Bidding on Job sites/projects

[LostArt]

How many of you have went in and offered bids on job sites? Is it engineers that do this these days? I'm wondering if most of this is done by computers these days. I know it's one of the things my husband had to do 10 yrs ago when bidding on new work for a former contractor. And he still offers guidance for a local electrical company at times. In 10 yrs time, I'm sure alot has changed.

[Pootnaigle]

Um yes the woman he was married to is way older.

[LostArt]

Um yes the woman he was married to is way older.

Well, that would make him an apprentice, wouldn't it?

[reppy007]

Well, that would make him an apprentice, wouldn't it?

.........Lost,see that you are new to this forum.....can you tell us about yourself ? We like to hear about new members. (kidding).......couldnt resist:D

[Lineman North Florida]

I do it all the time, the first thing I do is figure how many men will be required to do the job, then figure how many hours will be required figuring in travel both ways, what kind of equipment ie, buckets, diggers, rear lot rigs etc,etc, and lastly will we be doing it on straight time or overtime, there is some overhead figured in to the hourly wage for men and equipment.

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmmmmm Ok I reckon I poligyize bout my crak bout Florider. I spect theys a few linemen out that way too.

[LostArt]

Would some of this type of work be more of new subdivisions, new plaza complexes or things like that Charlie?


.........Lost,see that you are new to this forum.....can you tell us about yourself ? We like to hear about new members. (kidding).......couldnt resist:D

:D

[Pootnaigle]

Well, that would make him an apprentice, wouldn't it?

Ummmmmmmm if he hung with that crazy woman all these years he shud be a sooperintendant by now.

[Lineman North Florida]

Would some of this type of work be more of new subdivisions, new plaza complexes or things like that Charlie?



:DMost of our work we try to prioritize by importance when scheduling for the week, while figuring in maintenance and transmission work etc, the majority of the work I bid on is when somebody wants their job worked before someone else's job(most have drug their feet and realize that they are not gonna meet their deadline) so rather than skip someone who has waited paitently, I bid the job at OT after hours, if they want it, I line up some of the girls to take care of it. I also bid a lot of jobs helping neighboring utilities, small municipality's, with things that they are not equipped to handle.

[Lineman North Florida]

Ummmmmmmmmm Ok I reckon I poligyize bout my crak bout Florider. I spect theys a few linemen out that way too. No problem:D You'll run into a few anywhere you go, even in Florida.:D

[BigClive]

Given my recent guestimate of one of Brens jobs I think it's probably a good thing if I don't price for them. :o

I mean, yeah, it COULD be done for that price if it was just me, a labourer and some stolen cable.

[LostArt]

:D @ Clive ...knowing you, I wouldn't doubt it.

Charlie, do you have to present any proposals? I know my husband had to for many years, that's why he knows so many folks around N. Florida. I use to think, "Oh man, he has to speak to the big wigs?" :eek: But, he seemed unconcerned about it, but I was always nervous for him. Trying to not over bid or underbid was an undertaking at times. Especially when you can't always know what the weather is like, what's going to hold you up on a deadline, etc. You can't always depend on smooth sailing.

Did any of you underbid only to loose money? Out of curiosity, how much?

[rob8210]

I have never done any bidding, but I have been asked to guesstimate how long it would take to get a job done. A couple of times I got a ' your kidding, right'. One job I looked at with the boss was a line relocate. We put a price in based on my guess at how long it would take to get er done, then the outfit called a couple of weeks later and asked for a price to do it live. The boss was away, and it wasn't fun to do live, so I tripled the price. We still got the job but the idea of doing it live went out the window!!! I wonder why?

[LostArt]

Hey Rob. Speaking of live work. Have you guys worked many gravenight work in inner city ones? I can't imagine many large cities sleeping through the night. Especially places like Vegas. I bet that is a pain.

[Lineman North Florida]

:D @ Clive ...knowing you, I wouldn't doubt it.

Charlie, do you have to present any proposals? I know my husband had to for many years, that's why he knows so many folks around N. Florida. I use to think, "Oh man, he has to speak to the big wigs?" :eek: But, he seemed unconcerned about it, but I was always nervous for him. Trying to not over bid or underbid was an undertaking at times. Especially when you can't always know what the weather is like, what's going to hold you up on a deadline, etc. You can't always depend on smooth sailing.

Did any of you underbid only to loose money? Out of curiosity, how much? No I don't have to do any proposals, just give them a price and tell them to let me know if they want us to do it, if they do I have the lady that handles the billing fax them an authorization to work letter with price, they sign saying that they will pay for said work and I start the ball rolling to line it up. You are right you can't always count on smooth sailing so it pays to put a little padding for it in your bid.

[rob8210]

Years ago I did do some middle of the night work, when I worked in one of the utilities in Toronto but never anything right in the inner city. Fella I am working with now has, and he has quite the stories to tell!!!

[BigClive]

If most big cities are like Glasgow then night work is not fun at all. There's a special type of jakey scum that roams the streets at night and they'll quite happily climb onto the back of your truck and start throwing cones into the middle of the road. That and trying to get into the cab of your vehicle or hitting any stop buttons they see. horrible.