I get paid to fail....

I do the estimating for the family construction company. There is no logical explaination for how I got into this position. I studied to be a music teacher for 4-1/2 years for cryin' out loud. These two jobs couldn't be more different.

I guess the neatest explanation is that I am in the habit of jumping in where people need help. The estimator that we had at the time was up to his eyeballs in work, and needed help. I started helping him, and was getting the work done faster than he was, so my fate was decided.

The bulk of my job is on competative bidding. An owner/architect advertizes for bids for a project, usually three weeks to a month ahead of when they want bids. Once I find out about a project, we send for plans and start calling suppliers and subcontractors to do the work. Sound easy? Just wait....

Along with the the drawings there is usually a book called a Specification Book, or Spec book for short. In the spec book are the instructions for how the job is to be bid, when and where it is to be bid, who is eligible to bid it, and other qualifications and restrictions to the contract. Along with that information, supposedly every detail of how the project is to be built, right down to what fasteners you should use to what toilet paper dispensers go on the walls are contained in this book. Spec books for large projects can be several hundred pages. In some cases, when the specifications for a product, like concrete, for example, are so long that it would make the book too large, you are referred to yet another text to find the exact requirements.

Along with the spec book come the drawings. The larger the project, the bigger the set. No mystery there.

Now comes the first kicker. In almost every spec book I have ever read, and they number in the hundreds by now, there is the clause that says, "in case of ambiguity between the drawings and the specifications, the Contractor is to provide the greated quantity, or more expensive product." HOWEVER, what this also means, is that if an item, or a procedure or anything is mentioned ANYWHERE in the drawings or the specs, it must be included.

I could go on for hours, and probably will in another post about how this job can make a person crazy. Its making my hair fall out...

But the reason I told you that, is to tell you the rest.

Lets assume that there are no errors in the drawings, and nothing can be mis construed. Lets assume that the building is brand new, no existing conditions to deal with. Lets assume that there are no items left for interpretation by the lazy good for nothing no good ignorant architect. How then does one arrive at the lowest price for a bid?

One of two ways. Either settle for less profit, or make a mistake.

There are certain constants within the industry. Insurance cost the same, for the most part. Workers comp charges the same rate. Labor rates among the trades are pretty well fixed. Materials prices are pretty much the same.

The question then is, how much money are you willing to not make, or how big of a mistake did you make on the bid?

The first one is an easy answer. Any company worth its salt is going to know the minimum it has to have to stay solvent. The question is, how badly do you want the job.

The second question will keep you awake at night.

I had gotten arrogant this summer, because I had never made a mistake of any size.

Then I found out that I had omitted $45,000 worth of casework on a project that our bid was $185,000.00

We are all human.

Peace