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BUSINESS AND TRAINING
Tendering for your first project as a plumbing subcontractor ( part 1 )
By
Uwe Putlitz
Uwe continues his series on the complexities of tendering . It would be fair to say that it is not so much the complexities but the detail one needs to attend to and as we all know “ the devil is in the detail !”
Statutory compliance - Registration as a business with CIPC and SARS , bank accounts , etc ., Membership of official bodies – always good to record this . Promoting your business Work identification
Time to tender
Preliminaries
Health & Safety
Highlight any specialisations e . g ., solar installations , working on data centres , experience in hospital systems , etc
Identification of one or more potential projects through introductions or subscribe to public ‘ tender bulletins ’ issued by Organs of State , Local Authorities , or larger Private Sector companies ‘ collect ’ the tender documents ( Note - some may have to be bought )
Ensure you have an inventory of equipment and tools and charge out rates Ensure you have a register of own / contract staff and charge out rates Create / update a record of costs / rates from previous projects as a guide It takes time to tender - and to obtain prices from suppliers Carefully scrutinise the tender documents : Check Preliminaries to ascertain what has been included , and more important , from your experience , what has not been included , is required , and costs money Pay attention to the ‘ Health & Safety ’ section – compliance with the covid-19 statutory requirements costs ( your ) money and probably time as fewer persons are allowed on site or working together thereby extending the construction period . Recent research in the UK suggests that projects may take about 20 % longer and cost up to 35 % more to include staggered working times , delayed delivery of materials and goods , additional transport costs , additional personal protection equipment , sanitisers , staff facilities on site , etc
Trade bills of quantities Carefully scrutinise the tender documents : Check trade bills to ascertain if specified items are readily available / must be imported / time to deliver / forex payment ( require an advance payment from the employer ), require handling / use of equipment to install and / or commission ( requiring disposable materials and / or access to utilities ), and more important , from your experience , what has not been included , is required , and costs money
Programme
Confirm that the time to completion is realistic – note covid-19 restrictions as well as imported items , etc Project location Consider the location of the project , access to site , safety of the site , appointment of local labour ( may be an employer requirement , generally unskilled , if not employed sometimes vandalise the works ), safe storage of materials and goods
Design of the works
Risk assessment
Review the design and note anything that , from your experience may not comply with regulations or be impractical , or a specified product may no longer be available – raise such matters with the project manager , engineer , or quantity surveyor before finalising your tender – remember that , on completion of the project , you may have to issue or instruct others to issue a certificate of compliance From your experience – undertake a risk assessment of the project and of items or tasks that could go wrong , and the possible consequences :
• Design and specification issues and adequacy of documentation provided ;
• Site conditions , location and access , surrounding settlements and safety ;
• The Standard-form Contract to be used , any unilateral modifications ?
○ Should be an original hardcopy / e-document without alterations ; ( all alterations listed in appendix – tenderer can object if ‘ changes ’ are unfair eg : payment within 120 days !)
○ Some refer to extended defects liability period = maximum 1 year
○ Check that non-payment by the employer to the contractor is not passed to the subcontractor-no relationship with employer
○ If employer is an Organ of State | State Owned Company some unique conditions may apply ? Check ??
○ Ensure that the contract is signed – and that you have a complete copy of all contract documents
• The parties to the contract - reputation of the employer and the principal contractor , the likelihood of not getting paid based on previous experience / in the industry ?
• Any statutory restrictions ?
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline April 2022 Volume 28 I Number 2