Online bid calendar now available to area contractors

A new online resource for developers and contractors is designed to prevent conflicts for projects seeking bidders.

The bid date calendar, located at www.springfieldcontractors.org, is the result of cooperative efforts between the Springfield Contractors Association and the Springfield Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Individuals who wish to set up bid dates for projects can use the calendar to see what other projects are up for bid, and on which dates. Then, according to an announcement from the SCA, those individuals can select dates for their projects and post the projects on the calendar.

According to the SCA, conflicts can occur when two or three projects are bid on the same day, or when two large projects are bid on consecutive days. In these situations, contractors might be able to bid on only one project.

Owners also can be negatively affected when multiple projects are up for bid on the same day, because they might not get all the subcontractor and/or supplier bids they need for their projects.

SCA officials note that the online bid calendar should not be construed as a reporting service, because its function is only to allow people to see what bid dates are being used. Using the online bid date calendar will prevent date conflicts among projects.

There is no fee for using the online bid date calendar, and individuals who post bid dates are not required to be members of SCA or the local AIA chapter.

If a visitor wants additional information about a particular bid, he or she can click the bid title and bring up a page that provides additional details.

Bid dates are posted with the use of passwords, so project information cannot be altered by anyone other than the person who, with the password, posts the bid date.

SCA, AIA and several sponsors from the construction industry shared the cost of establishing the online bid calendar. The names and Web site links of the sponsors appear online with the bid calendar.