Highwire Advances Construction Subcontractor Risk Management with a New Prequalification Solution

New assessments allow general contractors to understand contractors' financial viability, capacity, experience, and other default risks.

BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Highwire, the Contractor Success platform for capital project construction and operations, has launched its new Prequalification solution. This innovative solution enables general contractors (GCs) to assess their subcontractors' default and safety risk by evaluating a wide range of factors, including financial viability, capabilities, experience, pending litigation, and past defaults. Building on its leadership in safety risk management, Highwire now offers the industry's most comprehensive suite of contractor risk management solutions.

Subcontractor defaults are a common threat to GCs' ability to deliver quality work safely and on time. In fact, a 2024 AGC study found that 70% of respondents have observed an increase in subcontractor distress or defaults compared to the previous year.

While traditional prequalification processes aim to mitigate these risks, they often create new challenges. Subcontractors struggle with cumbersome data entry, while preconstruction teams must spend countless hours reviewing documents, leaving little time for meaningful risk mitigation. Highwire's Prequalification solution streamlines the risk assessment process by ensuring that GCs get the thorough analysis required for effective prequalification without putting an undue burden on their subcontractors and trade contractors. 

"We designed our new Prequalification solution with subcontractors in mind. At every step, we sought to remove the friction that has characterized traditional prequalification," said Don Fornes, Chairman and CEO of Highwire. "Contractors get a dramatically easier user experience while GCs get insight into each contractor's unique risks to help them succeed through continuous engagement and improvement."

Highwire's Prequalification Solution offers a robust set of features, including:

• Financial analysis
• Contractor capabilities
• Past project experience
• Corporate entity information
• Diversity classifications
• Safety performance history
• Insurance tracking
• Surety bond tracking
• Litigation and default history
• Client and supplier references

In addition to these critical features, Highwire designed its Prequalification solution to address common challenges with legacy solutions:

• The contractor UX is dramatically simplified to minimize the effort required of contractors, including a simple drag-and-drop approach to collecting financial statements.
• GCs can configure single-project and aggregate limits to use their preferred metrics and weightings rather than being forced to use a vendor's prescribed algorithm.
• Information such as backlog, work in progress, and labor headcount can be collected quarterly to monitor emerging risks.

"Highwire's Prequalification solution is an essential tool in our contractor selection process," said Robin Van Fossen, Director of Revenue Cycle at Rosendin Electric. "With Highwire, we get a comprehensive view of each contractor's strengths and weaknesses, which allows us to make informed decisions and ensure the success of our projects from the start."

Another customer, Benjamin Huelle, Senior Procurement Specialist with T5 Data Centers, said: "The data center industry is moving at an incredible pace, with no room for delays or downtime. With Highwire, we can be confident that our contractors have the experience, financial strength and capacity to deliver. Highwire gives us the insights we need to help contractors reduce risk and continue to meet our viability and safety standards."

Committed to its mission of delivering Contractor Success, Highwire designed its new Prequalification solution to provide an efficient user experience while offering significant time-saving benefits. The streamlined process can potentially save clients hundreds or thousands of hours each year on the manual collection and analysis of contractor information.

To further reduce friction in the prequalification process, Highwire is introducing flexible pricing plans that allow either contractors or clients to cover the cost of assessments, making the solution available to companies of all sizes.

For more information about Highwire's new prequalification solution, visit www.highwire.com/prequalification/.

About Highwire
Highwire is the Contractor Success platform for managing risk in capital project construction and operations. The technology was developed at Harvard, as the university sought to ensure the safety of its students, faculty, and contractors while reducing insurance costs. In 2008, Harvard spun the technology out as an independent company. Today, Highwire is used by some of the world's most admired owners and general contractors to deliver Contractor Success. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Highwire is Made in the USA.

Contact info
Avery Hand
PANBlast for Highwire
[email protected]

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SOURCE Highwire