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Contractor's Corner properly certified MWDBE. For instance, your bid may be for $1 million, while your MWDBE is required to be 5 percent of the job. With this requirement, at least $50,000 of your work would need to be done by a properly certified MWDBE business. The bid documents should clearly specify if you have any such requirements and point you to a directory that will identify those firms that are properly certified. If you do have an MWDBE requirement and you fail to clearly respond or fill out all of the appropriate forms as part of your bid, it will be considered non-responsive. 10. Don't forget your First Tier Subcontractor Form, also known as "The 2-Hour Form," if required. Most public agencies require that within two hours of submitting your bid, you also need to submit this form. It identifies any of your subcontractors whose work will be at least 5 percent or more of the total bid, or it may often be dictated by a specific monetary threshold that will be identified in the bid. Usually, this form will be submitted in a separate envelope clearly identifying what it is. You do not have to wait two hours to submit it; you can submit it at the same time that you submit your bid. If this form is required, make sure you submit it! Failure to do so will make your bid non-responsive. 3 Tips for Subcontractors (and Suppliers) As a subcontractor or supplier, you are often much less restricted by forms and rules in how you turn in your price. However, over the years, I have noticed some commonalities that cause irregularities for the general contractor you are quoting. These tips are intended to help you get your quote looked at, properly evaluated, and hopefully used if it's low or competitive. 1. Don't wait until the last minute to turn in your bid! Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous general contractors out there that "shop" prices, so I understand why you want to wait as long as you can to turn in your price. And sometimes you are also waiting on prices from your suppliers. However, on a larger or more complex bid — let's take a $5 million project with 50 subcontractors and 50 more major suppliers, for example — bid day and the night before can be very chaotic for the general contractor. If your bid comes in 15 minutes before official bid time and has 5 pages of terms, conditions, and exclusions, chances are very good that it will not be properly evaluated and may not even be used. Give the general contractor enough time to properly evaluate your bid. 2. Include important information that the general contractor usually wants to know. Tis may include: a. Do you include a payment and performance bond? i. If not, how much would that cost to add to your price? ii. If you can't get a payment and performance bond, what form of bid security can you offer the general contractor? b. Is your quote complete for your work? For instance, you might quote all work as defined by your specification or you may have exclusions. One of my favorite examples is a Give the general contractor enough time to properly evaluate your bid. 32 JANUARY 2014 COATINGSPROMAG.COM ventilation (bath or kitchen) fan. The electrician furnishes the fan and provides power to it, but he does not provide the exhaust ventilation to get outside of the building. Whose responsibility is it? c. Be very specifc if you have exclusions. It's ok to say, "Our quote is for everything in Section 09700, except stain on the custom woodwork." Electricians commonly exclude all trenching for their conduit runs; painters might exclude all touch up to damage caused by others. d. Your quote might note things that are "by others." It doesn't matter who others are, but it does matter that it's not you. These commonly include sanitation, power drop, trash disposal, etc. 3. Provide after-hours contact information. General contractors commonly work well into the evening before a bid, and they may not even know what questions they want/need to ask you until after the close of normal business hours. Making yourself available to answer questions is a definite plus and will be appreciated by those you submit quotes to. Good Luck! Whether you bid as a prime or subcontractor, there are important tips to know. By following the tips for these types of projects, you can help to ensure that your bid will not be rejected due to a technicality. Good luck on your next public works project! CP Tom Deines is a project manager for Wildish Standard Paving Co. in Eugene, Ore., and has worked in construction for 34 years in a variety of roles. He has more than 30 years' experience in management, estimating , and proposal writing.