"Donations" included in project bids

[jaclo]

There is a job coming up for bid in our area for a community college project. It includes a couple nice building pads, all of it import dirt with trucks, finish grading, etc.

Along with their notice they sent out to the contractors, the letter states that any donations the contractors make, monetarily or work-wise, will be considered along with the bids that are submitted. This sounds to me like something which should be almost illegal.

Have any of you had experience with this kind of situation before?

What was the "donated" portion if your company was able to donate?

Is this a type of project that is worth running away from?

I would appreciate any input on the matter. Thanks!

 

[old-iron-habit]

Sounds illegal to me, especially of taxpayers dollars are involved. Maybe they got a good lawyer that found a go around. Hope it is not the start of a new trend.

 

[RCTech9]

Doesn't sound correct to me... where at in Nebraska are you?

 

[grandpa]

Add a percentage to each line item to cover your "donation". They when and if there's a change order your ahead of them... if no change order, then your just donating the money you've already charged them and claim it as donation deduction.... You win.

 

[JBGASH]

I have saw this and "donated" a few times on some projects. It is perfectly legal and used often in our area. As hard as it is too make it these days in the construction business something doesn't seem right about it to me however.

 

[caterpillarmech]

I talked with my general buddy and this is a regular occurrence. We had a contractor tear a power plant down for the city and did it at 50% of the bid. They refunded the money to the city :crazy thought people bid jobs to make money. I would have pocketed it as a profit. My buddy explained it is a mob mentality. You finish early, you make a donation. You over bid, you make a donation. This blows my mind. I tell my boss i'll work for twelve hours a day, I better get paid for twelve hours. If I tell you I'll fix your tractor for $6000 and I come way low on cost, I might refund a bit to keep a customer coming back.

 

[FSERVICE]

I talked with my general buddy and this is a regular occurrence. We had a contractor tear a power plant down for the city and did it at 50% of the bid. They refunded the money to the city :crazy thought people bid jobs to make money. I would have pocketed it as a profit. My buddy explained it is a mob mentality. You finish early, you make a donation. You over bid, you make a donation. This blows my mind. I tell my boss i'll work for twelve hours a day, I better get paid for twelve hours. If I tell you I'll fix your tractor for $6000 and I come way low on cost, I might refund a bit to keep a customer coming back.

its common for demo contractors to figure the profit on the scrap that they recycle as profit now days.. some are even going as far as paying for the job of tearing down stuff to get the job!!! that's just crazy!!

 

[td25c]

its common for demo contractors to figure the profit on the scrap that they recycle as profit now days.. some are even going as far as paying for the job of tearing down stuff to get the job!!! that's just crazy!!

I like Grandpa's math as far as donations go at a jobsite .

Have encountered the same type of thought from some customers when looking at a demo job like removing a steel structure FSERVICE . They start off telling me what it's worth in scrap and that's when I stop the conversation & say ..... I aint in the scrap game . I will take it down & assist with disassembly & charge accordingly for service . You guy's can then haul it to the scrap yard and get paid .