Bizarre Work Package We Were Asked To Bid On

[Winegrower]

If you bid, and get it, you have to wonder why you’re the lowest bidder. Remember, you can make it up on change orders.

 

[Aukai]

My friend does some contract work, and knows that when the job will be "difficult", he just over bids by the amount he would not be able to refuse the job. These guys know that with the restrictions that they put in place, they will have to pay more to get it done right,,,, according to their rules. Your company was invited to bid, so there must have been prior recommendations that your company was good enough for the job. Bid the heck out of it item by item, and deal with the nitpicking that they are willing to pay for.

 

[strantor]

My friend does some contract work, and knows that when the job will be "difficult", he just over bids by the amount he would not be able to refuse the job. These guys know that with the restrictions that they put in place, they will have to pay more to get it done right,,,, according to their rules. Your company was invited to bid, so there must have been prior recommendations that your company was good enough for the job. Bid the heck out of it item by item, and deal with the nitpicking that they are willing to pay for.

I've never encountered a situation quite as extreme as what was described in the OP, but once or twice I have encountered jobs that I absolutely did not want to do, and rather than refusing to bid, I bid an amount that I was sure would get passed on, but it didn't. I did the work and got the money but it still wasn't worth it. Now I am not as afraid to turn down work.

 

[brino]

The "no Leatherman" thing I have heard about for electricians working at power plants....and I believe it was nuclear. Apparently they have very strict specs about wire stripping because if the conductor is nicked it can eventually cause a fault especially where there's any vibration (motors, etc).

This sounds like a list put together from many different types of projects (HVAC, plumbing, food prep, etc.) and they just put all the various rules in one list and use it for all work.

Some good advice above...........either a straight pass or pad the bid so much that even following all the rules that you still make money.

Thanks for posting this, it is a glimpse into a world that I would otherwise never see.

-brino

 

[projectnut]

I've bumped into many of those rules & been responsible for some others. A lot of the rules I enforce don't make a lot of sense to contractors not familiar with working in a certain environment such as a data center. For the ones that are your 80 pages are probably 79 1/2 pages worth of business-as-usual.

Specifying certain products such as tape or chemicals ensures the contractors don't use sub-standard low quality materials that will become a maintenance nightmare down the road.

In turn I've scratched my head a few times when dropped into an industry I'm not familiar with such as power plants. I know of at least three fires started by people doing the wrong-for-this-place-thing that is SoP every place else they've been for 30 years; I don't blame the contractors for this, I blame the companies that didn't ensure the contractors were properly briefed & supervised.

I agree. For over 20 years I supervised new construction and plant upgrades as part of my job. It was the company supervisors job to make sure everyone was informed as to what was expected and what was not allowed. Before beginning each job the company supervisors and managers would meet with the contractor's representatives and go over policies and procedures. Each contractor's representative had a written copy of what was expected. All signed off that they understood what was expected, and passed the information on to their employees. A supervisor that does their job well has a good working relationship with the contractors and keeps a close eye on materials and procedures used on the job. They don't tell people how to do their jobs, but they do make sure the rules are followed and are readily available if there are questions, concerns, or see changes need to be made from the original plans.

It might seem cumbersome at first blush, but is saves time, money, and in some cases lives to make sure everyone is on the same page before the project begins.

 

[macardoso]

I work in the government/defense industry and our normal rules for different jobs are not too different from this. Foreign Objects and Debris (FOD) are a tremendous concern and one place I went to work had a guy make a check list of every tool you walked into a work cell with and checked them all back out when you left. Battery power wasn't an issue though. At this job I wouldn't even bring in electrical tape without preapproval because the glue was considered a chemical and needed special review. But the company bid well and we made a bunch of money so it would only aggravating to the employees. We got used to it.

I have to imagine that the requirement for no pliers or adjustable wrenches stems from bad experience of a contractor not using the appropriate tool to tighten bolts and mucking them up.

 

[Ischgl99]

I have to imagine that the requirement for no pliers or adjustable wrenches stems from bad experience of a contractor not using the appropriate tool to tighten bolts and mucking them up.

I used to work for a German machinery manufacturer and they forbid adjustable wrenches for their workers. You used the right tool, or you did not touch the machine. Some of the guys that came to the states to work were a bit surprised at what was used on the job sites here lol

 

[rwm]

Obviously the "no weapons" clause is just to protect the guy who made up these rules.
R

 

[finsruskw]

I must have missed the part that said "no common sense to be used on site"

 

[eugene13]

Weird, they even have a dress code, did they mention haircuts, grooming ,tattoo's or piercings?