be allowed to use/bring whatever equipment they feel necessary to solve the problem. There can be no outside assistance or feedback from any group, individual, association, contractor, or any other outside entity during the competition period. Teams are responsible for making sure that all of their equipment functions; judges will not be providing technical support.

Teams are allowed to bring any reference books they deem necessary for the preparation of their proposal as long as the material is in the form of hard copies. Online RSMeans Cost Data will be allowed.

Teams are responsible to ensure that their software works at the competition site, prior to the start of the competition. WiFi service has been known to not be reliable during the competition, due to the amount of people using it.

Preparation for Oral Presentations will begin at 7:30 a.m. October 22, 2021. All teams will submit oral presentation materials to the judges by 11:00 a.m. sharp on October 22, 2021.

This includes computer visual aids, etc. Only the materials given to the judges at this time will be allowed at the oral presentations. Failure to turn materials in prior to the deadline will result in points being deducted from the score for the oral presentation.

During the oral presentation, a computer and projector will be provided for your use.

Videotapes are not permitted.

Oral presentations will begin at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2021. Teams will be allowed 2 minutes for setup, 17 minutes for their presentation followed by a 10-minute question and answer session and 1 minute for breakdown. Each member of the team must speak a minimum of 2 minutes and must participate in the question/answer section. It is mandatory that the following roles be assigned and in attendance for the oral presentation: Company Officer, Project Manager, Preconstruction Manager/Chief Estimator, and Superintendent. The remaining positions should be titled at the discretion of each team.

Team presentations must adhere to the schedule. A timer bell or voice signal will indicate the end of the initial presentation and the beginning of the question and answer period.

Oral presentations are scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2021. An example of the presentation time slots follows: Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Debrief (subject to change depending on number of teams)

Presentation Time 12:00 p.m.

12:35 p.m.

1:15 p.m.

1:50 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

3:05 p.m.

3:45 p.m.

4:20 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

5:40 p.m.

6:15 p.m.

6:50 p.m.

8:00 p.m.

The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

17. All teams must be available at all times during the duration of oral presentations. Due to the length of the presentation times you will be allowed to leave your room but must not have contact with your sponsor/coach. If the presentations get ahead of schedule, a new schedule will be posted outside of the presentation room, so please check it periodically. A judge may come to your room during the preparation time to continue to evaluate your team dynamics.

18. No team member may be present in the presentation room or in the vicinity of the presentation room except for his or her own school’s presentation. The team coach, faculty, friends, and relatives are allowed to watch an individual team’s presentation. Coaches are not to have contact with their team until their oral presentation is complete. Teams and coaches will not be allowed to watch another school’s presentation. Again, coaches may not communicate with their school’s team in any way or view presentations of another school.

Once you have finished your presentation, you are free until the debrief session. Videotaping of your individual team’s oral presentation is permitted. Please ensure that any videotaping or photography is done in a way that does not distract the team members during their presentation.

19. Only one coach is permitted for each team. The coach’s job is to encourage and support in any way deemed appropriate. However, once the competition begins, the coach’s role is to ensure that rules are followed. No direct input is allowed after 8:00 a.m. October 21, 2021.

20. In case of emergency or if a coach must see their team during the competition they must be accompanied by a judge. (No exceptions) 21. Coaches will be asked to provide the judging team with their contact numbers so they can be reached when necessary. It is recommended that all coaches carry a cell phone in order that they can be contacted immediately in case of emergency since there will be other activities happening concurrently outside of the hotel.

22. A short group debriefing will be held after the conclusion of the oral presentations on or around 8:00 p.m., October 22, 2021 (this time is subject to change, depending on number of teams in the competition). This will be done by the judges and take place in the presentation room.

Teams have the option to attend.

23. The winning team will be announced at the Awards Breakfast, Saturday morning.

24. Any questions or problems should be reported to the Competition Coordinator or Suzy Jillson at sjillson@walshgroup.com 708.870.8509 25. This is the last rule, and this mandatory, HAVE FUN! NOTE: Ethics and moral standards are highly regarded in the construction industry. You are on the honor system during the competition. Teams are also asked not to give gifts of any kind to the judges (other than a cup or two of coffee on competition day). Please do not talk with other teams, friends, coaches, or anyone regarding the problem. All team members should stay in the team room during the competition. Exceptions are meals, to make copies, turn in RFI’s, attend pre-proposal meeting and receive addenda. Do not bring more team members than required. If violations are found to exist, your team will be dismissed from the competition.

Let us re-emphasize that coaches are not to have any contact with the team after the competition begins at 8:00 a.m. on October 21, 2021 These rules will be strictly enforced so please read them carefully.

The Walsh Group 929 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60607 (312) 563-5400

The Walsh Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer