Getting a Government Contract

by Jonathan McGaha | 31 May 2016 12:00 am

Tips on how to locate and land government metal building contracts

The U.S. government owns and maintains more than 900,000 buildings; many of them are metal buildings. A government construction contract can be very lucrative; a single public contract can make a contractor’s business. But, doing business with the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world isn’t easy. Government construction contracts come with a certain amount of caution and usually more obligations. They have their own unique and complex rules, standards, problems and hurdles. And, their procurement process is different than private-sector metal building contracts. Here’s advice on how to locate and land government metal building contracts.

 

Government Money

The government may be the only customer a metal building contractor may have that when it runs out of money, it just prints more. “Go out and ask a hundred contractors that have been in business five years or more this: ‘Have you always been paid 100 percent of what people agreed to pay you for the work you delivered?'” says Doug Reitmeyer[1], retired federal construction contractor, Austin, Texas. “I’ve asked this question to hundreds of contractors and they all admit, that ‘no,’ they have not always been paid in full. Before I was a government contractor, it was the same for me. One customer filed bankruptcy and took me for
$20,000.”

The government cannot legally issue a contract until it has the money allocated. Reitmeyer claims the government is paying someone to pay the contractor and the only way that contract is going to get completed is when it is paid in full. “Ask any bureaucrat if they are overworked and they will all tell you, ‘Yes, I have too much work,'” he says. “They want to pay the contractor so they can get that contract off their desk and get to the next one. The best part is that they are paying with ‘our’ money, not ‘their’ money. In private work you might be asking someone to pay for construction services with money that would otherwise be used for a vacation, kids’ college fund, retirement savings, etc. So there can be great hesitance to pay any construction bill in full.”

 

Before You Start

Your success lies in your preparation. Before you initiate it, know if the metal building government contract is worth your time and money spent in performing it. Verify that your company meets or exceeds all the requirements of the governmental body requesting bids. Work toward achieving those requirements if you are able to do so. If not, focus your energy on pursuing other governmental contracts you are qualified to perform. Understand your obligations to the government.

Familiarize yourself with what’s involved with contracting with the government, its agencies and its goals. You are dealing with an extremely large client with a substantial amount of resources. Anticipate longer lead times and strict bidding. Make sure your company is organized to handle the tremendous amount of paperwork required for many of the government contracts. You’ll need to maintain certifications, institute quality control procedures and comply with regulations.

“Not all government jobs are created equal, but they usually require more management and communication than a typical private sector project,” says George Jeffries, vice president of sales at
Mesco Building Solutions[2], Irving, Texas. “Government is a general term to describe publicly funded projects. These projects have specific rules that must be adhered to. Recognizing the inherent costs and being able to efficiently and economically handle them is critical to ensure project success. Reading, studying and understanding the general conditions as well as the rest of the specifications goes a long way, but if you have not played in this arena, study all referenced standards, rules and laws because you will be expected to know them.”

Arthur E. Hance, president of Hance Construction Inc.[3], Washington, N.J., gets government work via state or national contract purchase agreements. He advises to: “Make sure you don’t underestimate the complexity of the process, particularly contract administration. Pay close attention to agency-specific safety requirements, which in some instances can add significant costs or reduce productivity. Finally, make sure you have accounted for project-specific labor requirements such as prevailing wage, union labor or project specific labor agreements.”

 

Where to Find Contracts

The competitive bidding process usually involves public advertisement for the submission of sealed bids, the public opening of bids, and the award of contracts to the lowest responsible bidder that is responsive to the solicitation for bids. This process is almost exclusively governed by statute. Know where to look to find solicitations made by the government.

The government must notify the public that it intends to purchase a contractor’s services. It has multiple methods to procure goods and services as allowed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations, commonly known as the FARS. “There are competitive bid, Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quote (RFQ), indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) and many other methods from sole-source, 8a, HubZone, servicedisabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, womanowned, Indian-owned, negotiated, best value, best price,” says Reitmeyer. “There is a different tactic that is best utilized for each type depending on the background and references of the quoter, his or her references and experience, or if a team or joint venture agreement is in place.”

Bid notices for projects can be done by advertising the solicitation on a government website, in local newspapers, trade publications, and/or specific Internet-based notification sites. Many websites allow users to sort through projects in various stages: planning, designing and out for bid. Non-government websites, such as construction.com/dodge/, provide access to available government contracts.

Logan Brinkman, LEED Green Associate and project estimator at Henkel Construction Co.[4], Mason City, Iowa, suggests subscribing to project notification services such as Construction Update, Dodge, iSqFt, newspapers or your local Master Builder’s group to help locate government projects that are out for bid. “Since government projects are most always publicly funded, there will be public notices requesting bids for these projects and notification services will help bring these projects to your attention,” he says. “Regularly review project notification publications and public notices for bidding such that metal building project opportunities that are in your work region are not missed by your company.”

Government websites available to list potential metal building contracts include:
• www.ebuy.gsa.gov[5]
• uscontractorregistration.com[6]
• www.fedconnect.net[7]

The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database and the Internet-based ORCA system were two tools that helped metal building contractors find government projects. But, Reitmeyer says ORCA has been replaced with the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov[8], which a contractor gets through the registration process. “It depends on if you are bidding as a subcontractor or a prime contractor,” Reitmeyer says. “As a subcontractor, there is no requirement to be registered at SAM unless specifically stated within the solicitation documents. As a prime contractor, no one can bid and get a prime federal contract without being registered and qualified through SAM.”

Since none of the available Internet-based systems were providing the unique format required to reduce the time to find the right projects to less than five minutes a day, Reitmeyer says his company, GC Experts, invested more than $250,000 to build the BidTrakker system at www.BidTrakker. com. It is tied directly into all 400-plus federal agencies. At GCExperts.com[9], a contractor can “Live Chat” with an expert that will assist with the SAM registration process.

 

Landing a Contract

Once you think you have found an opportunity you could successfully complete, what is going to help you win the government bid? One way is to examine your pricing.

Again, because these projects are publicly funded and publicly bid, the lowest responsive bidder will be awarded the project. “As such, it is important to keep your costs as low as possible for bidding purposes,” advises Brinkman. “Carefully track your historical costs associated with erection of a pre-engineered metal building such that you are able to keep your labor cost estimates as tight as possible. This again will assist in keeping your overall bid amount as competitive as possible.”

Compliance with government requirements such as safety, bonding capacity, insurance, qualifications, and certifications are important to win a metal building contract. “Different governmental organizations have different requirements for contractors, so each needs to be examined carefully, prior to bidding: armed forces versus county maintenance,” Brinkman says. “Many times these requirements are also site/location specific so it is important to understand where the project is located and what type of facility it is going to be (aircraft hangar versus county maintenance facility versus law enforcement center). Disqualification from contract award due to missing documentation or non-compliance with requirements of the owner (government) is not something you want to subject your company to after bidding a project.”

 

Don’t Make Mistakes

Making as few mistakes as possible when bidding on government contracts will increase your success. “The biggest mistake is not taking the time to understand the specifications and drawings,” says Jeffries. “Many companies erroneously believe standard products can be used, but this is quite often not the case. Most design firms are using canned starter specs to write specifications today; regardless, they are the specifications that govern the project and all of its aspects from the labor rate, time worked, draw or pay system, and materials used. The specifications are more critical in public sector work than in negotiated private sector work. The contractor’s estimating team and project managers need to spend the time necessary to review and understand the project they are pursuing.”

Abide by the deadlines, often bids will not be accepted if they arrive late. Also, provide all the information the government is requesting. Failure to sign a form or failure to include a specified form could be grounds for your entire bid to be rejected. The government may research to see if you have a history of failing to perform previous contracts or completing projects late.

“Truly a minefield,” is how Reitmeyer describes the metal building contracting process in his 40 years in the federal sector. “If the paperwork isn’t perfect or an amendment is not properly acknowledged, the rule is that the bid is ‘non-responsive’; same as if no bid had even been turned in,” he says. “Because contractors do not fully understand the system, the laws, the FARS and the exceptions that the courts have taken to certain issues, they often get ‘burned.'”

It’s a detailed process. To avoid these mistakes and gain a government metal building contract, learn as much as possible before starting. There’s training to help you better understand the process. Subcontract with businesses that already have a proven track record of doing government contracts. Listen to and partner with experts in the field who have had success in this endeavor. Consider contacting a board-certified construction lawyer.

 

Sidebar: King County Government Contracting

King County Solid Waste Division has contracted for new construction and repairs to existing metal building systems that range from large industrial type structures, to maintenance/shop buildings, and to storage/warehousing facilities. We have prepared custom designs and specification requirements of metal buildings as well as performance requirements for premanufactured buildings. For our larger facilities, we typically integrate new metal building systems into a larger site development contract for construction purposes.

The primary differences between public and private contracting typically revolve around professional licensing, insurance, bonding and diversity (apprenticeship, diversity goals, etc.) requirements. Public procurement is often standardized and prescribed by regulations, policies and procedures for each particular public agency, and there are often differences between each agency’s requirements even if the agencies reside under the same branch of government.

Common mistakes occur when metal building manufacturers do not thoroughly read or understand contract requirements and the specific provisions in them that may require unique design features. It is often said that each metal building manufacturer is excellent at building the building they produce, but might struggle to construct a metal building system that does not fit what they are set-up to produce. Reading and understanding the specific contract requirements is the key to being successful. And it can also be said that there is no such thing as a perfect design, so make sure that the changes section of contract is read through and thoroughly understood.

Neil Fujii, managing engineer, King County Solid Waste Division[10], Seattle

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/getting-a-government-contract/

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