DawnWCR, Author at Western Construction Resources

Why We Ask for Bid Results and Award Information: Building Trust Through Transparency

At WCR, we regularly reach out to public agencies and project owners to request bid results and award details following bid openings. You may have received one of these requests from us — and we want to take a moment to explain why we ask, and why sharing this information benefits the entire construction community.

When contractors bid on public projects, they invest a great deal of time, effort, and resources preparing their proposals. Each bid represents not only a financial calculation, but also a commitment of energy from estimators, project managers, and support staff. With so much at stake, transparency in the bidding and award process is essential.

Publishing bid results — including all bidders and their amounts — serves several important purposes:

✅ It promotes trust and fairness. When bid results are made public, contractors know the process was open and above-board. This builds confidence in future opportunities and encourages healthy competition.

✅ It protects the integrity of the process. Transparency deters disputes, reduces the potential for misunderstandings, and strengthens the credibility of the bidding process.

✅ It helps the industry plan and improve. Contractors can better assess market conditions, refine their estimating strategies, and make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts.

✅ It keeps stakeholders informed. From subcontractors to suppliers, many rely on accurate and timely information about who won the work and at what price.

We understand that compiling and sharing this information takes time. But timely communication of bid results and award details is not just a courtesy — it’s part of doing business in a professional and accountable manner.

We appreciate the cooperation of owners and agencies who help us keep the industry informed. Together, we can support a construction marketplace built on integrity, fairness, and mutual respect.

Respectfully,
Dawn Harju,
President WCR Publications INC

By DawnWCR|June 20, 2025|Construction|

Why an Official Plan Holders List is Important

For public municipalities and project consultants, ensuring a fair, competitive, and efficient bidding process is essential. One of the simplest — yet most critical — tools to support this is maintaining an official plan holders list.

What Is an Official Plan Holders List?

An official plan holders list is a record of all contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and consultants who have obtained the official project plans and documents from a designated source.

In short:
➡ The bid documents clearly state which agency or location bidders must contact to be added to the plan holders list.
➡ Those on the list are notified of any project changes, addenda, or updates.

This ensures that everyone knows where to get the official, most up-to-date information for a project — eliminating confusion and miscommunication.

Why Does This Matter?

Bidding on public works projects takes significant time, effort, and resources. Without an official plan holders list, several problems can arise:

Lack of coordination — Contractors, suppliers, and subcontractors may not know who is bidding as a prime or sub, leading to missed opportunities for collaboration.
Wasted time and effort — Bids can become fragmented, redundant, or incomplete, wasting valuable time for both bidders and the municipality.
Higher costs — Inefficiencies and uncertainty can discourage participation or lead to inflated bid prices.
Reduced transparency — Without an official source of truth, it’s harder to ensure that the process is fair and competitive.

The Benefits of an Official Plan Holders List

By maintaining and sharing an official plan holders list, municipalities and consultants can:

✅ Promote collaboration between contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers
✅ Encourage more complete, competitive bids
✅ Save time and reduce unnecessary costs for all parties
✅ Support the integrity and transparency of the public bidding process

Final Thoughts

An official plan holders list is a small administrative step that delivers big value. It ensures that everyone — from the owner to the bidders — starts from the same set of information, creating a smoother, fairer, and more efficient project delivery process.

By DawnWCR|June 13, 2025|Construction, General|

Light, Form and Materiality Through the Decades exhibit

This week on November 22, 2019, you are invited to attend the opening reception for the Henry Klein Homes: Light, Form and Materiality Through the Decades exhibit from 5:00 – 7:00pm.

Location: The Historical Museum of Skagit County
Day + Time: November 22, 2019 from 5:00 – 7:00pm
Entry fee: Free

This exceptional exhibit of residential design works by our founder, regionally noted architect Henry Klein (1920-2013), will run through March of 2020. Visit to experience Henry’s guiding themes of natural light, indoor/outdoor connections, natural materials, gracious overhangs, and beautiful screening weave through every decade from the 1950s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

No tickets are needed to attend the exhibit and museum entry is free for members. The regular exhibit hours are Tuesday – Sunday from 11:00am – 4:00pm. For non-members, the museum entry fee is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and children, and $10 for families (two adults with two children).

We hope that you will embrace this wonderful opportunity to see a rare curated collection of photographs of the design and construction of Henry Klein’s most notable homes. Klein’s process of design is also illuminated through working drawings, hand sketches, and physical models.

By DawnWCR|November 19, 2019|General|

New $9.8 billion transportation budget includes some major projects for Whatcom County

The following are some of the major projects in Whatcom County:

? $12.1 million for the Thornton Road Overpass in the Ferndale area.

? $9.4 million for an Orchard Drive east-west connector under I-5 in Bellingham.

? $6.5 million for I-5/Northbound on-ramp at Bakerview Road. The project is to construct a northbound on-ramp on the east side of I-5 to address congestion, enhance regional multimodal transportation and support economic development in northwestern Bellingham.

? $200,000 for the Washington state-British Columbia joint transportation action plan for international mobility and trade.

? $2 million to construct improvements to the I-5/Slater Road Interchange and accommodate planned future development in the area around the interchange.

It also including the following a project covering multiple counties:

? $1.6 million for Skagit Transit to purchase five replacement buses to be used on the county connector services operated by Skagit Transit and partnership with Island Transit and Whatcom Transit. The buses will add passenger capacity and emissions reduction.

Source: Legislative Evaluation and Accountability Program Committee and Office of Financial Management

Read more here: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article229529749.html?#storylink=cpy

By DawnWCR|May 2, 2019|General|

New Stanwood High School Virtual Walkthrough

For up to date construction images, please view our live camera feed below.

New SHS Live Feed

New SHS Virtual Walkthrough

The New Stanwood High School Project updates, schedules and renderings may be viewed by clicking on the following link: New SHS Update

The Capital Projects webpage is currently “under construction”. For the time being, here are some progress photos of our new Stanwood High School project – Phase 1.

Cement Treated Base

General Progress

Soldier Pile Wall

Storm Detention Facility

By DawnWCR|March 29, 2019|General|