BUSINESS AND TRAINING
19
Tendering for your first project as a plumbing subcontractor
By
Uwe Putlitz
If , after some years of working for a boss , and with market conditions looking favourable , you may decide to start your own – possibly specialised – business .
However , before taking this step , there are several important aspects to consider and to put in place before you are ready to begin tendering for work .
Statutory compliance You must register as a business with Companies and Intellectual Property Commission ( CIPC ), the Unemployment Insurance Fund ( UIF ), and the SA Revenue Service ( SARS ), open business bank accounts , and so on . This can be very time-consuming and frustrating as most of us have no appreciation of the complexity of statutory systems so it ’ s wise to appoint a specialist consultant to assist you through the initial set-up phase .
Know the sector of the market you plan to operate in As an emerging entrepreneur , you must assess the market you wish to work in – whether it will be in the industrial or domestic sector .
Industry bodies / associations Whilst most industry associations or organisations offer training opportunities , they also provide opportunities to acquire continuing professional development ( CPD ) credits .
• Institute of Plumbing South Africa ( IOPSA ) www . iopsa . org
• Plumbing Industry Registration Board ( PIRB ) info @ pirb . co . za
• The Inclusive Plumbers Association ( IPA ) info @ inclusiveplumbers . co . za
• CIBD If you intend to undertake work for Organs of State and State-Owned Enterprises , you need to be registered with the Construction Industry Development Board ( CIDB ). It is expensive but worth the cost to be graded according to the complexity and value of work you can undertake . It ’ s less important if your client base is sourced from the private sector .
• MBSA and SAFCEC When working in the building and civil industries it is beneficial to join Master Builders South Africa ( MBSA ) and / or the SA Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors ( SAFCEC ) – they present or facilitate courses and publish useful magazines on their websites .
Note : Look out for the presentations by industry or other service providers of courses dealing with the building ( JBCC ) or engineering General Conditions of Contract ( GCC ) Standard form Contracts ( SfC ), and the subcontracts of these suites .
In my experience , I have found many contractors only read a contract when things go wrong . Obviously , this is too late . It ’ s vitally important to familiarise yourself with the relevant SfCs to proactively manage the work and avoid or minimise disputes , which cause delays and result in extra costs – and consume emotional energy .
Work identification You can Identify potential projects through introductions or subscriptions to public tender bulletins issued by Organs of State , local authorities , or some large private sector companies . Some tender documents must be collected and it ’ s important to note that you may have to pay for these documents .
Don ’ t be tempted to tender for work outside your technical or financial competence .
If it isn ’ t necessary to outlay capital on expensive equipment , so consider whether it ’ ll be cheaper to rather lease the necessary equipment for the contract period .
Time to tender It takes time to tender and to obtain prices from suppliers . Ensure you have :
• An inventory of equipment and tools and charge out rates
• A register of own / contract staff and charge out rates
• Create or update a record of costs and rates from previous projects as a guide
Preliminaries Carefully scrutinise the tender documents . The building industry refers to Bill No 1 as ‘ Preliminaries ’ in which activities not included on the trade bills are included , for example the cost of providing or hiring scaffolding , cranes , site accommodation , and so on . This can be as much as 5 to 7.5 % of the project cost . ( Engineering contracts refer to
Uwe Putlitz is a registered professional Architect and Construction Project Manager and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor ( RICS ) and is a visiting lecturer at the School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand . Having recently retired as the Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Building Contracts Committee ( JBCC ). He specialises in the avoidance of construction disputes by way of public lectures , technical articles in various industry publications and providing guidance to disputing parties arising from the use of Standard-form Contracts including Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs- Conseils ( FIDIC ), the General Conditions of Contract ( GCC ), JBCC or the New Engineering Contract ( NEC ) to find an acceptable settlement without resorting to legal processes , where possible . info @ buildstrat . co . za
“ Undertake a risk assessment of the project and of items or tasks that could go wrong , and the possible consequences .”
February 2022 Volume 27 I Number 12 www . plumbingafrica . co . za