×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

On Line Bidding

On Line Bidding

On Line Bidding

(OP)
Has anyone had any experience (Good or Bad) in the growing trend of on line bidding for engineering services or design build projects.

RE: On Line Bidding

I have not heard that engineering services were being bid online.  Who is doing that and for what services?  In my opinion, there is too much work out there to be wasting time participating in an opportunity-to-be-low exercise.  As a consultant, this thought gives me goosebumps.

Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants
www.tankindustry.com

RE: On Line Bidding

People handling online bidding are inexperienced and give false assurances. But some like GE do it well,but there is a lot to be improved as it is very easy to hoodwink or give false details. Prequalification of bidders is very essential and must be done thoroughly,the agency handling online bidding lack this and go about assembling as many bidders as possible to earn better fees.

RE: On Line Bidding

BobW2
Msot online bidding is an attempt to get "hungry" suppliers to bid lower and lower.  It's a game with no winners.  Not only they inexperienced as arunmarao says, they border on unethical. In my experience ( having bid a couple of jobs and watched others ) it's a no win game.  The  winning bidder is the one who makes the biggest error, is the most desperate, misinterprits the scope of the job or all of the above in various combinations. When the job is awarded its the start of an adversial relationship with many disagreements about about things like what's to be done, by  who etc.  The winner bidder and the owner spend a lot of time arguing about scope etc.  IF you do one of these make sure you have a change order proceedure in place to capture every extra penny you can.  
Bidding contest is usually done by people who want the best deal ( can you spell cheap) and their cheapness is reflected in the quality of their bid documents.  
I have watched job bidding on line where I was sure of the scope and had a reasonable ideal of what the cost should be.  You can watch the jobs go for  a fraction of what it really takes to do them.  
My advise is to bid once with a fair and reasonable price then turn off the computer.  It's better to build your reputation on the quality of your work not the price.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources