Thursday, February 5, 2009

Work

Yesterday I bid a project at the University of Akron that was restoring some Terra Cotta and brick, replacing sealants and flashing, and cleaning and waterproofing some walls. Pretty straight forward stuff, but considering the building is large, there is a lot of work. Enough to warrant, so the architect thought, a budget of $695,000.00.

I looked at the plans, read the specs, got material and equipment pricing, and put all the information together. When my bid was $412,000 I thought I missed something, so I re-checked all my numbers and called some friends who were bidding it also. They were below the budget too, so I was comfortable with my number. After sitting down with the boss to review the bid, we ended up at $389,000 trying to be as competitive as we could to get the job.

When I was in the room for the bid opening and the results were being read, I almost fell out of my chair. There is a line between being competitive and being stupid, and I think the low number was stupid. Stupid enough that it should be carefully considered and reviewed by the owner and possibly rejected. The results are below, my bid is fourth.

1 – $257,700
2 – $303,000
3 – $325,500
4 – $389,000 My Bid
5 – $394,000
6 – $413,433
7 – $443,992
8 – $490,390
9 – $567,006

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