Hensel Phelps is one of the nation’s leading general contracting companies. Working with a company like Hensel Phelps often comes with great professional and monetary opportunities. However, before bidding on a project with a large general contractor, it’s important to make sure you understand the company and the project. This way, you’ll be able to navigate any issues you may encounter.
This guide helps you learn as much as possible about Hensel Phelps before you approach them. Continue reading to learn about the company as well as their payment history, prequalification and payment processes, and more.
About Hensel Phelps
Abel Hensel Phelps founded Hensel Phelps Construction in Greenly, Colorado in 1937. In the beginning, Hensel Phelps primarily worked in the house building and remodeling industry. A couple of years later in 1945, Hensel Phelps won their first commercial contract for grain elevators in the midst of food rationing during World War 2.
Since 1945, Hensel Phelps has built more than 100 million square feet of commercial and office space, raking in a total value of more than $18.7 billion.
In 2018, Hensel Phelps boasted a revenue of $4.7 billion, and in 2020 they ranked at number 13 on the ENR Top 400 Contractors List.
Hensel Phelps operates in a wide range of markets, including:
- Aviation
- Commercial
- Education
- Government and justice
- Healthcare
- Hospitality
- Infrastructure and transportation
- Science and technology
Hensel Phelps also provides development, construction, and facility services for the above-listed industries.
When working as a developer, Hensel Phelps can provide clients with feasibility assessments, financing, permitting, and more.
As you could imagine, construction is Hensel Phelps’ specialty. They’ve operated in the industry for more than 80 years, and they provide the full range of construction services to their clients while using the industry’s leading techniques and technologies.
While providing facility services to their clients, Hensel Phelps works hard to reduce operating costs, maximize asset portfolios, and meet each and every one of their clients’ goals and objectives.
Over the course of their history, Hensel Phelps has worked on countless large and unique projects around the country. Here are a few of their most recent:
- University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School Ambulatory Surgery Center – Austin, Texas
- United Airlines Flight Training Center, Building G – Denver, Colorado
- 50fifty Office Tower – Denver, Colorado
- Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex – Kauai, Hawaii and Moorsetown, New Jersey
- Aventura Hotel at Universal Orlando — Orlando, Florida
- Downtown Redmond Link Extension, Parking Garage and Stations — Redmond, Washington
Hensel Phelps has offices all over the United States with operations in Northern and Southern California, Plains, Mid Atlantic, Pacific, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, and Western regions.
The company is still headquartered in Greenly, Colorado where it was founded.
Before working with Hensel Phelps
Before you reach out to Hensel Phelps, you should make sure you’re as familiar as possible with the company first.
Prequalifying a general contractor is a great way to make sure Hensel Phelps is a good fit for your company. To prequalify a new GC, you will examine various aspects of the company’s history, much in the same way GCs prequalify a new subcontractor.
You can prequalify Hensel Phelps following these five steps:
- Look at their payment history
- Look at their credit history
- Read reviews and get feedback from other subcontractors
- Familiarize yourself with their payment process
- Look through a sample subcontract
The more you know about a general contractor before reaching out, the better prepared you’ll be to take on one of their projects. That’s because you’ll be able to follow their processes more closely and make prudent decisions over the course of the project.
To get started, you can refer to Hensel Phelps’ Payment Profile. There, you can find valuable information about their payment history as well as useful reviews from subcontractors who have worked with them in the past.
At the time of this writing, Hensel Phelps had a pay score of 75/100, giving them a C rating. You can use pay score to get and idea for how quickly or slowly a general contractor pays. Pay score is calculated by comparing a general contractor’s recent payment history to thousands of other general contractors’ pay histories around the country. (Learn more about how Levelset calculates pay scores.)
Hensel Phelps also has a rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 from nine subcontractors who have left reviews. 89% of subcontractors who left a review on their payment profile gave the company 5/5 stars, and 11% gave them 4.
Each contractor who left a written review left Hensel Phelps with a shining 5 stars:
- “7 projects with HP and have never had a problem. Do your paperwork on time and correctly like they tell you and you’ll be good to go”
- “We’ve worked 3 jobs with them in 2020. I don’t leave reviews often but I wanted to give them public appreciation for doing well by us and taking care of their subs”
- “Hensel phelps is a five star general contractor. No issues on a job”
- “Love working with Hensel Phelps. Fantastic team and so easy to work with them. Have never had any problems on any past or ongoing projects. Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks they are a five star contractor!”
After you look through the subcontractor reviews for Hensel Phelps, you should take a look at their payment history.
Recent payment disputes
Levelset has data on 528 projects that Hensel Phelps has participated in over the last 12 months. From those 528 projects, subcontractors have filed 15 mechanics liens since December of 2019.
12 lien claimants out of those 15 were directly hired by Hensel Phelps, and one of the mechanics liens has been canceled.
To take a deeper dive into Hensel Phelps’ payment history, you can browse instances of slow payment and find details about the mechanics liens mentioned above on their pay history.
While you’re looking through a general contractor’s payment history, you’re guaranteed to find some disputes and complaints. Keep in mind, however, that not every payment dispute is the general contractor’s fault.
There are a lot of moving parts on large construction projects, and the construction industry is notorious for slow payment times regardless of the project and the GC. That’s why it’s important to look at the full context of a dispute before you jump to conclusions about any one company.
How to get prequalified to work with Hensel Phelps
After you put Hensel Phelps through your own prequalification process, it’s time to go through theirs. Every major general contractor prequalifies new subcontractors to make sure they have the expertise as well as the funds to get the job done on whichever project they’re working on.
To start prequalifying with Hensel Phelps, go to the Trade Partners Page on their website. On that page, you’ll find links to Hensel Phelps’ Plan. Build. Manage. approach as well as their subcontractor outreach and small business programs.
Below that, you’ll find three steps to prequalification with Hensel Phelps.
- First, select your district from the interactive map.
- Next, look through the bidding opportunities for your district.
- Lastly, follow the links to fill out the subcontractor prequalification application.
Clicking on the link to begin the application will bring you to BuildingConnected, the software Hensel Phelps and many other big general contractors use to prequalify and manage new subcontractors. You’ll need to create a BuildingConnected profile in order to continue.
You’ll be asked to provide a large amount of information on your application for prequalification. To make sure the process goes as quickly as possible, it’s a good idea to make sure you have everything organized and accessible before you get started.
You’ll need the following information to prequalify to work with Hensel Phelps:
- Your company’s name and general contact information
- A list of your company’s licenses
- Your company’s MWBE/LDB/SDVOSB status
- Your contract value range
- Your company’s scope of work
- Your company’s safety record (EMR, DART for past three years)
- The experience and qualifications of your key personnel
- Your company’s past performance
- Your company’s insurance information
- Your contractual compliance
- Your company’s bonding capacity
- Your company’s financial stability (Dun & Bradstreet rating)
For an in-depth breakdown of what information you need to provide, see this list of Instructions for Execution of Statement of Qualifications from Hensel Phelps.
After you go through prequalification, you’ll be able to bid on Hensel Phelps projects and create prosperous and fulfilling new professional relationships!
Hensel Phelps’ payment process
After you get prequalified to work on Hensel Phelps projects, it’s a good idea to go a step further and understand their payment process before you sign a subcontract. That’s because understanding a GC’s payment process helps you to follow their practices more closely, reducing the risk of hangups, slow payment, and disputes over the course of the project.
This section breaks down the most common payment practices among general contractors, allowing you to get to know Hensel Phelps even more.
Before the job begins
After you get prequalified and win the bid, you’ll need to give Hensel Phelps some additional information before work on the project can begin. Usually, this includes:
- Your signed copy of the subcontract
- Any bonding information from the project
- Your proof of insurance
- A copy of your W-9
You will most likely need to supply more information depending on the project. A project administrator from Hensel Phelps will let you know exactly what you need to provide.
Applying for first payment
Applying for first payment with a large general contractor usually involves the AIA billing forms — the G702 payment application and the G703 continuation sheet.
Payment applications are generally due before the 20th of each month. Be careful, mistakes or inaccuracies on your pay app could result in slow payment or confusion. Make sure the information on your pay app is 100% accurate.
Applying for progress payments
If you’d like to apply for progress payments, you should supply a complete and detailed pay app as well as an up-to-date schedule of values.
Progress payments help GCs track your progress on a project and help you regulate your cash flow, something which is on top of every contractors’ mind when they need to cover the cost of labor and materials throughout a job.
Applying for final payment
To apply for final payment, provide Hensel Phelps with a pay app and complete the requested documents as part of their close-out process.
Close-out occurs at the end of every construction project, and it serves to make sure everything is done and up-to-snuff.
For a smooth and successful close-out process, be prepared to provide the following information:
- A certificate of substantial completion
- A completed punch list
- Design team approvals
- Inspection certificates
- A certificate of occupancy
- Any lien waivers requested
- Your final pay application
Make sure you go through the documents you encounter with a construction attorney. Doing this ensures you understand what you’re singing and that the close-out terms are fair and leave you with plenty of leverage to file a claim in the event of nonpayment.
3 tips to get paid with Hensel Phelps
As long as you stick to Hensel Phelps’ practices, policies, and processes, getting paid on time shouldn’t be an issue. However, the construction industry is unpredictable, and sometimes slow payment or other roadblocks cannot be avoided. That’s why you need to make sure you’re setting yourself up to get paid no matter what happens on a project. These three tips will help you get paid on any project, anywhere in the country.
1. Always send a preliminary notice
You should send a preliminary notice, also known as a prelim, on every project, even if it’s not a requirement in your state. That’s because prelims keep you fresh in the paying party’s mind, often moving your invoice to the top of the pile.
Additionally, prelims are a common prerequisite to file a mechanics lien in most states, and failure to send one nullifies your lien rights.
2. Send other visibility documents
Sending visibility documents — such as invoice reminders, demand letters, and notices of intent to lien (NOIs) — helps make sure your invoice isn’t buried under all the others.
Big construction projects employ countless subcontractors and suppliers, and each one of them is trying to get paid. That’s why there’s no such thing as too much transparency on the job site. Visibility documents ensure the project runs smoothly and help get everyone paid on time by increasing transparency and communication.
3. Make sure your mechanics lien rights are intact
The term mechanics lien rights refers to your ability to file a mechanics lien to claim unpaid wages on a construction project. Since mechanics liens are powerful legal documents, there are several prerequisites that you must meet to file one.
Each state has different prerequisites that you must meet, so make sure you’re well versed in your local laws. Generally, you will need to have a valid contractor’s license, send a prelim and/or other notices, and meet a series of deadlines in order to file a mechanics lien.