Ian Mills talks to two former ADCAS presidents who see the digital age bringing in too many tenderers as well as too much information.

When ADCAS, The Association of Ductwork Contractors and Allied Services, turned a spotlight on superfluous, unclassified data in the tendering process the true scale of the problem was still to be appreciated.

In the full glare of publicity and public discussion Information Overload turns out to be a veritable iceberg, one that towers high, but with even greater mass concealed beneath the dark waters.

'It's not just a problem of too much information, says Paul Adlam, managing director of Phoenix Ventilation, ' it's also one of too many informed!'

He believes that, because passing on digitised - but unsorted - project information is so easy, contractors are inviting more and more companies to tender in the hope of finding an even cheaper price.
The slim silver disk that carries the details of the project may very well contain a whole lot more information than the specialist sub-contractor needs to prepare his tender.

'The whole industry now acknowledges that it's a huge waste of time and money,' says Adlam, 'but the level of waste is growing and growing fast'.


Until a few years ago, the typical tendering pyramid would start with one client at the top, then two builders, three mechanical contractors and maybe six ductwork contractors.

'Recently we received enquiries for the same project from no fewer than 14 m&e contractors, all of whom had probably asked for ductwork quotes from at least 10 specialists!

'The problem is growing exponentially. By its very nature tendering is competitive, but we want to see a fair contest. If boxing were organised like building services there wouldn't be room for all the contestants to get into the ring!'

And the same round might have to be fought many times. Pricing the job is not a once and forever thing, as Paul Roxburgh, chairman of Boyd and Company, points out.

'Time and again we're asked to price projects, two, three or more times as the drawings evolve into a workable scheme. And it's not unknown for the designer to throw in the towel at this point.

'Even when the job does go ahead it's likely to be based on the lowest price.

'All of this creates additional costs that have to be borne by the specialist contractor.'

But, of course, the cost of all the wasted time and effort in the tendering chain doesn't just evaporate. The cost of tendering is built in as part of every company's overhead.

'It may look as though the price of the individual project is being forced down,' says Adlam, 'but in reality prices across the industry are being forced up.
'It's irresponsible and it's not sustainable.'
And in the opinion of this experienced ductwork contractor, things may be about to get worse - a lot worse.

'The day of website-based tendering is just around the corner and, if some of the early versions are anything to go by, the problem is going to morph into a situation where simply finding the data will be difficult.

'Just downloading the information you need from a website would be fine if that information were clearly identified, but it isn't. The specialist contractor has to search and keep searching, because the site is so easy to update - weekly or even daily.

'The trouble is that as you don't know exactly what you're looking for, you can never be sure you've found it! We have to tackle these problems now. Just like the boxers of old, we need a Marquess of Queensberry and a set of rules we can all work to.'