To ensure the best possible outcome for their bespoke architectural designs, Michael Fitzpatrick Architects needs to make sure that their contractor partner is of the same high standard that they require for their designs. When it comes to bespoke architecture, contractors cannot just be experienced, they must also be knowledgeable about the unique, tailored designs that M.F.A. executes for its clientele. That is why contractor qualification statements are so important. Contractor qualification statements (C.Q.S.) are documents that contractors submit to architects, general contractors, or project managers arrayed from the Most Recent Year to the Previous Three to explain their experience and qualifications to bid on a project. Whilst there’s no overriding template for C.Q.S., they must contain the following elements: If Michael Fitzpatrick Architects comes to a contractor unprepared, then what was once a partnership of equals may become an adversarial one. By utilizing a contractor qualification statement to vet potential partners repeatedly, M.F.A. can guarantee that they are entering into equal partnerships that are based on trust and a mutual desire to execute the project to the highest standard.

There will still be challenges throughout a given build, but by making sure that they have partnered with the right people who know what is expected of them and how the project will be executed, Michael Fitzpatrick Architects can rely upon a smooth design process. In addition, contractor qualification statements ask about many relevant issues in their sub-questions and provide suggestions of how contractors can not only tackle the issue, but also explain why their methods are the most effective. For instance, the designer can see from their contractor qualification statement that those they have partnered with have environmentally friendly plans that address how energy conservation will be built into the architecture itself. As a result, if a contracting partner would like to depart from these methods that ensure that their design will be just as efficient as it is beautiful, the team of designers can intervene and emphasize the strengths of the design plan.

Leveraging the contractor qualification statement in this way demonstrates M.F.A.’s commitment to not just the aesthetics of their designs, but also to ensuring that those designs are sustainable by using the most modern materials and processes not just to construct the design, but to execute its plans. For instance, one C.Q.S. question asks whether raw materials will be shipped to a site, then picked up for specific assembly, or made entirely off-site and shipped to the site. There are two reasons why this particular question is useful. The first is the most obvious: Michael Fitzpatrick Architects will already know which method of material delivery best suits the designs that they execute regularly in their firms which allows them to compare contractors effectively. The second reason, however, ties back to the first example. By ensuring that the contractors with whom they partner in the C.Q.S. process have pre-existing plans to deliver their materials, they are demonstrating that they already have answers for energy conservation and that their plans are already in accordance with M.F.A.’s methods.

The process becomes much more fluid and believable when it is clear that both architect and builder have consulted on how to best divide their respective duties. For more information on contractor qualifications, you can visit this Wikipedia page.