Bidding a prevailing wage project

[Riverbound]

All of this is why we stay away from any PW jobs.

 

[Taboma]

Yep, that cards a killer. So many journeymen per apprentice. Then also had to figure in Operating Engineers costs for crane loads, Pipe Fitters & Sparkys for HVAC....

@Taboma , one of my mentor types told me something that made sense, and worked on non-PV large new construction really pretty well. He said bid it fair, not to high and make sure you're covered. The real money is in the change orders. Sure as heck, always a different platform, skylight or equipment screen that wasn't on the prints.

In 1978 we stepped out of our normal Orange County based, non-PW Industrial comfort level environment into the wide world of Federal Contracting. Initially as a sub to a general we already had a non-PW relationship with.
The job was in San Diego and was a two year project to upgrade and enlarge ammunition storage, including building support facilities at the North Island ammunition depot to accommodate Nukes and the new Tomahawks Cruise missiles.
At the beginning of the project I was introduced to a consultant whose business model was to providing training and education on how to navigate the world of government contracting and of course, maximize profit from it.
It was eye opening to say the least, this was indeed a very different world than the Civilian market I was accustomed to.
This relationship worked great for us because the general was paying for his services and by educating us, it would also benefit them.

One of the tricks we were taught, was that in regards to change order mark ups, we shouldn't OWN the vast array of backhoes, loaders and other various trucks and equipment we had on site for excavating and installing the UG electrical.
Owning it came with depreciation and other complicated factors, and that renting the equipment was far more profitable.
By the time we started securing more 12KV UG projects, we'd sold all the involved equipment from our right hands over to our newly formed company in our left hand, with new management of course.

So this was indeed the way it worked in the late 70's into the early 80's. By mid 80's this rather lucrative change order wind shifted dramatically.
Feds were getting slapped for the flagrant cost overruns, and this pain was being shared down the ranks of those responsible for designing, budgeting and managing the projects and there was a noticeable change of attitudes at the ROICC office.
Specifications for new projects started sharing more risk, they also included a clause whereby if the Feds made an error, you were expected to notify them in writing prior to bid time, or as the judge explained to us (Yes, this happened when we took them to court ONCE), we should have known it was wrong and bid it accordingly and correctly --- no more bidding into these mistakes in order to reap the change order harvest.

The clause I really like was the one whereby "Approval of Submittals, does not constitute Approval" --- Yeah, that ones a bit tricky.

The short of it was, the process for negotiating the numerous change orders from encountering underground obstructions as one example ---- like a complete, railroad tank car, including the wheels, buried in the early 1930's to provide fuel oil to the old San Diego brewery ---- required I attend a bi-weekly negotiation for almost a year following project completion to negotiate (Get nit-picked) each change order. In many cases ones, we'd already paid the bill for almost a year prior.

Half way through this process I nicely confronted the civilian contract manager with the facts that she'd cut my changes by almost exactly 10% each and every time. At which point I offered a settlement to reduce all my remaining CO's by 10% and call it a day ---- NOPE, she wouldn't have it, so we continued on grinding away for months, and yes, it was still 10% each session.

PS: YES, if you're curious, performing government contacting can cause internal strife and confusion as the Taxpayer personality confronts the Greedy Contractor and the finger pointing ensues.

 

[plaster dave]

100 percent. The paperwork is a challenge but I appreciate the fact that I can do it. If the OP isn’t going to pursue more PW work , take a hard pass or learn a lesson on this one.

Did you send in the release yet?
Btw where’s that missing tile?

 

[Joker]

Did you send in the release yet?
Btw where’s that missing tile?

That missing tile is somewhere in your possession, at least that’s what the owner thinks

 

[Cooter01]

It is good to have a few of these jobs a year to help keep things a float, there is way more paperwork and legal bs with documentation, yet I would not shy away from doing one. Just factor in 1-2% when bidding to deal with extra paperwork and bs

 

[Havasu blue label]

If the company you work does so much work for PW or PLA’s. Why dont they just join the Union and save all the paperwork. I know when I was still an estimator one of the biggest complaints from the office girls was the extra paperwork and certified payroll on some projects.

Exactly.

 

[rrrr]

For some stupid reason, the roofers claimed us in San Diego. It’s $53.34

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Where's the column that pays for the IBEW and Pipefitters ads at Major League Baseball games? I've always wondered.