Anyone else notice that Architects, Engineers, General Contractors, and Owners, and are shirking more and more of their work and responsibilities on us?
Examples:
1) Sometimes they require CAD drawn as-builts while simulationsly demanding a fee for the CAD backgrounds; its double dipping. The owner paid for these drawing and anyone doing the work should have access to the drawings. Just recently on a POLO store, I had an architect tell me I was responsible for the lighting layout, and that I should submit shop drawings for his approval in CAD, and btw the fee is $250 per page.
Add $2,000 to bid
2) The engineer will put out a boilerplate design for a retail store based on the architects backgrounds and have never visited the site, and still have the balls to seal the plans. They then tell you it’s your job (while bidding) to verify that it will work and is correct, so we are put in the role of engineer in that we have to verify and in some cases re-engineer someone else’s work. Keep in mind this is all done in the bidding stage and you don’t get paid to for doing their work.
Add $500 to bid
3) The owners for some retail chains will furnish the lighting package and expect you to unload their truck, inventory, store, and file any freight claims for their fixtures. Keep in mind this is what overhead on a fixture package is supposed to cover, and if you include it in you bid, you might be high. Oh and don’t forget to include any “appurtenances” for making these fixtures work, like stems and hangers. Hey why buy that stem kit for those high bays, when you can make your electrician fabricate them for free?
Add $2,500 to bid
4) Do you know what a “Completed operations endorsement CG 2010 & CG 2057 Requirement” is? You should it cost you $500 every time a GC asks you to pick it up in their contract. Read the fine print, it’s something they just started sneaking in.
Add $500
5) Duct detectors, do you know who furnishes them? That’s funny neither does the engineer, but he sealed the plans anyway.
Add $300 each
6) Back in the day, when a GC wanted a price they gave you a call and sent a set of plans. Now they either send you a CD or a link to where you can DL them and you pay the printing. I have a plotter but it its more than 10 pages its cheaper to use a reprographics shop.
Add $150 to bid
7) Fire stopping, used to be picked up by one sub for the whole job, now we get to do our own.
Add $500 to bid. (more for bigger jobs)
8) Remember when a GC used to have a superintendent, a carpenter and a clean up crew? Now we have composite clean up crews and a PM that thinks he knows how to run a job with a three week look-ahead schedule.
Add $2000 (a LOT more for a big job)
9) That superintendent the GCs used to have could use a transit and do layouts and coordinate the trades. Ask that PM what a transit is and see what he says. I just did a strip center and the GC insisted all layout, control points and grade were my responsibility. While I don’t mind doing my own layout, establishing a control point and grades is just not something we do as a profession.
Add $5,000 for surveyor
10) Temporary power means lights and receptacles to OSHA standards, it does not include “task lighting” and it certainly never includes “consumption”.
I don’t even know what to add for all the electric bills on a job but this has not stopped some GCs from trying to charge me for them.
11) When did we become phone and data installers? Especially when it’s not really shown on the plans.
I could go on and on.
Add all that up, put in your next bid and see if you get the job…
