World Fence News

64 • august 2016 • world fence news 3KRQH)D[ ZZZFSDOPHUGLHFDVWLQJLQFFRP x 0DQ\LWHPVLQVWRFNFDSVILQLDOV ULQJVZDOOPRXQWVFROXPQEDVHV« x &XVWRPPDGHSDUWV x 6KRUWYROXPHUXQV x ,QKRXVHWRRO GLHVKRS Low-ball bingo – Part 1 of 2 What really happens at bid lettings by stephen saucerman I am a building contractor – and you'd think that would be punishment enough – but the problem with being a contractor while discussing the subject of competitive bid is that anything dis- paraging I say against this entrenched and universally-wielded construction award vehicle runs an inherent risk of sounding like sour-grapes. The reader may (rightfully so?) assume I've gotten beat a few times at the bid table and that I'm only here now to shoot the messenger. Well, that is simply not the case, dear readers. I'm not here to shoot the messenger. I'm here to give the messenger an ultra, high-impact, me- ga-eye-watering, atomic wedgie. I may even use a crane. Then – just for good measure – I'll tease the messenger unmercifully until he runs home crying to his momma (who nev- er loved the messenger anyway – plus I hear she's a drinker). Later on, the authorities will find him curled up in a fetal position on his momma's kitchen floor (momma's off to the race track with new Mr. Mes- senger) sobbing uncontrollably. That is how much I dislike the messenger. But I digress, sorry. Back to top- ic: Competitive bid (CB). Good and strikingly handsome/beautiful read- ers, I have been actively involved in construction contracting for over 40 years (seven of them un-medicated) and in that time I have witnessed the horrifying misappli- cation, misappropri- ation and mis..er… ah…sissippi of the competitive bid pro- cess in countless, senseless and tragic situations. But before we go further, we should probably set some backdrop. Let's define compet- itive bid. Merriam Web- ster (not that one, this is a guy I know) defines competitive bid as follows: The combatants work from identi- cal bid packages consisting of: 1. Architectural working draw- ings with no dimensions or scale. Each page has been drafted by a different person and none of these individuals have spoken or even associated with one another since their fallout at the last office Christmas party. 2. Boiler-plate WWII-era specifi- cation manuals. In the U.S., the lan- guage used resembles English. 3. Relevant project information such as addenda, finish schedules and 3,127 pages on liquidated damages. The bidders then spend the entire bid period analyzing the documents, assigning costs and shooting push- pin-rockets into office ceiling tiles via custom-made rubber band guns. Finally, bid day arrives and – in a ceremony that can only be described as a combination of profound frustra- tion, sheer contempt and utter disgust for the entire architectural/engineer- ing community – the harried bidders stuff their eraser-marked bid-forms into a big, shiny yel- low envelope that cost $21.30 before tax. They then speed upwards of 768 mph in white compa- ny pickup trucks through crowded city streets to deliv- er their important yellow envelopes to a specified bid place before a spec- ified bid deadline. The event they're manically racing to is known as a bid letting. The pedes- trians encountered along the way are known as victims. If it's an open letting (a closed let- ting is when the bids are opened and evaluated in private – while a bald, reclusive super-villain monitors the proceedings via CCTV and strokes his cat), the bids are read aloud and (with few exceptions) the lowest, re- sponsible bidder is inevitably awarded the work. And from then on, well gosh, all the players get along with one anoth- er, the project is completed without a hitch, everybody's smiling and the lucky owners are absolutely bursting with happiness over the way the whole darn construction process played out. At least that's how it works if you regularly imbibe expensive, herbal products purchased in Colorado. Reality, of course, is way differ- ent. How? Well, there is nowhere near enough time or room in these pages to address everything wrong with CB. Our hearts wouldn't take it. So all we can do is break our pain down into doable doses so – for this session – let's examine one of the more critical elements of the CB sys- tem: The bid letting itself. Bid lettings A new building project is being bid. It's a new city hall addition and the architect's budget is $1 million. The Competitive bid example: The pitting of two or more laid-off automobile factory workers with Chevy pickup trucks (i.e., "contracting firms") against two or more other laid-off automobile factory workers with Ford pickup trucks in a no-holds barred, cage- match, blind pricing competition for a construction project that no respectable contractor will touch because every respectable contractor is up to their ever-lovin', luxury-skybox, season-ticketed ears in lucrative, negotiated work and don't need to scrimp and scrounge with open competitive bid nonsense. continued on page 66

• Cover