Commercial · HOA & condo associations
Boards rarely struggle to get bids. They struggle because three contractors describe three different jobs, and there is no honest way to compare them. We write bids to be compared — and we will supply the scope document even if you send it to our competitors.
The board year
A board can only act when the cycle allows it. Here is the sequence that gets work done next summer instead of deferred another year — with where you are right now marked.
Step 1
September – November
Get the property walked and a written report in hand. Damage is visible before snow covers it, and you need a documented scope before anyone talks about numbers.
Request the free assessment.
Step 2
December – January
The report becomes line items in next year's budget, split into this year, next year and monitor. Boards that skip this step end up funding pavement out of reserves at the worst possible moment.
Bring the report to the budget meeting.
Step 3
February – March
Collect your three bids against one written scope, so they are actually comparable. We will supply the scope document even if you are sending it to our competitors.
Issue one scope to every bidder.
Step 4
April – August
Approved work goes on the calendar. Sealcoating needs temperatures above about 50°F, so associations that vote in March get the dates they want and associations that vote in August take what is left.
Lock dates before the peak-season backlog.
The offer
A site walk, measured and photographed, returned as a written report. No charge and no obligation to book work from it.
Formatted to be photocopied into a board packet and read by volunteers who do not work in construction: plain language, photographs with locations, remaining service life per area, and budget figures split across three years.
The report is yours regardless of who does the work. If it says the pavement has four good years left, that is what it will say.
How to read three bids
Use this against every bid you receive, including ours. If a line is missing, the difference in price is probably hiding there.
| Line item | How we state it | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Square footage | Measured on site and stated in the bid | A bid with no square footage cannot be compared to anything. |
| Surface preparation | Cleaning method and crack repair specified separately, with linear feet | Prep folded into a lump sum is where a low bid hides. |
| Material and coats | Product named, number of coats stated, coverage rate given | "Commercial grade sealer" is not a specification. Ask what and how many. |
| Crack repair | Hot-applied rubberized, priced by linear foot | Cold pour costs less and fails inside a season. |
| Striping | Stall count, paint type, ADA stalls and access aisles itemized | Restriping "as existing" repeats non-compliant layouts. |
| Exclusions | Written out, so the change order conversation happens before the work | A bid with no exclusions has them anyway — you just have not read them yet. |
Ask for the scope document and issue it to all three bidders. We would rather lose a fair comparison than win an unfair one — and an association that gets a real comparison usually calls back in three years, which is the only timeline that matters in this business.
Multi-year
Not for the discount, though there is one. For the fact that pavement stops being an annual argument.
No collecting three bids every spring for a board whose composition changed in January. The plan is already approved and funded.
Crack sealing in year one, sealcoat in year two, striping refresh in year three — sequenced properly instead of everything landing at once when something finally fails.
Fixed for three years, or CPI-adjusted if you prefer. Either way the reserve line stops being a guess.
Procurement
Boards are usually the ones chasing paperwork from a contractor. Here it is in advance, with turnaround times.
Additional insured endorsement on request
Current tax year, signed
Provided with the agreement
Three, with contact permission
Redacted, from a comparable property
For every material used on site
Certificates of insurance and Pennsylvania contractor registration are provided on request, with current carriers and limits shown on the certificate itself.
Certificates naming your entity as additional insured are issued on request, with current limits shown on the certificate. If your management company has a required form, send it — we'll complete theirs rather than sending ours.
Answers
Yes, in person, at no cost. Boards make decisions by consensus in a meeting, and a written bid alone rarely survives the questions a board will have. We walk through the report, take questions from residents if the meeting is open, and leave the packet behind.
It is how it should work. The problem is not the three bids, it is that boards usually receive three documents describing three different jobs. We will give you a written scope you can issue to every bidder — including the other two — so the numbers you compare are actually comparable.
Yes. Multi-year agreements suit associations well because they take the annual re-bid off the board’s plate and let pavement work be staged deliberately rather than deferred until something fails. Term lengths and pricing are quoted after the site walk.
The report gives a remaining service life estimate per area, which is the number a reserve study needs and rarely has at any real resolution. Most reserve studies carry one line for "asphalt" against a replacement date; a condition report lets you defend deferring that date, which is usually worth more than the work itself.
Assess in the fall, budget in December or January, bid in February or March, schedule for spring. Associations that begin the conversation in June are competing for the last dates of a season that closes in October.
Certificates naming the association and the management company as additional insured are issued on request. Current carriers, coverage types and limits are shown on the certificate itself, which is the document your management company will want on file anyway.
Yes, with contact permission. Where possible we provide associations of comparable size to yours, since a 40-unit condo and a 400-unit community are different jobs.