What to Put in a Modular Building RFP

A good modular building RFP tells bidders ten things: the use and a reference layout, the site and its access, the foundation, the services, the building standard, who does what on site, the occupancy date, the warranty, the price lines to separate, and the documents you will evaluate. Leave any of them out and the bids come back priced on different assumptions, which makes them impossible to compare.

This checklist is written from the supplier's side of the table. Herauf's supplier details, capability statement and references are on the procurement page, its published layouts are in the commercial floor plans, and what moves a commercial price is explained in commercial modular building cost.

1. What is the building for, and what layout is close?

Describe the use and the people in it, then attach a reference layout: your own sketch, or the closest published plan. Herauf publishes sizes and rooms for offices, a medical centre, site and safety offices, quarters, washroom and shower buildings and daycare tiers, so a bid can start from a plan rather than a blank page. Say whether the layout is fixed or a starting point.

2. Where is the site, and how does a truck reach it?

Give the address or coordinates, the last stretch of road, seasonal restrictions and room for a crane. Distance and access, including whether the final approach takes an oversize load, are cost lines of their own.

3. What will the building sit on?

Say whether the building is permanent or must be relocatable. Modular buildings can sit on engineered steel skids, adjustable jack stands, grade beams or piles. If it must move later, write that in, and consider a performance requirement: Alberta's own modular classrooms must withstand at least three relocations over a 30-year service life. The options are compared in steel skid or foundation.

4. How will it be serviced?

Municipal water and sewer, a septic field, or a self-contained system carried by the building, and the power available at the pad. Servicing changes both the building and the site work.

5. Which standard must it meet?

Name CSA A277, the building code that applies on your site and the climate zone. Ask each bidder to state its standard in its own words and to name any certifying body and file number, so like is compared with like. Herauf states its standard as meets or exceeds CSA A277 and the National Building Code, Section 9.36, for climate zones 6 to 8, with R-32 floor, R-24 wall and R-60 roof insulation. For school or child care work, add the program's own design standard.

6. Who does what on site?

Draw the line between the supplier and your contractor. A typical Herauf commercial quote covers the building, manufactured indoors and inspected at every stage, trucked to site complete, craned onto the foundation and connected; the owner or contractor prepares the foundation to the plan Herauf supplies and brings power, water and sewer or septic to the building. Whatever split you choose, state it. If a funder dictates the contract form, say so too: Manitoba's child care Building Fund, for example, requires a CCDC 2 or CCDC 14 stipulated-price contract after tender.

7. When must it be occupied?

Give the date the building must be in use, not just the order date. Most Herauf builds take about 16 weeks to manufacture and deliver, with site work running at the same time, and installation takes days. A school or seasonal site has a hard date; put it in the RFP.

8. What warranty do you expect?

Ask for the warranty in writing, by component. Herauf publishes 1 year comprehensive, 2 years mechanical and 5 years envelope seal.

9. Which price lines should be separate?

Ask for the building, delivery, installation, foundation and service connections as separate lines, plus options. Foundation, servicing and delivery depend on your site and are where bids differ most, so separating them is how you see what you are comparing.

10. What will you evaluate?

List the documents and the weighting: capability statement, delivered projects and signed references, the schedule, and the safety, bonding and insurance documents your organization requires. Herauf's capability statement and signed reference letters are public.

Where should the RFP be posted?

Where suppliers watch. Alberta's public-sector buyers, school boards, municipalities and health entities among them, use the Alberta Purchasing Connection. Saskatchewan ministries, school divisions, health bodies and municipalities post on SaskTenders. Manitoba government tenders above trade-agreement thresholds go on MERX. How classroom programs in each province are bought is in how modular classrooms are bought on the prairies.

Sending an RFQ to Herauf

Send the document, or the use, the site and the date, through the commercial quote form, or call 1.639.382.4106. Herauf comes back with a written quote, usually within one business day.