Latest bid results

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CopperTone

Senior Member
Location
MetroWest, MA
I really need to understand something here. Look at these bid results. Prevailing wage job in eastern mass. Again - 9 EC's bidding - wow - such a small job too.

9100.00
13684.00
16791.00
17800.00
19250.00
21773.00 *** my bid
22600.00
25900.00
38794.00

another bid result from today- separate part of similar job - same town - same bidders - same finish order per EC.

16000.00
23499.00
29643.00
32725.00
35750.00
39617.00 ** my bid
41600.00
46000.00
77138.00

now, 3rd,4th,5th, & 8th place bids were disqualified for incomplete bids on both jobs (they must've left out something of the bid packet)

that leaves

9100.00
13684.00
21773.00 *** my bid
22600.00
38794.00


16000.00
23499.00
39617.00 ** my bid
41600.00
77138.00

I'm not even saying my price is right and others are wrong or low balling - although the lowest bidder is below low balling - he seems flat out illegal.
We're a small company and my price was going to make us a small profit - nothing big at all - and if we ran into any snags - we'd be even on the job.

So - how do these guys do it? 0% mark up on material? taking a loss on the job? any ideas? not paying prevailing wage and lying about it?
 
remember that on revailing wage jobs if you have a federally approved apprentiship program then you can pay a % of the journyman scale in one close city the ratio of journeyman to apprentice is 3 : 1 this can mean major $$
 
i didn't use a program to estimate this job. Did a take off with a labor units manual and made up a stock list and got quote from my supplier and marked it up 15%. I have an apprentice who earns 65% of the rate and i factored that into arriving at my hourly rate (labor rate,overhead, profit, etc. )

I am looking into estimating software right now - I've looked at conest and quantum xp so far - they seem fairly easy to use. I've demo'd quantum xp.
any recommendations? i don't mean to start another "which one" thread.

I just wonder about the vast difference in bid prices. There is quite a bit of paperwork involved in bidding these jobs and the time it takes to actually do the bid - so throwing out a high number for the hell of it doesn't make alot of sense.
 
Not knowing any of the other contractors and just looking at bids it looks like your in the hunt. I'd feel a lot more comfortable using your price than any of the lower ones.
 
Isn't it said that just becuase you didn't win the bid doesn't mean that it didn't cost more to the winnner...:)
 
Sometimes the middle bid takes it. In which case you would have it. Sometimes they figure out a number they think it should be and whoever is closest lands it. Here in MN the bridge that was just rebuilt I believe went to the highest bidder.
 
We are seeing a lot of this lately. I bid Industrial work for my company now and often on the small jobs we will see someone come in with a number at or about our quoted material and sub contractor cost. As long as the GC is convinced they have a complete scope they use them. Just as a matter of perspective I work for a very large contractor. Small to us is <$1 Million. There is alot of competition on these projects these days. Even the big jobs ($30 million +) that we used to see one or two other bidders on lately have have 4 or 5. Things are slowing down and people are getting hungry. Public works has dedecated money and may be the only game in town if this financial mess doesn't get strightened out soon.
The only way we can get the other electrical guys number after the bid is through GC feed back. Even when sub contractor numbers are required to be listed the district only posts the listed sub and very rarly the number. Even if they do it can't really be trusted because the way bids go down last minuit they may have the paperwork filled out ahead of time and just adjust their overall number when they decide who they are going to use 1 minuit before bids close.
 
Nick said:
Even if they do it can't really be trusted because the way bids go down last minuit they may have the paperwork filled out ahead of time and just adjust their overall number when they decide who they are going to use 1 minuit before bids close.
Click to expand...
Sounds like sniping on ebaY. :cool:
 
CopperTone said:
it's public work, sealed bids, opened in public, the bid results are public information. Lowest responsive and responsible bidder wins the job.
Click to expand...

Did a large Hopkinton company get the work?
 
no it wasn't the large holliston company. some small company was the low bid - i've seen their low bids a couple of times now in the past month on other bids.

I guess i won't be getting these jobs any time soon because i refuse to operate at a loss. I'd rather lay off people and go skiing this winter.
 
Are you charging electrician rates to dig ditches?
Use a laborer.
What about your truck driver?
Are electricians building your scaffold?
Who do you use to haul material around the site?
Get my drift?
There are a million games that you can play with the rates.
By the way, I worked for that Holliston company when there was only 30 employees.
The stories I can tell.
 
CopperTone said:
23499.00
39617.00 ** my bid
41600.00
77138.00

I'm not even saying my price is right and others are wrong or low balling - although the lowest bidder is below low balling - he seems flat out illegal.
We're a small company and my price was going to make us a small profit - nothing big at all - and if we ran into any snags - we'd be even on the job.

So - how do these guys do it? 0% mark up on material? taking a loss on the job? any ideas? not paying prevailing wage and lying about it?
Click to expand...

if it's a certified payroll, then its hard to cheat on the payroll.

i think it's more likely someone jumping on a grenade.

as suckie as opening these bids feels, i was project manager for
a civil construction firm from colorado. they were very
aggressive in the bidding on a $25M project, and had this floozie
from another state come in with a bid $2.5 million under the next
highest bidder. there was about a million variance covering the
field, except for this guy who was 2.5M under the *field*.

how'd you like to own that bid? it wasn't green book either. no
adjustments for quantities, etc.

however, look at it this way.... there is gonna be someone
picking up the job partway thru after he goes broke, and you
are gonna be in touch with the prime, right?


randy
 
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