Customer Grant

[sdimmick]

Has anybody ever worked with a customer grant supplied by the state?
My customer was awarded with a grant. There are specification on what type of substrate to use and the overall look to the sign. The problem is, they have no idea about it and gave me a 173 page book to look thru to verify what is needed. I did so and submitted a proposal. Now they say it has to be made of a wood type sub....my quote was $700 for a $1000 approved quote. Do they have to give the money back? should I pad my price? Just curious as to who has worked with these issues.

Thanks!

 

[Gino]

What did you quote it on ??

Can't you just substitute wood for whatever you had proposed and come up with a new number ??

 

[sdimmick]

quote on alum. sheeting...my point was how much of a pain in the @$$ they were making me read 173 pages of specs required, and changing their minds...

 

[signage]

What did the Spec. say? If the specs say Aluminum then I would tell them that!

 

[Marlene]

you went thru the specs and quoted because they didn't have a clue but when you gave the quote, they all of a sudden did have a clue and said it had to be wood? did you see that when you went thru the 173 pages? if so, why didn't you quote for the specs? not sure what the heck happened as how could they change their minds if it was in the specs?

 

[Si Allen]

Marlene ... all things are possible ... when dealing with "Designers" !

 

[Marlene]

Marlene ... all things are possible ... when dealing with "Designers" !

true but there was a 173 pages of specs for the sign so you would think what it should be made of would have been in there.

 

[Gino]

Like Marlene said, if you read the 173 pages, one must've seen the specs in full. Therefore quote on the specs. Let's try this a little further..... who changed their minds as to what substrate is to be used ?? Your customer or the state department doing the granting ??

If the state did, you just wasted your time. If the customer did, then they wasted your time, but now you can't do the job if the specs say one thing and the customer wants different.

Having to read 173 pages seems totally unnecessary. For the most part, there will be a small section on sign requirements. Those are usually about two to three pages and even much in there won't concern you.

You really can't be out more than about ten minutes of reading time and for a $700 quote about 10 minutes for figuring that out. So far, you're out maybe 1/2 hour of your time and you learned something very valuable...... quote what the book says and tell the customer this is what it is if you want me to do the job. Otherwise, we aren't following the rules and you'll lose your grant money and I ain't gonna get in trouble just because you wanna do something different. Learn to be stern and act as if you know.... even if you don't.

 

[Pat Whatley]

There are specification on what type of substrate to use and the overall look to the signs

Now they say it has to be made of a wood type

You're dealing with "engineer" specs. You ARE going to have to look through the spec book to find what you need but it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to find the two or three pages that actually apply to the sign you're doing.

If the grant is for $1000 to produce the sign I always went with the assumption that the awarding authority believed it was worth that so quote that, or something very close. Don't look at it as padding, think of it as the "pain in the ass" charge for having to read the specs and the extra work doing the sign according to spec will require.

Remember that a lot of those spec sheets were written 20 or 30 years ago and were written using the best material choices of the day (or were written based on what the sign shop that made the very first sign did) We routinely get State of Alabama project sign spec sheets from contractors that are misprints, and have been misprinted for 30 years. If you add up the measurements they requires you've got to fit 56" of text and spacing (all sizes specified) onto a 48" panel with a 2" border.

 

[Billct2]

What kind of job is it?
I get specs sheets for state site signs
that still want 3/4" painted plywood, I use .5" alumaply with never a problem.
Or is it for a storefront type sign?

 

[sdimmick]

Like Marlene said, if you read the 173 pages, one must've seen the specs in full. Therefore quote on the specs. Let's try this a little further..... who changed their minds as to what substrate is to be used ?? Your customer or the state department doing the granting ??

If the state did, you just wasted your time. If the customer did, then they wasted your time, but now you can't do the job if the specs say one thing and the customer wants different.

Having to read 173 pages seems totally unnecessary. For the most part, there will be a small section on sign requirements. Those are usually about two to three pages and even much in there won't concern you.

You really can't be out more than about ten minutes of reading time and for a $700 quote about 10 minutes for figuring that out. So far, you're out maybe 1/2 hour of your time and you learned something very valuable...... quote what the book says and tell the customer this is what it is if you want me to do the job. Otherwise, we aren't following the rules and you'll lose your grant money and I ain't gonna get in trouble just because you wanna do something different. Learn to be stern and act as if you know.... even if you don't.

The specs were not laid out very easily...they stated "preferred" type things, like wood, certain logos, etc...Since im new to this, i thought trying to figure out 173 pages of grant material was way too much for me...I sorta made the customer do the work, luckily it's someone I know. I also know the local grant person, so that worked out well too. I didnt know this until after the fact, but it has been going alot easier since I figured out who the grantor was.

 

[sdimmick]

What kind of job is it?
I get specs sheets for state site signs
that still want 3/4" painted plywood, I use .5" alumaply with never a problem.
Or is it for a storefront type sign?

It's for DCNR in PA...thats what the booklet says. Apparently I should incorporate "PA WILDS", but not totally necessary. They request wood signage. Because I used a victorian font type, they like it...if i knew they would accept a quote for a restaurant (like the one im doing) i would try my own business to see if i can get state money...must be alot of money to waste out there.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Just by reading this, yes you should pad! And to keep it inconspicuous you can just ad the word pad to the quote. As in the pad it will sit on.