Got asked to bid a very unusual project

[plowhog]

And people wonder why everything is so expensive these days. The level of ridiculousness our society has reached is impressive.

Don't want to hijack the thread-- so this is my last post on this subject.

Things got weirder after my company quit contracting due to the minority participation requirement. We started getting solicitations that, for payment of a fee, a "minority owned company" would sign a certification they had done the required contract participation. Many of these were just business licenses, with no actual company, and no intention of doing any work. The solicitations described "no audit trails" (hint hint.) A whole industry sprung up where minorities could pay $25 for a business license and then reap fees as job "partners."

A famous one was an inmate serving life in Folsom prison. He somehow still had a business license. He was advertising that for a fee of 5% of the contract total he would sign any certification so the contractor would get paid. Serving life-- do you think he was worried about a fraud charge?

 

[Gator6x4]

My company used to do technology projects for the State of CA. Then a new imposition came along requiring minority owned participation in all contracts.

The only way we could complete the contracts we had already been awarded was to go find some minority-owned company, somewhere, and subcontract the installation of network cabling throughout the buildings. Implementing and configuring the network equipment was so specialized and technical that it was impractical to train a subcontractor for weeks or months to do a job our company could complete in a week or two.

The subcontractor work was a disaster. We gritted our teeth, paid them in full, said "thanks" and "bye." Then our company removed and pulled out all the deficient wiring they had installed. We had our people re-do that part of the job, and install everything, brand new, correctly. At our expense.

That was the last State of CA job we ever did. Afterward, the State got fleeced by contractors charging 3x, 5x, etc. to make up for the added costs the new hurdles caused. But it was no longer my fight as I had a business to run and a payroll to meet. I could not engage in nonsense contracts.

"Then our company removed and pulled out all the deficient wiring they had installed. We had our people re-do that part of the job, and install everything, brand new, correctly. At our expense."

From your post it sounds like the General Contractor Employee who was supposed to monitor the Sub Contractor failed to do their job. Example: If the bid specification called for all wall receptacles to contain industrial plug in receptacles and a minimum of # 12 wire and the sub contractor was allowed to install residential receptacles and # 16 or 18 wire then the General Contractor had to install what the contract called for. I hope the General Contractor insured the individual was licensed and bonded and filed a claim with the individual Sub Contractors bond carrier for the expense of have to correct the mess the individual made.

Most General Contractors require all Sub Contractor to provide a copy of their License, proof of Workmen Comp Insurance and liability insurance coverage before allowing a Sub contractor and his employees onto the Job site. Many a Contractor has been forced into bankruptcy because a Sub Contractors employee sued them over a job injury which caused a permanent disability.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

We had a group wanting to build a new indoor tennis facility on land in STL. Would be the first indoor courts in STL in 50+ years.

They figured it would cost $20 million and had about half committed in donations from the bigger companies in the City. They were riding the wave of the desire to provide opportunities to underserved communities.

They were told by the City they had to prepare an economic impact report. Then an environmental impact report. Then a study on if there was asbestos and/or lead paint in the falling down abandon buildings on the proposed site. The “companies” providing these reports had to be located in STL and, preferably, minority owned. Then commit to finding and using 75% minority contractors on the construction.

There was even more.

The project was never begun and the abandoned asbestos/lead paint buildings are still there falling even more apart.

It’s not easy to understand.

STL still has no indoor tennis facility.

I don't blame the group for not building the facility with all the demands that were being placed on them, once again a group of do-gooders ruined it for all.

 

[dodge man]

It’s been years ago but we had a city road project. Normally they just cleared the archeological survey without doing anything unless it was a known area or unless someone objected. In this case a local college professor objected than they turned around and hired him to do it. We had to disc the entire job then wait for it to rain. Of course it didn’t rain for a while. Then he found all these rock chips and I had to do a topographic survey of this ”Indian encampment“. He explained to me what they were doing in this encampment and all. It looked like someone threw out a handful of rocks to me.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

It’s been years ago but we had a city road project. Normally they just cleared the archeological survey without doing anything unless it was a known area or unless someone objected. In this case a local college professor objected than they turned around and hired him to do it. We had to disc the entire job then wait for it to rain. Of course it didn’t rain for a while. Then he found all these rock chips and I had to do a topographic survey of this ”Indian encampment“. He explained to me what they were doing in this encampment and all. It looked like someone threw out a handful of rocks to me.

Interesting! Upstream from my parents lake is a depression near stream. It's quartz lined, maybe 30ft across, 5ft deep "bowl". All around perimeter are quartz chips where natives made arrowheads. I had the state anthropologist as well as my geologist brother check it out and verify it.
It should be preserved not bulldozed some day.

 

[chim]

The company I worked for faced so many government-imposed hurdles it's a wonder we stayed in business. As years passed it became worse and worse.

The restrictive edicts that were to help certain groups of people usually did not. The true result was a few "minority persons" getting rich and a lot of extra office work trying to keep from getting into outright skullduggery. I saw a real effort being made to conform with the requirements, but almost without exception the minority subs we hired failed, and there were no minority suppliers who could handle our volume. We often had to make their payroll for the subs we hired.

There were definitely a few people who made a lot of money by acting as "middlepersons" on larger material and equipment sales without ever seeing or handling the stuff.

A few times I overheard someone in the purchasing department remark that they needed to "make the gear order chocolate" to meet certain criteria. That meant one guy got a check for being a minority and at least on paper we met our requirements.

Back in the 80's I was on an electrical project we had at a VA hospital. There was another contractor doing a GC project on the same site who wanted to know if we'd do some electrical work on their project. Turns out the "owner" was a minority fellow who was given a hardhat and instructed to walk around the site and stay out of the way.

 

[Hay Dude]

I identify as a minority now, so all good

 

[chim]

I identify as a minority now, so all good

On another board, someone posted they were conceived in the back of a Jeep, so they identify as part Cherokee.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

Costco Lasagna identifies me as a family of four.

 

[dodge man]

The woman owned, disadvantage owned and minority owned businesses is usually a requirement on projects in Illinois. We did construction staking and often lost out because we weren’t one of those. Some of these companies were just owned by a DBE on paper while some were legitimate. I always remember a woman that owned a seeding and mulch company running the equipment all the time.