Question
Hi, I have a few questions.
Who do I have to talk to to place bids for mowing the medians in the middle of road ways?
Are there web sites I can go to; to place bids for all sorts of landscaping and lawn maintaince jobs?
For a large complex sush as a shopping center that you need to take care of 3 days a week year round how much should i bid?

Answer
To place bids for mowing the right of ways and medians for roads you need to get in touch with the municipal agency that owns the roads. It may be the state, a county, or City. In some casees it may be a private road in a subdivision in which case you'ld have to talk to the HOA Home Owners Association). In most cases you'll need to be liscensed to work in that area and bondable. Also to work for most large cities and counties you must have good insurance injcluding workman's comp. Often these agencies use services to post RFP's or RFQ's (Requests for Proposals and Request for Qualifications). They may be posted on the internet or local news paper, etc. You have to respond to these RFP's, etc by the deadlines posted and win the work by competitively biddding against other companies. In some cases roads in particular are maintained by the agency itself and may not be available to bid at all.

For alarge complex you'll have to determine your cost in labor, fuel, wear and tear, overhead, insurance, and then add a reasonable profit. No two complexes are the same and no crews are the same. It depends on how big your crew is, how well trained they are, how complex the scope of work is and how much competition you have...not to mention the demand for your work.

Best of Luck
Sean J Murphy, LA, ISA, LEED AP
www.seanjmurphy.com