Quote as individual vs quote as a group. HELP

[Thys LOW Elektries]

Need a bit of advice and help.
I need to tender for a new extension of town, material or labor only, or a quote on both.
The engineer will give us a bill of quantities and an itemized list of items.
Doing the quote is pretty straightforward, but I'm thinking of joining forces with three other small contractors because I'm a small contractor, and quoting against the big contractors might be a problem.
Any advice on how to do it, form a group for the contract period, or what. We can then quote together as a group against the big contractors.

[Isetech]

Dont do it.

Need a bit of advice and help.
I need to tender for a new extension of town, material or labor only, or a quote on both.
The engineer will give us a bill of quantities and an itemized list of items.
Doing the quote is pretty straightforward, but I'm thinking of joining forces with three other small contractors because I'm a small contractor, and quoting against the big contractors might be a problem.
Any advice on how to do it, form a group for the contract period, or what. We can then quote together as a group against the big contractors.

[Dylboy]

Ya working with other contractors is tough as they also have their jobs lined up and all which will take president.

Also getting some staff to build up the team for the one job is also not great as they then want to stay or they go slow to keep the money coming in.



Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

[Justloadit]

If you wish to continue, then you would do what we call a Joint Venture for this project. Each company will then accept the terms and conditions of the memorandum of operation, stating what will happen if they do not participate or non performance on their section of the joint agreement.

Once this has been accepted, then you good to go.
Ensure that you get an attorney to legalize the complete agreement, to ensure that the non performance is adhered to.

This is often done in industry when a single company does not have the means to do a specific job.

[Thys LOW Elektries]

Joint venture it will then be, making sure al is legit before venturing in that direction. Thanks to all for the help.
Staying in a small town like us, opportunities like this don't come around a lot so one is willing to try anything to part of the action

[GCE]

Joint venture it will then be, making sure al is legit before venturing in that direction. Thanks to all for the help.
Staying in a small town like us, opportunities like this don't come around a lot so one is willing to try anything to part of the action

Be very careful .The joint venture system as explained by Justloadit is the correct way to go but unfortunately with small contractors not always understood.

It is one thing to get all legal but another to continue working with the guys down the line in a small town.
Have seen it fall apart on numerous occasions

Sometimes it is better to stick to what we do best and stay in our own lanes

Without knowing the type of work you do or what type of contract this is I can only assume it is reticulation - You will find a reticulation job is 10% or less Labour and 90% or more material.
I did a tender during the week that was genset , minisub and cable work on a small site - The Labour portion came out at 1,56% of the contract. Put a 10% retention fee and it causes chaos with cash flow unless you have a track record with a company that provides guarantee's in place of retention

[Justloadit]

Hence the reason for the services of an attorney.
This is to ensure each party is aware of the contractual agreement.
The way I handle large jobs is based on a substantial deposit of 80% up front, 10% on completion and a 10% retainer for any corrections required, with the release of the retainer.
You know where I am going with the 80% deposit here, cover all your costs including labour, as the last 20% will be pulling hens teeth out.

Another way is a smaller deposit per section of work, with a progress payment, and only continue once the physical money is in your bank account - NO EXCEPTIONS!

Watch out for non performance and late completion penalties, make sure you understand them, and before acceptance make sure that your demands are met if you feel that anything is unreasonable, and ensure that the penalties are waived due to non payment, or any reason from the client which may cause you to be late. Make sure you have the attorney at your side when you prepare your offer to ensure that you do not miss any traps.

Rather loose the big order and still be in business than getting it and going out of business.

[Thys LOW Elektries]

Be very careful .The joint venture system as explained by Justloadit is the correct way to go but unfortunately with small contractors not always understood.

It is one thing to get all legal but another to continue working with the guys down the line in a small town.
Have seen it fall apart on numerous occasions

Sometimes it is better to stick to what we do best and stay in our own lanes

Without knowing the type of work you do or what type of contract this is I can only assume it is reticulation - You will find a reticulation job is 10% or less Labour and 90% or more material.
I did a tender during the week that was genset , minisub and cable work on a small site - The Labour portion came out at 1,56% of the contract. Put a 10% retention fee and it causes chaos with cash flow unless you have a track record with a company that provides guarantee's in place of retention

Project 1 is 25 houses that need to be serviced. Kiosks, breakers, etc., and reticulation. An engineer designed everything and gives an itemized bill on which one can quote.
At the moment we only plan on quoting the labor for reticulation and kiosk work We already work together, helping each other, without a formal agreement or contract. That is why we want to quote together not against each other.

[Isetech]

The only advise I can offer, make sure if you decide to go ahead with it, you have a backup plan.