Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
Does a construction schedule that is issued with a bid become part of the contract?
CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE
- Thread starter Alwayslearningelec
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It is if the specs say it is. There will be a spec section outlining the schedule and/or liquidated damages.
The schedule may be very short and aggressive or it may be fairly normal nor requiring OT, and have no damages.
Does it give a start date and an end date? How about a time for you to complete your work and the dates you are to be there. If the CPM isn't followed by you, the delay could trigger damages. Guess who would be responsible for paying them...
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
If you have a contracted schedule, make sure some other trade does not delay your work and then cause you to delay someone else's work. Make sure whoever you have contract with understands you were delayed by someone else if that should happen. That would be a breach of the contract with you.
mkgrady
Senior Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
Are you saying it is simply a page in the specifications with no reference to it? If that is the case, you had a duty to ask the customer before the job was bid. If you did not ask and the schedule is feasable then you are probably bound by it.
If performing the schedule is not feasable, say for instance you were supposed to start work three months before the contract was awarded then you are off the hook to some degree.
If you determine you are obligated to any shedule, it is critical that you perform to its requirements. If somebody else is holding you up you MUST document that delay to the customer. If you do not do these two things you are out on a limb. Keep in mind that delays caused by your own suppliers are contractually your fault.
tyha
Senior Member
- Location
- central nc
YES. The reason you received the schedule during the bidding process is to insure you have the manpower requirments to get the job done in time. Weve gotten schedules with the bid package before and its usually a sign that you need to adjust your labor units because there may be some overtime involved.
"its usually a sign that you need to adjust your labor units because there may be some overtime involved.[/QUOTE]
Good point, many of the larger companies will send a sign, they want to contract with someone who has the ability to preform, on time without schedule problems, when I was on the other side of the contract a low bid may be a red flag, schedule problems.
Strathead
Senior Member
- Location
- Ocala, Florida, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
I will be a little more facetious. The only things that become part of the contract are what is in the contract. That said. bid documents and requirements are so varied that there is no way you question can be directly answered. Here are a couple of situations.
The bid has specs. The bid has a bid bond and is legally binding. The specs state that the "construction schedule must be adhered to" Then you can be guaranteed that the schedule will become part of the contract. Now the rub. You were not actually given a schedule. You must make sure that you clearly state that in your bid. Regardless of whether the recipeint likes it, or even allows exclusions, you have to or you can be screwed.
Same as above, schedule was provided. The job starts late. Then the schedule is still legally binding, but as long as you document the slippage, you are only responsible for eleapsed time and are entitled to compensation if the powers that be accelerate. However, if the job starts late, but the start date on teh schedule is before you sign the contract, then you better make the adjustment before signing. Then you are back to the first.
The bid is informal. All of the above does not leaglly apply, but it is all about relationships. You may not be obligated, but the GC who you work with may be. So be careful.
So be careful is the bottom line, contract laws vary from state to state, we are electrical contractors not legal experts, so if you plan to enter an agreement with a large sum at risk, my view is get some illegal advice before signing any document
Get some legal advice too.......:thumbsup:
Strathead
Senior Member
- Location
- Ocala, Florida, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
I think this is a good habit when you can. My standard form hs the same exclusion. The GC can always ask you for an adder. More and more though we ar being stuck with Contruction Managers who have a 15-20 page plus scope attached to the bid. This often requires me to include overtime for outages etc. So as you are warned, be careful. I, for one, usually don't worry about a few hours of OT, when I am running the job, knowing that it is covered in the fluff of my estimates, but I watch for excess. That gets in to prject managing though, and that is a whole nother ball game!
- Location
- Simi Valley, CA
One contract I looked at had liquidated damages of $1000 a day. So in mine I simply added $1000 a day bonus for every day that I was ahead of schedule. They waved the liquidated damages.
Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
Strathead
Senior Member
- Location
- Ocala, Florida, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
And on the flip side, true story, we got $125,000 in change order up charge for a job that went over schedule. It was a state job, away from home, requiring travel, apartment rental, etc. A big part of the winning argument was that if we would have been held to a liquidated damages clause due to our fault, then the Architect could be held to pay the costs for a bad design and delays in receiving answers.
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