The sastisfaction of protecting taxpayers, by assuring their roofing tax dollars go further, is my highest motivation.
Many of you know I have no interest in what private consumers do. They are spending money that belongs to them. The private market is self policing and quickly balances benefit and value.
Public procurement however, is far behind in roofing technology. In most cases it receives inflated pricing through the use of purchasing cooperatives. Purchasing cooperatives are the "middle man" between our schools (all public structures) and factually, is a "Commissioned Salesman".
Their revenues (commissions) are increased when the cost of a new roof is increased. The public pays more, yet receives less with no additional benefit. This system is obviously flawed, as all incentive to "save" money is absent.
This may be a good time to tell you that many purchasing cooperatives make "arrangements" to get their "preferred vendor" listed as the only source of purchase. The "preferred vendor" in many cases pay their sales representatives a full 25% commission. That means that $0.25 of every $1.00 in taxes spent, goes straight into a "salesman's" pocket.
Rational people, with their own money, do not buy goods or services in this way. So why is the money from taxpayers different? Taxpayer money seems more "distant", perhaps less "personal", but it isn't. It's "REAL" money, earned by people who've worked hard for it, and expect value as well as serviceability for it.
Let me share that (without exception) every state in the Republic has "Fair Competition" or 'Competitive Bidding" laws in place. The same is true for all territories and provences of Canada. Purchasing Cooperatives circumvent these laws through fraudulent bidding procedures designed to suit their purpose.
The fraudulent aspect is the use of such terms as: "Line Item Contracting", "Sole Source Contracting", "Proprietary Specifications" and "Job Order Contracting". Following, I will try my best to define each "technique" for you:
A.) Proprietary Specifications:
http://www.cohenseglias.com/federal-contracting-database/proprietary-specifications
"A proprietary specification is one which requires the use of a sole source product. Bidders are responsible for determining the cost and sources of the items specified. It is a contractor's obligation to raise questions to the Government concerning purported proprietary items prior to bid submission and opening, not afterward.
In order to recover under a theory of proprietary specifications, a contractor must prove that (1) the specifications described the characteristics of only one standard product, (2) it submitted data describing an equal substitute product, (3) the substitute was of the same standard of quality."
B.) Sole Source Contracting:
http://www.sru.edu/financeandadministrativeaffairs/Contracts/Pages/SoleSourceContracts.aspx
"A sole source contract implies that there is only one person or company that can provide the contractual services needed in that any attempt to obtain bids would only result in one person or company being available to meet the need. A contract may be awarded for a supply, service or construction item, without the necessity of competition, when the contracting officer determines in writing that one of the following statutory conditions exists:
- Only a single contractor is capable of providing the supply, service or construction.
- Federal and state statute, or federal regulations exempts the supply, service or construction from the competitive procedure.
- The total cost of the supply, service or construction is less than the amount established by the State System for small, no-bid procurements as dictated by the policy on small procurements.
- It is clearly not feasible to award the contract for supplies or services on a competitive basis.
- The services involve the repair, modification or calibration of equipment and they are to be performed by the manufacturer of the equipment or by the manufacturer’s authorized dealer, provided the contracting officer determines that bidding is not appropriate under the circumstances.
- The contract for supplies or services is in the best interest of the Commonwealth.
C.) Line Item Contracting:
This is a copy of a roofing manufacturer's "Line Item" bid schedule to the GSA. Keep in mind, the schedule is applied to roofing replacements on buildings that are unseen in many cases. I'm asking a lot here, but please read the following. Tell me how an administrator could possibly track such complex schedules?
http://www.tremcoroofing.com/fileshare/gsa/56342006TXMASLINEITEMPRICELIST.pdf
D.) Job Order Contracts:
http://eziqc.egordian.com/About.aspx
"ezIQC® is the easy and intelligent alternative for buying on-call facility repair and alteration construction services.
Thanks to the competitively bid prices available through cooperative purchasing, you can shed the red tape of traditional procurement in favor of speed, efficiency and the power of group buying.
ezIQC is based on job order contracts, or indefinite quantity construction contracts as they are sometimes called, in which contractors bid based on a catalog of pre-priced construction tasks for all divisions of construction.
Quality contractors have already been competitively selected in almost every area of the US and they are ready to perform work today.
Proven Success
ezIQC is a proven system that has been in use for over twenty years. This same system is utilized by the United States Postal Service, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, as well many other large, small public and private facility owners across the country including state governments, counties, towns, universities and school systems. ezIQC is ideal for interior, exterior, vertical, horizontal and environmental projects."Inspector General's handbook may be found here:
http://www.gsaig.gov/?LinkServID=6486B647-A5DF-C154-010A408470CAE0B8&showMeta=0
Friends, I believe in "Fairness" to ALL people. I make no distinction between Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Left, or Right. It is not my station in life to debate such complex issues between them, but I do know "our" tax dollars must be wisely spent.
There is no such thing as "Pre-Compete" because you can not bid on structures you have not seen. This is how foolish it sounds: "Hi, my name is Ron, and I have a 10,000 sq. ft. building in Tampa that needs a new roof. How much will it cost?"
In almost 4 decades of service, I have never seen such illogical thinking, that is all perpetrated upon the public in order to circumvent "fair competition" for taxpayer dollars.
My next post will illustrate proper public procurement method.
This is where my heart is. There are thousands of roofing sites to describe details of roofing, and roofing types. I will continue to write about roofing's role as it pertains to sustainability (energy, water, petroleum dependence). I remain deeply concerned for worker safety (heavy lifting, molten asphalt, and open flame).
Statement:
It's important to know that I do not work for anyone. I have not solicited, nor accepted compensation, or personal advancement of any kind since August 19, 2003. This includes manufacturers, consultants, distributors, and contractors.
Everything I do is based upon civic responsibility, and how my discipline (roofing procurement) may be incorporated into that theme.
Humbled you care one bit about what I have to say, I will encourage you to reject negativity in all forms, and always remember to keep looking "UP".
Constructive criticism is both welcomed, and encouraged.
"In this world everything changes except good deeds and bad deeds; they follow you as the shadow follows the body" (unknown)
Respect,
Robert R. "Ron" Solomon
Director, Roof Consultant's Alliance
CCC 1325620 (Florida)
RobertRSolomon@aol.com
