Research Article
Jul 1973
Bidding Is Against Client Interest
Publication: Engineering Issues: Journal of Professional Activities
Volume 99, Issue 3
Abstract
Selecting an engineer or an architect on the basis of the lowest price can easily result in construction that is initially more costly, and more expensive to maintain, since it tends to discourage imaginative planning and design as well as alternate solutions. Some numbers quickly show the pennywise and pound foolish economics of competitive bidding from the owner's point of view. Assuming a savings of even as much as 25% of the design fee (normally between 5 and 10% of project cost), this saving in total project cost of 1-1/4 to 2-1/2% can be lost many times over through inadequate or incomplete planning and design. The professional engineer or architect must be free and eager, within the limitations of a soundly established, mutually accepted budget, to find the most efficient design for the client.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Engineering Issues: Journal of Professional Activities
Volume 99 • Issue 3 • July 1973
Pages: 389 - 392
Copyright
© 1973 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published in print: Jul 1973
Published online: Feb 10, 2021
Permissions
Request permissions for this article.
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Affiliations
John T. Merrifield, F.ASCE
Vice Pres. and Chf. Engr., Moffatt, Nichol & Bonney, Inc., Portland, Ore.
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
View Options
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Get Access
Access content
Please select your options to get access
Log in/Register
Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members:
Please log in to see member pricing
Purchase
Save for later Item saved, go to cart Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.