How to Contract for Work with The Government

If you own a construction business, you know how hard it can be to get large contracts. Getting a contract with any government agency is almost impossible. The state and local governments will put out notices of work that they are intending to do. These notices will most likely be in local newspapers and will contain all the information your business needs to know to put in government bids. If your business has the winning bid for the work, this can lead to multiple contracts. Every business owner tries to win these bids when they come out and there is a lot of competition.

Putting in A Winning Bid

If you plan on trying to win a job from your local government office, your bid must be complete. They want you to send in the total pricing plus how long the job will take to be completed. They require that you send in proof of insurance that covers your workers and your business. All bids are compiled by them until a certain date and when opened they review the materials and make a choice. If you submit a bid, make sure you are pricing the job fairly. You will want to make sure that all the materials are billed at fair market value.

Small Business Help in Submitting Bids

Since the competition for these bids is fierce, you may want to hire an attorney to put the paperwork together for you. Your attorney can help you get all the documents that are required and will advise you on the pricing aspect of the bid. There are other agencies that can provide help with bidding on a government job, such as the better business bureau. They can point you in the right direction to get what you need.

After Your Business Wins the Bid

If your bid is the one that is chosen to do the work, make sure you follow your bid estimate exactly. The agency you are working for will have their own inspectors on the job site to oversee the work. If you are planning on submitting other bids for other jobs, you will want to make sure that the first job you do is done correctly. You can then use that agency you did the work for as a reference for other bids. This is sometimes what they are looking for in deciding on who will do the work.

Bidding on a government construction job is a long process and the work may not begin for a long time after the bids are submitted. Sometimes the agency will put out a bid notice on work they are planning to do but have not included in their current budget. Even if you win the bid, you will have to wait until the following year when a new budget is in place. Depending on how far in advance they put out the bid notice, this could be almost a year wait for you.