2011-08-29_REVISION - C1982056 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Division derives its costs for reclamation cost estimates from four main sources, the Cost Reference Guide for Construction Equipment (CRG), the Colorado Department of Transportation, US Department of Labor, Davis Bacon Minimum Wages, Colorado (CDOT), the Caterpillar Performance Handbook (CAT Handbook) and the RS Means Building Construction Cost Data and Site Work and Landscape Cost Data (Means). The Division also uses additional data sources such as published seed prices (Pawnee Buttes Seed, Arkansas Valley Seeds, etc.) and the Division's Inactive Mine Reclamation Program (IMP). Data from these sources is entered into the Division's proprietary software, the Colorado Integrated Reclamation Cost Estimating System (CIRCES), and used to calculate reclamation cost estimates. All of the hourly equipment costs for earthmoving tasks are derived from the CRG and CDOT. The Division inputs hourly ownership and operating costs from the CRG into CIRCES to provide a raw cost for the specific piece of equipment. The Division then adds a labor rate, from the published CDOT data, which gives a total, raw hourly cost for operating each piece of equipment. This hourly cost represents the raw cost to operate any given piece of equipment and does not include any costs required by the contractor (such as profit, liability insurance or contract performance bond costs). When a contractor is preparing a bid to complete a reclamation project, they must calculate the raw cost of operating each piece of equipment then add in all of the other costs they will incur in the completion of the project to come up with a final bid (contract) amount. These raw costs are called the "direct costs" in the Division cost estimate. The additional items a contractor must add in to their raw or direct costs are liability insurance, performance bond, job superintendent costs and profit. Several of these items are spelled out and required per the "General Bid Specifications" (IMP Specs), Colorado Inactive Mine Reclamation Program, dated March 2009. In the IMP Specs, the first section is the "General Conditions of the Contract ". This section provides requirements for all contractors bidding on Division reclamation contracts. Article 2, on page GC -2, requires a "Performance and Payment Bond ". This Article states "(t)he CONTRACTOR shall furnish a labor and material payment bond for 100 percent of the original contract price and a performance bond for 100 percent of the original amount of the contract." The percentage rate for the performance bond was derived from Means (Section 01 31 13.90 0010) and is set at 1.05% of the direct costs. Article 3, on page GC -2, requires "Insurance ". This Article states "(t)he CONTRACTOR shall obtain at his own expense, and maintain at all times during the term of this contract, insurance... ". The percentage rate for insurance was also derived from Means (Section 01 31 13.30 0600) and is set at 2.02% of the direct costs. Article 19, on page GC -7, requires "Superintendence of the Work" (Job Superintendent). This Article states "(t)he CONTRACTOR shall keep a competent and reliable superintendent on the job at all times that labor is being performed." This cost is derived from the Means cost for a Job Superintendent (Laborer Foreman) and the hourly cost for a pick -up truck. Finally, the contractor Profit is calculated as a base percentage of the direct costs. This percentage is set at 10% and is based on a standard profit percentage given in Means (this profit is less than the profit that would be added using the OSM profit chart in the OSM Handbook for the Calculation of Reclamation Bond Amounts, which has 15% as the lowest profit percentage). The contractor costs discussed above are costs that a contractor must add to their direct equipment operating costs (raw or direct costs) in order to run a profitable business. Since all of these costs are incurred by the contractor, they are added in to the cost of the contractor's bid prior to the bid being