Author Topic: Exterior Commercial Facility  (Read 7171 times)

Offline blackwolf

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 113
  • Just the fax maam
Exterior Commercial Facility
« on: February 22, 2007, 10:57:28 AM »
Hello All,

I need some guidance on this.......A friend of mine is a receptionist for a GC she gave him my company info and he would like me to bid on an exterior elderly facility new construction job. I know the interior will have 11 apartments event though that's not part of the bid.  I will be receiving the BP's by Friday and he would like me to do a walk through, my only problem is I have never done official GC work where I had to submit a bid. I have subcontracted myself on an hourly basis for a contractor but that is it.  I looked at some of the post's that touched on this subject and found some good advice, just wondering if there is anything else you can add to help me offer a better bid price.

Should I ask for a portion of payment up front?

Should I just take down all the info and then drop of the Bid?

sorry to sound so ignorant on the matter, it's just a totally different animal and I don't want to get burned.

Vin

  • Guest
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2007, 11:11:42 AM »
The rules here in california are you can't bid on anything over $500 unless your a licensed contractor it may be different there.

There are forms available for contracting that need to be filled out along with other forms.

I'd say before you jump into something check and see what your local laws are for contracting, without s license you may have nothing to stand on  something goes wrong and know one to back you up if trouble arises.

Where are you from Blackwolf maybe we can help get you moving on this with more info.

Offline ProWallGuy

  • postingpro
  • PF God
  • *
  • Posts: 806
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2007, 11:11:49 AM »
I don't do exterior anymore, and rarely deal with a GC. Too much headaches and hassles. So, I can only help you with one point.

"Should I ask for a portion of payment up front?"

Definitely. Unless you are a bank, and want to finance this guys job, then yeah, get money down. Also included progress payments to keep cash flowing. If you are to provide the materials, make sure the down payment covers all the materials. If he balks, ask him if he built the place with no money down. I highly doubt he built it using his pocket money.

Vin

  • Guest
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2007, 11:19:54 AM »
Prowall theres rules for that too here 10% or $1,000 up front whichever is less.

I hate california they have  rules about how to scratch yur bum :-\

Offline ProWallGuy

  • postingpro
  • PF God
  • *
  • Posts: 806
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2007, 12:25:24 PM »
Yeah, but I'ved also heard in Cali if you are licensed, and on the up n up, then when a customer screws you, it is easy to get your money.

Offline blackwolf

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 113
  • Just the fax maam
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2007, 03:39:11 PM »

yes, I do have my contractor's license with the state of Connecticut and liability insurance so I can bid on any kind of painting job anywhere in the state. The contractor that I'm working with deals exclusively with municipal commercial work, a lot of red tape for some jobs. The good part is they spell everything out in writing including the paint they would like you to use as long as it's one of the three choices they give you so it takes the guess work out. Very straight forward, however, payment is assured just not as fast as you would receive with repaints.

The humorous point to this story is that one of the companies I'm bidding against is the same company that started my painting career. ;)

Thanks for your help

Jared

  • Guest
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2007, 06:47:44 PM »
Well, to CYA, it is always a good idea to use at least 2 completely separate methods to come up with your bid, and compare the results.  If your methods for calculating a bid are accurate, these results should all be nearly the same.  If they are not, you've got something wrong in one or more of your bids (probably in the cheaper one  ;) ).

I personally NEVER give a price to a GC (or even most other situations) right on the spot when I go size up a job.  My bid method is WAY to complicated to do on the site.  I tell them to expect the bid in 24-48 hours, depending on how busy I am.  My simplest bids are 2-pagers, but I have presented bids with as many as 10 pages for the large complicated jobs - as I spell out every single detail of work that will be performed, I explain why "extra" steps like priming & extensive prep are really necessary (even the GC's need to see this sometimes to get them to realize they'll save money in the long run by spending a bit now & doing it right from day 1), and I even include a proposed schedule.  (A proposed schedule in a bid?  Is he crazy?!?)  I do this for a few reasons...  It allows me to break down the job step-by-step - which DOES take some time (I type fast) but it is SO worth the time IMO because once I have a proposed schedule I now know exactly how long this job will take, and exactly what materials & consumables I will need to supply; but the MAIN reason I include the proposed schedule is because in the last 3 months (when I started including the proposed schedule) I have submitted 10 bids and won 9 jobs.  It really seems to make a big difference for me.

Then, once the comprehensive & detailed bid is complete, I'll figure the job from scratch by one of the sq ft methods.  I usually use "actual sq ft of coverage" instead of "heated floor sq ft" for the calculations, more accurate  ;)  Don't forget all the details that are not included in the sq ft price when doing this.

Never forget to include a precentage for your overhead (which is always extensive for licensed contractors, be sure you don't forget the little things) and a percentage to cover any unforseen expenses which may occur during the course of the job.

The real trick to bidding GCs is to bid high enough that you will do well, but not as high as your competition is asking.  Sometimes this is not possible, especially when dealing with a GC that couldn't care less about quality of work from his subs, and/or being in a market with a lot of lowballer slopjockeys...  I believe this is why GCs have a bit of a bad reputation in our business.  I have found a rare few in the past which I can work with, and I actually work for a great one now.

Good luck on your bid.

Offline blackwolf

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 113
  • Just the fax maam
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2007, 07:23:56 PM »
Jared, your info is very much appreciated!!

Thanks

Jared

  • Guest
Re: Exterior Commercial Facility
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2007, 07:30:13 PM »
You're quite welcome.

Oh, and ProWallGuy -

Yes, one would NOT want to be on the wrong side of a Contractor's Lien here in CA...  loss of assets would be an inevitability for those who choose to withhold funds from their contractors here.  I read somewhere that the state of CA issues between 200-500 contractor's liens per day.  Scary.