Anyone do much government work?

Specifically local municipalities/county work?

I've noticed in recent years, more & more, the county I live in does a lot of secretive-type, non-competitive negotiated projects.

IOW's, they'll call us up and have us provide a proposal based on our own specification(s), rather than provide specs/plans and public notice, bid date, bid bond, etc....

There is no release of bid results, just a call, (not always), that we got the job or didn't, much as a bid process with a homeowner would go.

I had thought public work had to go through a particular protocol, unless, of course, it was an "emergency" situation, whereas a municipality/gov't agency could negotiate with a particular ed one or few contractor(s).

I suppose it's Like everything else w/gov't, they make all these rules, then simply do as they please anyhow.....

That's just it.....Ya never know.....The particular municipality/agency simply make up their own project-specific rules.....Only reflecting-back on established laws/rules if in their favor.....Otherwise, its' full speed ahead, to hell with competitive bidding, OSHA, Davis Bacon Act, etc.....

So what to look out for: Payment dates......one time payment, in full, 60 days after completion...is that the norm?

Prevailing wage....just when federal dollars are involved?

What else?

Patty Cakes - We used to do a lot of gov't work in the 80's. Yes, you had to be adequately funded and be credit-worthy; That was simply a given.

My point was, that now, in another state, your not awarded work simply on your merit/low bid.....There seems to be, (to quote Vaa), a major trapeze act one must endure.....A lot of which is salesmanship. It's a bit daunting for us dinosaurs.

Speaking w/peers in adjoining states that have legitimate contractor licensing, it's still business as usual.

However, like Vaa, I too, have been at the good fortune end a time or two. We once did a $28,000 job for a city municipality that turned into $558,000.....I got stung in the end, because the city had me deduct/discount the 2% +/- bond fee on the additional work.....The bonding company later came to me for the 2% on the balance, as the city had not released the initial $28,000 perf/pymnt bond, therefore, in the insurance/bonding company's opinion, making the contract price $558k instead of the $28k it was originally written for..... ;) :(

I went back to the city for the 2% back.....I don't have to tell you what they told me..... :blink: :(

My only precaution about government work is the scale wages that are paid currently and the 60/90 day wait for your checks. We were a strong company but this step up really took a hit, employees had to be paid, material suppliers obliged the delay/partial pay and others. We had never had to explain ourselves before, so it was quite the experience. Great exposure and experience. I no longer work there, 7 years later they are doing fine. PC

I don't trust any branch of government, espescially here in the state of Ill'annoy'z. Did a $2500 repair for the school district a few weeks ago. Hope to see a check in the next week or two. I like the residential reroof market because I rarely have to wait for my money.

I am pricing one now. I wrote the spec. The man in charge said he was going to get 4 bids, I think.

From 1987 to 1990, I worked on my Dad's crew. He subcontracted from a company that did only government work. They bid the work by the state. Everything we did was very large. Housing projects and military bases. There were tear off crews and install crews. About 10 of each on the largest project we did.

Other than that, When I had my full service roofing business, I did work for what was called the city rebate program. Basically the city would pay up to $5,000 of the cost to replace a roof for low income homeowners who qualified for it. Most of these homes were very old and needed decking and sometimes rafter repair. Some were extensive. It was very tricky trying to judge what jobs we could do and what not to risk it on. If you ran into too much wood repair then you just lost your profit. When roofing materials skyrocketed that pretty much made the city rebate program worthless.

I had the opportunity to roof the National Weather Service building for the federal government once upon a time but turned it down due to all the red tape.