Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams
Soon as you say Government, the price skyrockets.  Not without reason at times, their convoluted specs and ways of doing things drive cost.
Grizz |
Not necessarily true. Many of my jobs are government related, and bids can be pretty competitive. Most departments that I have experience with are on a budget and will shop around.
One thing that drives me insane is that they spec the cheapest materials, but then spend a fortune maintaining them. I did a price comparison with supply, install and maintain over a 15 year period. Option A cost $150,000 to supply and install, but over the 15 year period total cost was $1.2m. Option B cost $450,000 to supply and install, but after 15 years that number only increased to $650,000. They went with Option A, because the initial cost of Option B was too high.
There is no long term accountability, what I see happening is the people in charge of budgeting on the department level are 3-5 years away from retiring so any long term benefit is trumped by low initial cost.