Just because you save money upfront, doesn’t mean you won’t pay in the longer term…
In our world of providing safe and efficient communal and emergency lighting, the variations in the type and quality of systems is a minefield and when the selection of equipment is wrong can lead to disastrous consequences and even fatalities.
ALL claim to provide a compliant system but as is now being discovered by the latest round of post Grenfell Fire Risk Assessment; cheap luminaires do not perform well or efficiently and this is even more so now we are switching to LED’s. But a subcontractor who can buy a cheap light fitting is not interested in the whole life problems and costs to the end client… because ultimately the client always pays the price.
’Good enough’ is simply no longer good enough.
Traditional routes to construction have changed with the new way of Design & Build contracts requiring the client to provide a performance design and a set of Employer’s Requirements. However, often, these ‘Requirements’ can be the subject of very varied interpretations often depending where a party is in the process.
Many Councils and Housing Authorities have had to dispense with their own in-house technical expertise as a result of huge budget cuts. And so will tender a project to a number of Contractors requesting them to quote major projects based on a series of generic requirements.
Main Contractors are not expert in specialist elements or fields and therefore, reliant on sub-contractors providing their lowest quotes for the specialist works.
In spite of all the discussion around the subject of Qualitative assessments of a tender, the reality is that lowest price takes the day. The contractor with the lowest bid achieves this by selecting the cheapest specialist subcontractor, who in turn has submitted the lowest quote by obtaining the lowest cost of materials, and even the lowest labour rates in his/her calculations
In short, it’s a quality race to the bottom… and we’ve all seen the devastating effects.
Are You Comparing Apples With Apples?
When evaluating tenders, how do you know whether you are comparing apples with apples?
An Emergency light fitting is vastly more expensive than a non-emergency equivalent. Driven by lowest cost subcontractors are prone to skimp on the perceived number of luminaires required to satisfy the regulations for the normal communal light levels and the compliance of the emergency capability.
As highlighted in the latest round of post Grenfell Fire Risk Assessment, cheap luminaires do not perform well or efficiently and ultimately the client pays the price in whole life problems and costs. Most contractors only have to provide a one or two-year defects liability period at most.
We are here to stand for change. For quality of living and value of lives over cost of components.
- Whoever installs a Commulite system, the client gets a seven-year warranty from Commulite.
- Commulite will certify every installation at absolutely no cost to the client or contractor
- As the client, you have absolute peace of mind that you are getting the right job at the best price.
Find out how we can help you avoid a design and build disaster, call 01277 600 300 now.