How does the bidding process work for concrete jobs?

Question

Commercial and residential.

Thanks to the first answerer, but I suppose I needed to be more specific: I am interested in bidding for the job....I am not the property owner.

Answer 1

I obtain bids all of the time for concrete work at my company. First, you must decide the extent of the job to be done. Sometimes I solicit help in the overall design of the project from the vendors to save money, time, or potential problems. Once I establish the guidelines for the bid (for example 1200 sq.ft. of concrete 6" thick with #5 rebar on 12" centers with integral footings 24" deep per drawing), I send out bid packages to several potential vendors. After receiving the bids, I ensure that they are directly comparable (sometimes I have to go back to a vendor for a second pass), I make a decision based on price, reliability, and any other factors that I deem important. I do not share actual figures with the losing vendors (this preserves the competitiveness for the next round). On a residential, I would proceed the same way. If you can not make a drawing, make a simple sketch of the work to be done, but insist that the bids be made with guidelines so that you can make the comparisons more easily. Most vendors will offer to help in designing the concrete work you need, so lock one of them in to use as the guideline. Always specify completion times and penalties for not finishing on time.