NBPI revolutionizes information sharing

Continued success depends on members

By Luke McFadden
Manager of Communications
ASA National

Since the inception of American Subcontractors Association chapters, we have conducted organized exchanges of factual information.

Much of that information deals with payment practices of contractors or owners with whom we are doing or considering doing business. Now this service is about to get better.

The Business Practices Interchange is going online nationwide. Through the "Members-Only" section on the national Web site -- www.asaonline.com -- you can now inquire about a general contractor, owner or developer anywhere in the country.

Through a national network of ASA members, you have the opportunity to learn about a prospective contractor before you bid or sign your contract.

Answering your questions

How many times have you wished that you knew about the payment practices, contract administration practices or other business practices of a general contractor or construction manager before you bid or signed the subcontract? The online NBPI is designed to help subcontractors research such business practices.

The NBPI gives ASA members the ability to find other subcontractors with whom they can objectively discuss work experiences.

By talking to others who can objectively discuss the general contractor's or construction manager's performance, subcontractors may be able to identify positive aspects or potential problems of working with a general contractor or construction manager.

When you enter the NBPI area in the "Members-Only" section, you must first agree to terms of use, which assure that you do not intend to use the NBPI system to express subjective feelings about contractors but instead focus on discussing objective work experiences.

To find a general contractor or construction manager, click on the "Search Our Listings" link and follow the directions. If the NBPI has a listing for the company you entered, you will be provided with contact information of subcontractors that recently did business with that company as well as the project name and other information.

Input needed

ASA started entering information into the NBPI system in early 2002, so there will not be a listing for every general contractor and construction manager. This brings up another point: The NBPI is a service that depends on ASA members' data input.

To make the NBPI an effective resource, ASA members must identify general contractors or construction managers they have worked with. To do this, log onto the NBPI, click "Submit Your Experience" and follow the easy steps to input data.

By providing this information, you are helping ASA provide an important, practical service to fellow subcontractors that could potentially save you and your fellow subcontractors headaches and potentially thousands of dollars.

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