Procurement Support

Institutional owners and property managers running capital roof projects through formal procurement processes need technical support that is independent of the contractors bidding the work. We provide that support - specification writing, contractor prequalification, bid package development, and award documentation - billed to the owner, not the winning contractor.

Atlanta's commercial real estate market has a concentration of institutional ownership that is unusually deep for a Southeast market. Midtown and Buckhead Class A office towers are frequently owned by REITs, pension funds, and sovereign wealth vehicles managed by major property management firms. Perimeter Center and Sandy Springs corporate campuses are often owned by private equity real estate funds with formal capital approval requirements. These ownership structures impose procurement processes on capital projects - including roof replacements - that are more demanding than what a typical owner-operator runs.

Procurement support is the service we provide to owners and property managers who need technical eise on their side of the procurement process. A specification written by the contractor who also wants to win the project is not a neutral document. A contractor evaluation conducted without independent technical criteria produces a result that is difficult to defend. We write specifications, develop prequalification criteria, review contractor qualifications, evaluate bid responses, and produce the documentation package the owner needs to take a capital award through a formal approval process.

This is distinct from bid coordination - which is a full-service bid management engagement - in that procurement support can be scoped to specific stages. An owner who already has a procurement process may need only specification writing and bid review. An owner managing a first capital roof project may need the full procurement cycle. We structure the engagement to what the owner actually needs, not to a fixed service package.

A technical specification for a commercial roof replacement covers the scope of work, the material specification, the installation method and attachment requirements, the code compliance requirements (IBC 2021, IECC 2021, Georgia Building Code), the manufacturer warranty path, the closeout documentation requirements, and the project schedule requirements. Most roof replacements in the Atlanta market are scoped from a one-page summary prepared by the contractor who wants to win the bid - this document cannot support a formal procurement process because it does not provide sufficient detail for independent bid comparison.

We write specifications to CSI MasterFormat Division 07 format for owners whose procurement process requires it, or in a plain-language format for owners whose approval process is less formal. Either format covers the same technical substance: the specification is detailed enough that a qualified contractor has no grounds to claim ambiguity when asking for a change order. Atlanta's commercial construction market is mature enough that experienced contractors understand specifications at this level - and the contractors who push back on detailed specs are usually the ones planning to make the project on change orders.

Georgia-specific code compliance requirements in the specification: IECC 2021 R-25 minimum insulation for low-slope commercial in Climate Zone 3 (all of Georgia), IBC 2021 wind-uplift design for the building's exposure category (Exposure B for most Atlanta suburban buildings; Exposure C for taller structures), and local permit requirements for the jurisdiction where the building sits - City of Atlanta, City of Sandy Springs, Cobb County, DeKalb County, Gwinnett County.