Posted on 07/21/2009 8:56:11 AM PDT by EricTheRed_VocalMinority
lol who owns repair company?
Government projects are not always the sweetheart deals they are made out to be. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had one State project that lasted seven years. We actually lost a lot of money on it because was halted several times for lack of funding then restarted. We had fixed “administration” and “pre-construction” fees as part of the contract but could not bill in those categories for all the restarts and add-ons to the contract. We did get paid for changes in the scope of the project but the government questioned almost every salary increase for our employees.
So, if you’re thinking of pursuing such projects, think very hard.
Yeah I do T&M or FFP and am quite careful about the scope. Mostly I do sub-contracting with a few reliable companies.
One door for an opening 150 feet wide and probably 50 or 60 feet tall weighing several tons.
Yep, an Affirmative Action scam piggy backing on the Porkulus scam.
I have never understood this “disadvantaged business” status. How “disadvantaged” can you be if you own a business capable of receiving million dollar government contracts.
They are not replacing the door. It's a repair.
What??? So they can dial it in from the mobile phone in the bedroom and not have to get out of bed to warm up the tub or shower? They have somebody to scrub their feet, too, so they don't have to bend over?
This isn't like repairing the door for your two-car garage. This is a 150-foot wide door to an aircraft hanger. The door has to meet military standards for security, safety, and various environmental requirements. In addition to the repair of the door (which may or may not involve actually replacing the door itself as the story did not state) other systems related to the door must also be repaired or replaced.
The cost of the hangar door is $246,000, which includes the repair of an electrical drive mechanism, safety devices, door seals, painting, cable and pulley system, control system and other items.
As WAS stated in the story, the contractor won competitions for the construction contracts it received. That means that the contractor bid the jobs based on its best estimates of cost knowing that other contractors were bidding on the same jobs.
Knowing a little bit about the military/government contracting arena, a $246,000 contract for repair to an aircraft hanger door as described in the article is probably reasonable and would not even warrant significant review - especially if it was competitively bid.
Personally, if they’re willing to pay for it, then the clients can have whatever they want; it just increases my design fees. Actually, they phone from the office or car.
I’m rather envious of these clients because I live in an 830 s.f. apartment and their master bath is bigger than my bedroom, closet and bathroom combined. On the plus side, I prefer my annual fishing and bird-hunting trips.
Absolutely correct!
The government can be even unreasonably frugal at times.
I'm not saying there is no waste fraud or abuse anywhere, just that in most cases there is plenty of oversight...maybe even too much.
I’m just back from lunch with a friend from college. When I mentioned my FR post he said, “You’ll note the irony of the same state that audited you is the one that had George Ryan and Blago as governors and Roland Burris and Dick Durbin as U.S. Senators.”
“Not really, if you are a small business you HAVE to claim some kind of special category. Unless you have friends in high places you will never get any business otherwise.
Oh and small business has to go with lower rates than the big contractors.”
Huh? The business I work for doesn’t have to claim minority status...and we help the city and county contract out all kinds of business...only occassionally do we encounter a minority business (and our contract documents do not give them any kind of advantage)
Perhaps this applies to federal work, but not all work.
I was referring to federal work. the contracting officers are lazy and will go with whomever is easiest.
Yeah, go figure!
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