Ductwork pricing… Being gouged?

Hi guys… for those here that don’t recognize me, I am a long-time Breaktimer… probably 12 years now… I am also a newly elected councilman in my city.
An issue came up tonight and I have a meeting in the morning to further address the matter.
We are undergoing repairs to our recreation center and in this there is an air return duct that is corroded due to (according to the engineer) its placement above a water spraying feature of the pool area below.
The proposed fix is to divert the single opening above this feature in two directions by 10′ each way.
The total 20′ of duct work, fabricated, painted and installed is $5855.00… Yes, that is $292.75 per lineal foot.
While I am not an HVAC contractor or a sheet metal worker, I cannot believe that this amount is fair… perhaps I am wrong. Maybe I am missing something.
I do not know the dimensions of the ductwork but I cannot imagine them being too enormous.
Anyhow, I would appreciate any input.
Replies
If you are farming out the repairs while wearing your councilmans hat the first thing you do is look at how your procurement regs are written. Do you even have policies that cover letting contracts?
Do you have a qualified list of vendors?
Are you supposed to get a number of competitive bids?
You do commercial work. Who does the HVAC work on your projects?
I do know, from personal experience, that there are different pricing structures depending on the customer. You can count on paying more as a city agency than you would pay as a commercial firm and another price as a private person.
But what is fair?
This Q has been hashed over any number of times. Look over the job with your contractors hat on. Even if you are not in that particular trade you must have some feel and some knowledge of how to proceed. Stand in the pool to see what it would take to work safely - how many feet in the air? Is the ductwork exposed or above a drop ceiling? Makes a difference.
Do you know why the opening has to be in a specific location? Can it be moved closer to the source, eliminating the need for extensive ductwork? I'd give this option some hard thought. You'd be a hero and gain chips toward reelection. Two weeks in office and saved the city 5 grand. Film at eleven.
It ain't the sheet metal, it's the labour. Working over a pool is a pain in the butt. Got to protect the tile, setting up scaffold, what hours can be worked.... hard to say what is fair without seeing the job.
edit. paint is probably epoxy. another pain. Joints have to be finished after install.
City facilty = osha = extra $
Priced out a washroom in an office building. One wc and basin. Going to be hard to do it for 3500.
Edited 12/5/2007 1:07 am ET by rich1
Edited 12/5/2007 1:09 am ET by rich1
Sorry, I should have given more details.
The Rec Center is only 4 years old and the pool area is cloed due to roofing system rot already... long story and legal action will ensue.
The pool is drained and roof is being replaced... including decking and repairs to structural members.
Pool is dry and protected... work is in progress on other matters, including these air units.... this is an additional cost to the city based upon an engineer's recommendation.
Granted, it MAY be a fair price but I'm just checking my options as best I can... it does just seem too high but then again, if I knew for sure, i wouldn;t be here asking for reactions... LOL.
http://www.petedraganic.com/
air return duct that is corroded due to (according to the engineer) its placement above a water spraying feature of the pool area below.
Could it be the "water spraying feature" was that leaky roof from above the duct?
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Funny thing is that i am not convinced of the pool feature being the problem either... I have seen some strange things happen in high-humidity environments that would have you swear it was a water leak somewhere when it was just prolific condensation.
http://www.petedraganic.com/
And Cleveland is in a cold climate zone, so the specifications on a roof system of an enclosed swimming pool (heated water) would have to be designed to tolerate lots of condensate or be insulated/heated enough to prevent the condensation.
Do you know the spec's on the roof design? Where are the original spec's and blueprints? The devil is in the details!
Hitch a ride on a construction lift and take an laser thermometer reading on the ceiling and insert that reading on a realative humidity chart for the dew point. I'll bet it will catch your attention.
Your architect of record should be able to answer your question, or at least give you some insight into the situation.
The dollar amount may not be entirely what you expected, but it is probably what you will have to approximately pay to have the repairs made. The "burden factor" seems to kick to the high side when estimating for govermental proposals in order to cover expenses of the system "hassle"!
They sort of have you by the short hairs.
.................Iron Helix
Edited 12/5/2007 6:19 am by IronHelix
Edited 12/5/2007 6:23 am by IronHelix
Pete,
It is not just the high humidity, in a pool room. Chlorine and other chemicals added to the water will naturally off gas,(even without the water spray feature). That creates a pretty hostile environment for any exposed metal, and galv. duct work isn't up to the task of fighting it.
What kind of warranty period do you get ?
I use to assist teaching scuba diving. We used a new pool at a local college for a few years. Maybe 3 years after it opened, it began to get rust streak everywhere in the pool area. Even though most of the pool hardware was stainless steel the other stuff in the room was painted carbon steel, chrome or galvanized. I figured that in five to ten years it would look like a Chinese costal freighter.
Is the contractor bidding it out in stainless maybe?
Dave