Sewer Infrastructure Question

ABLE1

Hello all,

I am not sure if this the right forum for this question, but if I am wrong I feel confident that some one here will point me in the right direction.

This is a general question about timing and bids on sewer infrastructure install.

I have been told that now(next 6 months) is the best time to have the sewer infrastructure installed our area due to the construction market right now being "soft". The general meaning of this is that a lower bid cost if possible now as opposed to maybe 1 or 2 years from now mainly due to the economy.

In general terms is this a valid thought process??

If Yes, why??

If No, why not??


Thanks in advance.

Les

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ABLE1

JamesNLA

As a business owner....."Right now, is the best time to have you XYZ job completed, The market is soft...or the market is slow...or make up whatever the hell you want to sell the job RIGHT NOW.

The market is as soft as your schedule. I know guys that can't work for free, I also know guys that haven't seen their kids in weeks (i'm one of them). As for sewer and this particular time of the year...I only have 2 on the books for this summer but I KNOW that will change, simply because summer time is when the tree roots get a little bigger, clog a little more terra cotta and that usually leads to a few replacements.

I learned a saying a while ago about sales....it didn't make sense at first, but the more I thought about it the more it makes perfect sense -- A little money today, is better than alot of money tomorrow.

well, that and - Sell what you see!

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"....And then we all switch places when I ring the bell"
-Adrock

threaderman

I guess a lot of weak people are lowering their prices .Mine are very fair to begin with so lowering is out of the question.
Like James said,now is the time for any and all work,so was yesterday and so is tommorrow.
If you're looking for inexpensive work,there are a lot of folks giving away the their labor and material for peanuts right now,just remember though,they may not be around to honor any future repairs on the sewer infrastructure in the near future.

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Joe ---International Code Council Member

Your plumbing & gas specialist proudly serving Oklahoma City OK, Moore, Warr-acres, Norman, Midwest City, Edmond, Bethany, Forest Park

neolitic

I think you may have the right idea,
for the wrong reasons.
Unless you are a hopeless Pollyanna,
material costs and fuel charges are
only likely to be higher next
week/month/year....
Do it now before the price goes up!

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Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

ABLE1

Doing it now before the price goes up is a normal thought process for anything. What I have trouble with is rushing into a project because the economy is "soft" make me wonder a bit.

I don' t know what size companies the responders are but let me ask a different type of question.

If a sewer infrastructure is "estimated" to cost $9 million in 2003 and now in 2008 it is to get off the ground. How much realistic cost savings in %percentages% would or could be realized by going to bid in a soft economy??

Can the current economy really show a major difference or could this be a bunch of smoke and mirrors??

How much will a major contractor with a project this size really leave on the table just to get the job??

And as a side question. Is it true that once a job is put out to bid, the project is basically a GO and the only thing that is needed is to award to the lowest bid.

Again I don't know if this is the right location for this question.

Thanks for you comments.

Les

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ABLE1

Kgmz

It sounds like you are talking about a big sewer project with mains, pump stations, etc depending on the job. You should have posted this in the excavation forum. Plumbers do not do this kind of work, the most they do is hook up a house to the stub out at the property line.

Now for your question and we are also excavation contractors. The price of equipment, materials, and fuel just keeps going up. Labor may not be going up right now but it is a constant and is not really going down for people in these specialties. So the only thing that can go down is the contractors profit, and with uncertain prices ahead most are not willing to lower their profit and as a percentage of the job they don't make that much after paying overhead, insurance, etc.

Around here construction is still booming compared to the rest of the country, and mainly in commercial projects. But there are still is a lot of residential development going on even if the house sales are slowing down a little. The reason is it is still cheaper to do the project now than to wait for the market to get better because of uncertain prices ahead. Just today I drove by at least 4 or 5 residential developments getting started and they will probably have a total of 400 to 600 lots. And no one I know of has lowered their prices, instead they have actually gone up because of fuel and material prices.

ABLE1

Thanks for you comments. Very helpful. By your suggestion I have moved my original post to the excavation forum. So I guess at this point this thread should be closed. If you desire to comment please go to the other forum.

http://www.contractortalk.com/showth...683#post441683

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ABLE1

threaderman

Not sure what you're smoking but I have run thousands of feet of pipe on a commercial property tying in half a dozen buildings,setting manholes and lift stations,etc,and I think a lot of men here have as well.If you look at us like sewer cleaners and faucet fixers ,you are sorely mistaken.
I'm not mad,don't take me wrong,but you need to know who's on your forum.

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Joe ---International Code Council Member

Your plumbing & gas specialist proudly serving Oklahoma City OK, Moore, Warr-acres, Norman, Midwest City, Edmond, Bethany, Forest Park