2018 Public Bid Results

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:53 pm

It will probably be a couple of weeks before any tenders close for public government planting work in BC, but in the meantime, this notice just came out in this afternoon's "Rumour Mill Roundup" newsletter from the WFCA:

WFCA Annual Market & Business Summit set for Kamloops 28th September

Each year before the seasonal silviculture contracting bidding and negotiating tournament begins the WFCA holds a working session of silviculture contractors, seedling producers, contract fire suppression firms and consulting foresters to look at what the short and long-term outlook is for forestry service providers. This year’s half-day session will be held on the Thompson Rivers University campus in Kamloops Thursday 28 September from 9:00 am until noon. Presenters from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, MFLNRORD Forest Practices Branch, BC Timber Sales and, if the smoke clears enough, BC Wildfire Management will talk and answer questions on opportunities to improve contracting practices, anticipated future service demand and trends, and recent events including this year’s fire season, FESBC funding, and the longer term outlook for restoration and reforestation in B.C. The event is free but participants must pre-register at admin@ca.wfca.

staema · Post by **staema** » Tue Sep 26, 2017 3:44 pm

Hello Scooter,
will there be a summary of the summit available afterwards? I am not able to make it.

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 8:16 am

Here's what was in yesterday's WFCA Rumour Mill Roundup newsletter:

One of the main functions of any brain is to figure out what is going to happen next. The same applies to intelligent businesses. The general irony, of course, is that the future is unknowable. Notwithstanding the latter, the WFCA held its 2017 Annual Business and Market Summit this week to gather evidence and help forecast the demand for forestry services in B.C. going forward. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the principal findings based on data and estimates from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, MRLNRORD Forests for Tomorrow, and BC Timber Sales:

- Sowing requests for planting in 2018 are not complete as we wait for all licensees to submit their summer planting figures. So far next year’s spring planting is at 197.4 million. This year’s spring planting was 202.5 million. The bellwether now is the summer planting of next year, which so far, is at 28.2 million and counting. This year’s total sowing requests were 266.6 million with a summer plant of 57.9 million province-wide.
- The longer term view for seedlings is interesting as the estimates in the above graph show. The Forest Carbon Initiative with Forest Enhancement of BC funding is now on track to plant 10 million seedlings in 2019 and 30 million in 2020 dedicated mostly to restoring this year’s fires. Depending on the possibility of federal and provincial funding the program has the potential to support an ongoing large reforestation program in the future.
- Enhanced basic i.e. planting certain species at increased densities, is expected to buoy sowing requests.
- These forecasts will place an increased demand on our current seed supply, which will have to be replenished. Both conifer and deciduous seeds will be in demand.
- The devastation of this year’s wildfire season is only beginning to be measured in terms of standing inventory and lost plantations. But it is severe from all accounts just looking in from the perimeters of these fires, which are still too dangerous to survey on the ground. The drought as well may have been extremely destructive to this year’s planting in the Cariboo, Chilcotin and Southern Interior. Initial reports of widespread mortality suggest more discouraging news around seedling survival.
- Future forestry work, especially planting and surveying, on burned stands and old decaying MPB forests will require developing best practices around danger tree assessing. The WFCA and the BC Forest Safety Council plan to work with government to produce practical protocols.
- Multi-year contracts going forward have advantages in allowing employers to better recruit and retain competent employees over the long term. Contracts of various sizes are helpful. The timing of tendering prior to the field season is critical to getting the best bids and the best service providers.
- BCTS offered 14 million cubic meters of wood this year and plans to plant 46 million seedlings and brush 5700 hectares most of that manually in 2018. Volume offerings will decline over the next three years to 11.6 million cubic meters due largely to the decreasing cut. At the same time BCTS’s planting numbers are expected to remain stable in part due to increased planting density.
- As discussed at the Summit the forestry services community of contractors, consultants and seedling producers is quite capable of matching the demand that the future may hold for reforestation and restoration work. For that to work best the entrepreneurial sector needs reliable forecasts and well articulated plans from government planners. At the tactical level the WFCA working closely with government, BCTS and FESBC on how to best tender contracts, prequalify bidders and evaluate performance will benefit all parties. The 2017 Summit was a good example of that kind of collaboration.
- Complete presentations from the Summit will be posted soon on wfca.ca

TripleS · Post by **TripleS** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 8:21 pm

The increased planting density is intriguing. Anyone know more about this, and will MITD go down too?

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:33 pm

I'm just passing through town, and have very little cell coverage. The viewing season has started. By the start of the week, I'll post a number of short links here, ie. how to find/interpret bids/results on BC Bid and other sites, and results from public bids.

If I don't post results from a public bid right away, I'll get them online as soon as I get a chance. Usually within four to five days of opening, at the latest. If it's a private opening, and I don't have the results, I'm fine with posting them under my own name when other people want to send them to me so the results can be shared "anonymously" (ie. under my name, instead of under the name of the person/company who gave them to me).

I often sleep in the bush, so I frequently go a few days without cell service, or at least without having the time to stop and boot up my laptop and deal with housekeeping. Patience.

In the meantime, if you're bored, I do try to post random non-sensitive viewing photos to my instagram account every couple of days: https://www.instagram.com/replant.ca/

Here are some results which I'll post in full detail by the start of the week:
Dynamic won a job in Vernon today.
Seneca allegedly won a job in Prince George today.
Folklore won a job in Vanderhoof today.

Also, for anyone who is doing viewing themselves, and is trying to think of a comprehensive list of stuff to bring along, let me share my personal list with you. You may occasionally run into mechanical problems (or get stuck) and have to spend a night or so on the block. It's happened to me four times now in seven years. Think about safety, and be prepared for the worst!

Prep List for Viewing

Mandatory:
- Two extra spare tires (although I prefer to have three)
- Tire changing tools (axle jack, rods, lug wrench, WD-40, wire brush)
- VHF Radio in Truck (ch. 01 is the default channel if you’re stuck and we’re looking for you)
- Truck Extras: fire extinguisher, first aid kit, spill kit, roadside flare triangle
- Quad (you’ll probably use this less than you think, it’s often faster just to walk)
- Quad helmet, chain, lock, ramps
- Red jerry can of gas for quad
- Large ratchet strap to tie quad down (x2)
- Cell Phone, cell phone truck charger
- Satellite Phone – Iridium, not Globalstar
- InReach Satellite tracking device
- Planting Shovel
- Fire Shovel (mostly for digging if you get stuck)
- GPS Unit, extra batteries
- Pens/Markers/Highlighters (colored sharpies are good for making notes on maps)
- Two spare yellow jerry cans full of diesel (we’ll often go through more than a tank per day)
- Winch controller (make sure it works)
- Map Book for “Back Roads of BC” (or at least the yellow road atlas series)
- Avenza on a tablet or phone, with the appropriate geo-referenced area maps
- Fuel Cards (PetroCan is the most universal, but it’s good to have others too)
- Toilet paper
- Cooler with food/water for three days (Gatorade, juice, peanuts, granola bars, trail mix, nachos)
- Sleeping bag(s)
- Some extra warm clothing (long johns, extra fleece, gloves, touque, long sleeved shirt)
- Piss can & spill kit (to meet EMS requirements)

Optional:
- Tow rope (sometimes easier than the winch, if a second truck happens along)
- Booster Cables (useless without a second truck, but it’s good to have them)
- Hi-Vis or Hunter Orange shirt/fleece (you’ll meet a LOT of hunters)
- Hex Key for water-in-fuel (unlikely you’ll need it, but just in case)
- Winter weight Flagging Tape (to warn others of road dangers, etc.)
- Camera (if you want a better one than the one on your cell phone)
- Bear mace, giant knife, or foam lightsaber (you’ll run into bears on the blocks)
- Calculator (or use the one on your cell phone)
- Chain Saw (plus hard hat, visor, chain saw pants, boots, gloves) or at least an Axe
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Portable air pump
- Inverter for power in vehicle
- Diesel fuel additive (DEF)
- Lighter (in case you’re stuck overnight and you want to make a cooking fire)

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:40 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Vernon

Contract: PL19TKN001
Client: BCTS Vernon
Season: Spring 2018
# of Trees: 433,133
Left on the table: 1.38%
Contractor Rating System: Yes

Relevant contract documents are attached to this post.

01. $144,722 - 33.4 cents per tree - Dynamic
02. $146,713 - 33.9 cents per tree - Seneca
03. $152,479 - 35.2 cents per tree - Coast Range
04. $166,199 - 38.4 cents per tree - Blue Collar
05. $187,599 - 43.3 cents per tree - Raven Ventures
06. $223,445 - 51.6 cents per tree - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:55 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Prince George

Contract: PL19TGC001
Client: BCTS Prince George
# of Trees: 1,292,616
Season: Spring 2018
Left on the Table: 10.13%
Contractor Rating System: Yes

Some of the most relevant contract documents are attached to this post.

01. $338,762 - 26.2 cents per tree - Seneca
02. $373,092 - 28.9 cents per tree - Blue Collar
03. $378,186 - 29.3 cents per tree - Summit
04. $382,175 - 29.6 cents per tree - Folklore
05. $391,132 - 30.3 cents per tree - Apex
06. $403,467 - 31.2 cents per tree - Brinkman
07. $405,441 - 31.4 cents per tree - Celtic
08. $447,054 - 34.6 cents per tree - Spectrum
09. $465,018 - 36.0 cents per tree - Coast Range

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:57 pm

staema wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2017 3:44 pm Hello Scooter,
will there be a summary of the summit available afterwards? I am not able to make it.

I don't know that there is an overall summary available at the moment. However, here's a link to a page which provides information from three of the presentations that were made at the summit:

https://wfca.ca/2017/10/wfca-annual-bus ... ns-051017/

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 2:09 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Vanderhoof

Contract: PL19TJE002
Client: BCTS Vanderhoof
# of Trees: 1,820,395
Season: Spring 2018
Left on the Table: 4.73%
Contractor Rating System: No

Some of the most relevant contract documents have been attached to this post. I've seen some of the blocks on this contract. I've attached photos of two of the blocks, basically showing one of the easiest and one of the hardest blocks on the contract. The contract includes approximately fourteen freshly harvested blocks, half a dozen year-old blocks that partly or completely burned, and half a dozen fills. The fill shown in the photo is the "worst," and the other fills are more sparsely stocked with smaller naturals. Obviously, in a fill such as the one shown above, many parts of the block do not need to be replanted, and the crew will only have to go in and target openings.

01. $509,802 - 28.0 cents per tree - Folklore
02. $533,906 - 29.3 cents per tree - Summit
03. $555,673 - 30.5 cents per tree - Seneca
04. $575,430 - 31.6 cents per tree - Coast Range
05. $590,394 - 32.4 cents per tree - Celtic
06. $619,074 - 34.0 cents per tree - Brinkman
07. $621,662 - 34.1 cents per tree - Rhino

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 2:36 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Hazelton

Contract: PL19TIG100
Client: BCTS Hazelton
# of Trees: 318,700
Season: Spring 2018
Left on the Table: 7.30%
Contractor Rating System: Yes

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $098,348 - 30.9 cents per tree - Dynamic
02. $105,530 - 33.1 cents per tree - Hybrid 17
03. $106,757 - 33.5 cents per tree - Windfirm
04. $108,933 - 34.2 cents per tree - Anspayaxw
05. $113,776 - 35.7 cents per tree - Whanau Forestry
06. $124,180 - 39.0 cents per tree - Summit
07. $134,664 - 42.3 cents per tree - Brinkman
08. $174,000 - 54.6 cents per tree - Osprey

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 2:59 pm

For those of you who are trying to understand the system for bidding on reforestation work in British Columbia, here's a short guide.

Finding Opportunities:
- Government jobs are usually advertised online, to maximize exposure to the greatest possible number of potential bidders.
- Private work (publicly traded corporations, and privately held mills) is occasionally advertised, but that doesn't happen very often.

Finding Results:
- For contracts where the government is playing with public funds, the results are almost always posted online as quickly as feasible.
- For private work, bid results are sometimes shared between all bidders, and sometimes kept confidential.

To find opportunities for government work, and results, here's a summary:
- BC Timber Sales (BCTS) contracts can be found on BC Bid
- Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (MOFLNRO or FLNRO) contracts can be found on BC Bid
- Forests For Tomorrow (FFT) opportunities used to be advertised in a separate website. That link could be found at the top of the BC Timber Sales bid opportunities page on BC Bid. In fact, as of this afternoon, the link is still there. However, for the last year or two, the link has gone to a Chinese site giving advice to Chinese citizens about how to be clever with your annual financial savings. I wonder if a website administrator at BC Bid will eventually see this post, and remove the link.

The BC Bid website can be found here: https://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca

For those of you who are trying to find open contracts, go into "Browse for Opportunities by Organization" then click on BC Timber Sales or the Ministry, or whatever else you want. You'll then see a list of contracts which have not yet closed.

For those of you who are trying to learn how to find results, here's a four-step graphic sequence to illustrate. Basically, you go "browse" then "unverified bid results" then "bc timber sales" (or whatever, you could also look under ministry of forest, lands, and natural resource operations for other planting contracts) and then just scroll through the list.

To look for old contract documents relating to contracts that have already closed, go to the "Browse" page, then near the bottom go to the "Browse Using Advanced Search" option, then input the contract number in the field for the contract number, and change the tick on open/closed from open to closed, then hit search.

Good luck.

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:35 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Vernon

Contract: PL19TKN002
Client: BCTS Vernon
# of Trees: 820,105
Season: Spring & Summer 2018 (559k spring, 261k summer)
Left on the Table: 6.44%
Contractor Rating System: No

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $253,897 - 31.0 cents per tree - Raven Ventures
02. $270,236 - 33.0 cents per tree - Seneca
03. $294,283 - 35.9 cents per tree - Blue Collar
04. $333,728 - 40.7 cents per tree - Dynamic
05. $344,900 - 42.1 cents per tree - A&G
06. $347,455 - 42.4 cents per tree - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 10:12 pm

Here's this season's first Safety Pro Tip for those of you who are viewing, or in fact, for anyone who works in the bush and then has to drive home after dusk: always carry a case of bottled water and a container of handy-wipes. Driving home at night is much easier if you can clean off those dirty headlights as soon as it starts to get dark.

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:04 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Prince George

Contract: PL19TGC002
Client: BCTS Prince George
# of Trees: 1,443,135
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 11.21%

That's a lot to leave on the table. I'm sure that Spectrum's new owners must be impressed.

01. $424,346 - 29.4 cents per tree - Spectrum
02. $471,905 - 32.7 cents per tree - Celtic
03. $475,904 - 33.0 cents per tree - Blue Collar
04. $491,401 - 34.1 cents per tree - Summit
05. $496,148 - 34.4 cents per tree - Seneca
06. $528,598 - 36.6 cents per tree - Coast Range
07. $544,089 - 37.7 cents per tree - Folklore
08. $588,193 - 40.8 cents per tree - Apex

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:09 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Fort St James

Contract: PL19TJE005
Client: BCTS Fort St James
# of Trees: 1,799,000
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: No
Left on the Table: 1.66%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $524,481 - 29.2 cents/tree - Blue Collar
02. $533,185 - 29.6 cents/tree - Summit
03. $560,640 - 31.2 cents/tree - Spectrum
04. $569,421 - 31.7 cents/tree - Coast Range
05. $580,683 - 32.3 cents/tree - Dynamic
06. $634,370 - 35.3 cents/tree - Seneca
07. $696,629 - 38.7 cents/tree - Folklore
08. $706,379 - 39.3 cents/tree - Apex
09. $709,147 - 39.4 cents/tree - Celtic
10. $742,645 - 41.3 cents/tree - Brinkman

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:18 pm

Here are the results for a second job for Planting in Fort St James

Contract: PL19TJE006
Client: BCTS Fort St James
# of Trees: 1,724,900
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: No
Left on the Table: 3.53%

I haven't seen Summit doing much bidding in the public domain over the past few years. I wonder what has made them resurface. A desire to expand? The loss of a large number of trees at one of their regular private mills?

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $507,199 - 29.4 cents per tree - Blue Collar
02. $525,081 - 30.4 cents per tree - Summit
03. $526,439 - 30.5 cents per tree - Coast Range
04. $530,358 - 30.7 cents per tree - Celtic
05. $540,676 - 31.3 cents per tree - Brinkman
06. $559,905 - 32.5 cents per tree - Spectrum
07. $585,095 - 33.9 cents per tree - Apex
08. $586,945 - 34.0 cents per tree - Folklore
09. $604,276 - 35.0 cents per tree - Dynamic
10. $611,136 - 35.4 cents per tree - Seneca

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:34 pm

I find these last two jobs to be an interesting case study.

Look at the spreads between the following six companies, when comparing the two jobs:
Brinkman (10.0 cents)
Celtic (8.7 cents)
Apex (5.4 cents)
Folklore (4.7 cents)

These four companies had an average spread between contracts of 7.2 cents per tree. Coincidentally, I viewed all of the blocks on both contracts, and during my viewing, I saw people from three other companies who were also viewing. Can you guess? Brinkman, Celtic, and Apex.

However, I didn't see anyone from the other group of companies. That's not to say that they didn't look at the jobs; just that I didn't see them in my travels. The average spread between the two jobs, for the six companies that I didn't see, was 0.6 cents. And even that is almost entirely attributable to Dynamic's spread.

What an interesting situation. I wonder if anyone just assumed that the two jobs must average out to be somewhat similar, and prepared a bid from the comfort of their office without bothering to drive out and take a look around?

To be fair, I do run into Blue Collar fairly often while checking out blocks, so I wouldn't say by any means that it is typical for them to throw together a blind bid.

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:41 pm

Here's my Safety Pro Tip #2 for this year's viewing season.

With all of the wildfires throughout BC this year, if you see recently burned ground on either side of the road when approaching a bridge, it's probably in your own best interests to stop the truck and do a quick "structural integrity" assessment of the bridge. Don't assume that because the steel decking looks nice, that the wooden beams which are out of sight underneath are still in great shape. There are probably a much higher number of burned out bridges there than you'd find in a typical year, and foresters haven't necessarily discovered or anticipated all problem infrastructure.

Here's an example that I just came across:

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:59 pm

Here are the results for another contract for Planting in Vanderhoof

Contract: PL19TJE003
Client: BCTS Vanderhoof
# of Trees: 1,911,995
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: No
Left on the Table: 9.64%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $504,045 - 26.4 cents/tree - Summit
02. $552,630 - 28.9 cents/tree - Seneca
03. $590,794 - 30.9 cents/tree - Spectrum
04. $595,810 - 31.2 cents/tree - Apex
05. $630,308 - 33.0 cents/tree - Celtic
06. $636,505 - 33.3 cents/tree - Folklore

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 8:12 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Arrow South

Contract: PL19TFG001
Client: BCTS Nelson
# of Trees: 520,453
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 0.02%

This may go down in history as the closest bid in a very long time. At least the closest that I remember, with just $57 separating the two lowest bidders.

Some of the relevant contract documents have been attached to this post.

01. $274,877 - 52.8 cents/tree - Evergreen
02. $274,934 - 52.8 cents/tree - Celtic
03. $277,029 - 53.2 cents/tree - West Arm Silviculture

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:13 pm

I've attached a copy of what I call a "challenging overview map." This one is for a contract which is currently open, and contractors are currently looking at blocks on this job.

Unfortunately, this overview map has a few deficiencies:
- There are four blocks on this map (91606-1, 91606-2, 91606-3, and 86015-1) which are not actually on the contract. Of course, I drove to those first, before examining the tender offer form.
- There is one block missing from this map (72994-1). It must have been added as an afterthought, since it's the last item on the tender offer form.
- There are no roads. "Where we're going, we don't need roads!"

On a positive note, the scale is good (1:500,000) so it lets us see the entire contract as a whole.

I've collected a few older geo-referenced overview maps, and put them onto Dropbox. They're for various purposes ... to help me when I'm viewing, and to help people who are learning to use Avenza, and to help public users. There is an overview for the Houston area in that folder that I found to be very helpful in correlating with this year's overview, to locate the blocks.

To find that older overview, and all the others, follow these steps:
1. Go to my public dropbox account: www.djbolivia.ca/dropbox.html (It's main purpose is for my music, but you can ignore that).
2. Go into the "Canadian Reforestation" folder.
3. Go into the "BC Overview Maps" folder.
4. Grab the map called "Burns Lake 2015.pdf"

The only blocks that you won't be able to find with that 2015 map are the two Lamprey blocks, which are down around km65 on the Morice River FSR, and the 88884-1 fill plant up the Chisholm. It's worth taking a look at those Lamprey blocks, since the access to those two blocks is a problem. Also, if anyone reading this viewed this contract already, before October 27th, be prepared for a nasty surprise down in 91598-1 if you happen to win the job. I can see quad tracks where someone already went in to look at the block, but the big windstorm that just went through knocked down massive amounts of large blowdown on the access road for several kilometers. I tried to start cutting my way in, but ran out of mixed gas. Be prepared for a lot of chain saw work down there in the spring.

If anyone is looking for any other old overview maps from the past several years for areas within which BCTS and MOFLNRO work, let me know, and I'll see what I can dig up to add to that folder. For most areas, I just tried to pick one of the best older overviews, rather than everything that I have available. For example, I probably have about 15 older Prince George overview maps from various contracts, but there's only one in that Dropbox folder.

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:13 am

Here's another educational tip which is related to the previous post about the Houston PL19TAS101 contract overview.

If you're switching back and forth between the current contract map without roads (Houston_2018_Overview_Morice.pdf) and the archived "Burns Lake 2015.pdf" map that I mentioned, and you're having problems trying to find the exact locations of the current blocks on the older map with the roads, there's an easy solution. Go into the current overview that shows the block locations, using Avenza Maps. Drop pins onto each block. Export this set of pins to your device storage. Open the Burns Lake 2015 map with the roads in Avenza. Import the set of pins that you just created in the other map. They'll now show up on your good older overview with the roads. This lets you get very close to all blocks, at least to a point where you can use the actual block maps for better access information.

To illustrate, I created a set of pins for the blocks, labeling each one with the unit number and coloring them all yellow for the active blocks (and red for the four blocks that aren't on the tender offer form). I've attached that set of pins to this post as a KML file. Below are graphic screenshots from my phone, illustrating what I mean.

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:03 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Arrow North

Contract: PL19TFG002
Client: BCTS Nelson
# of Trees: 513,891
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 4.74%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post. This contract included 45,485 tea-bags.

01. $257,870 - 50.2 cents/tree - Evergreen
02. $270,087 - 52.6 cents/tree - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:08 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Cranbrook

Contract: PL19TFH001
Client: BCTS Crankbrook
# of Trees: 771,300
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 3.21%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $271,725 - 35.2 cents/tree - Brinkman
02. $280,451 - 36.4 cents/tree - Zanzibar
03. $310,331 - 40.2 cents/tree - Evergreen
04. $350,947 - 45.5 cents/tree - Celtic

ShazzaCon · Post by **ShazzaCon** » Sun Nov 05, 2017 3:30 pm

Scooter wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:13 pm I've attached a copy of what I call a "challenging overview map." This one is for a contract which is currently open, and contractors are currently looking at blocks on this job.

U

This is a horrible map! My only guess is that a new staff member is creating the maps and is not aware of a roads layer. A quick fix on their end.

Post by **Scooter** » Sun Nov 05, 2017 3:54 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in the Boundary area

Contract: PL19TFF001
Client: BCTS Boundary
# of Trees: 985,000
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: No
Left on the Table: 8.41%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post.

01. $390,394 - 39.6 cents/tree - Evergreen
02. $423,249 - 43.0 cents/tree - Celtic
03. $433,840 - 44.0 cents/tree - Blue Collar

Post by **Scooter** » Sun Nov 05, 2017 4:00 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in the Kootenay Lakes area

Contract: PL19TFD002
Client: BCTS Nelson
# of Trees: 1,071,115
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 18.93%

This is a massive amount to leave on the table - $89,557 in total, in actual dollar terms. West Arm will have locals working on the job, which can realize some cost savings, but they must be kicking themselves on this one. This job has 225,000 ferts and is spread out from Yahk to north of Kaslo, so it's a fairly complicated job.

01. $473,159 - 44.2 cents/tree - West Arm Silviculture
02. $562,716 - 52.5 cents/tree - Evergreen
03. $581,183 - 54.3 cents/tree - Brinkman
04. $608,617 - 56.8 cents/tree - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:41 pm

Here are the results for another contract for Planting in Vernon

Contract: PL19TKN003
Client: BCTS Vernon
# of Trees: 1,310,722
Season: Spring & Summer 2018, 3 year OTR
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 12.93%

I've attached some of the relevant documents to the bottom of this post. It's about 619,164 spring trees and 691,558 summer trees, with a mandatory production requirement of 50,000 trees per day.

Seneca's bid was rejected on this tender.

01. $452,488 - 34.5 cents/tree - Blue Collar
02. $510,996 - 39.0 cents/tree - A&G
03. $515,486 - 39.3 cents/tree - Raven Ventures
04. $588,815 - 44.9 cents/tree - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:08 pm

I also have to catch up on some brushing contract results from the past couple of months.

Here are the results for a contract for Brushing in Prince George

Contract: BR18TGC005
Client: BCTS Prince George
Season: Fall 2017

I've attached some of the relevant tender documents to the bottom of this post. Jeyo Enterprises submitted a bid that was rejected as it was not accompanied by the required bid deposit.

01. $152,136 - Navrom Contracting
02. $180,270 - Celtic
03. $209,580 - Spectrum
04. $221,452 - Mihis Silviculture

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:11 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Brushing in North Arrow

Contract: BR18TFG016
Client: BCTS Nelson
Season: Fall 2017

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post.

01. $45,098 - Andre Hamelin / Hamelin Silviculture
02. $63,174 - Raven Ventures
03. $64,718 - Wildhorse Forestry

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:16 pm

Here are the results for another contract for Brushing & Mistletoe Eradication in Prince George

Contract: BR19TGE002
Client: BCTS Prince George
Season: 2018

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this tender.

01. $233,903 - Lignin Industries
02. $271,122 - Spectrum
03. $359,284 - Glayjhay Contracting
04. $396,669 - Mihis Silviculture
05. $492,279 - Celtic

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:19 pm

Here are the results for another contract for Manual Brushing in North Arrow

Contract: BR19TFG004
Client: BCTS Nelson
Season: 2018

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post.

01. $132,986 - Greenpeaks Resource Management
02. $140,438 - Hamelin Silviculture
03. $196,737 - Mihis Silviculture

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:52 am

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Clearwater

Contract: PL19TEE001
Client: BCTS Clearwater
# of Trees: 1,250,882
Season: Spring/Summer 2018 (3 year OTR)
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 1.2%

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post.

01. $609,235 - 48.7 cents/tree - Dynamic
02. $616,537 - 49.3 cents/tree - Integrity
03. $666,309 - 53.3 cents/tree - Evergreen
04. $675,397 - 54.0 cents/tree - Zanzibar
05. $696,443 - 55.7 cents/tree - Leader
06. $722,405 - 57.8 cents/tree - Celtic
07. $764,276 - 61.1 cents/tree - Seneca
08. $818,083 - 65.4 cents/tree - A&G

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:21 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Brushing in Sea-to-Sky, Upper Lillooet

Contract: BR18LMN200
Client: MOF Squamish

This contract is for about 77 hectares of work, including almost half of which is heli access. I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post.

01. $122,774 - Leader
02. $159,628 - Zanzibar
03. $308,741 - Brinkman

Post by **Scooter** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:31 pm

Here are the results for a contract for the Application of Deer Repellent out of Squamish

Contract: BR18LMN007
Client: MOF Squamish

This contract covers the application of (presumably) Plantskydd on 22 blocks totaling approximately 190 Hectares. I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post.

01. $058,055 - Leader
02. $078,680 - Fieldstone Resources
03. $123,782 - Zanzibar
04. $159,669 - Mihis Silviculture

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:36 pm

Quite a few planting or brushing contract results will be announced over the next three days (five contracts, I think). I'll post those here on Thursday and Friday nights. In the meantime, here are the results for a small Brushing contract in Revelstoke/Golden

Contract: BR19TKR005
Client: BCTS Vernon
Season: 2018

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post. You can find more information (such as overview maps, block maps, etc.) on BC Bid using the Advanced Search option with the contract number. This contract is approximately 60 hectares.

01. $51,540 - Mihis Silviculture
02. $61,185 - Raven Ventures
03. $91,234 - BBK Contracting

Tnalp · Post by **Tnalp** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:55 pm

Well the AB Beetle Winter Season Contracts have been awarded.
Spectrum basically locked down the whole province. 10+ Million worth of jobs!

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:28 pm

Tell us more! Are the volumes of work in Alberta consistent for the past couple years, or going up or down? How much of the work is doing surveys, and how much is Fall & Burn? What does the future look like?

The future for planting in BC is looking like there should be more work in the next several years, due to the extensive fires this year. But then again, all the nurseries in Western Canada are fairly close to capacity on an industry-wide basis, so I don't think the planting volumes can scale very significantly in the near future without some significant infrastructure investment on the part of nursery owners.

Post by **Scooter** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:41 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Mackenzie

Contract: PL19TGE004
Client: BCTS Mackenzie
# of Trees: 2,974,532
Season: Summer 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 23.6%

The amount of money left on the table on this job is stunning. Over $180k in real terms. Would Coast Range want to drop this? They must be getting a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach, looking at the other bids. To drop it without penalty, they could argue that they suddenly found themselves to be overextended during the summer, but that would mean that they couldn't bid on any more summer work for BCTS for 2018. BCTS can't give them a pass on this and let them keep bidding; if Coast Range subsequently won another job, the contractor who came in 2nd place on such a job would probably sue the province for failure to follow their own published contract guidelines. If Coast Range drops the job, this might mean a short season for Coast Range employees (getting this many summer trees is a big deal, even though the price is low). Mind you, a short season might be more palatable than extremely poor summer prices. I guess Coast Range will have to accept the job and suck up a lower profit margin, in order to meet their legal Minimum Wage guidelines and in order to retain employees. Tough news. Coast Range would have been happier had at least one other company bid much more aggressively.

I've attached a couple of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post. To find more information, including block maps and an overview map and full contract information, look for this contract using the advanced search on BC Bid.

01. $ 765,715 - 25.7 cents per tree - Coast Range
02. $ 946,404 - 31.8 cents per tree - Celtic
03. $ 946,872 - 31.8 cents per tree - Dynamic
04. $ 968,655 - 32.6 cents per tree - Spectrum
05. $1,019,365 - 34.3 cents per tree - Blue Collar
06. $1,177,207 - 39.6 cents per tree - Folklore

Tnalp · Post by **Tnalp** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:37 pm

AB spent around 500 million over the last 10 years... This year seems like 25 plus % less work than the 5 year avg but one contractor doing up to 70 000 trees is pretty yyuuge

ChinRoll · Post by **ChinRoll** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:18 pm

The contractor I've been probing for is paying 20% less per site than previous years. Yes the end of MPB surveys in Alberta is nigh!!

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:29 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Manual Brushing in Kootenay Lake

Contract: BR19TFD003
Client: BCTS Nelson
Season: 2018

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post. More information, including maps and so on, can be found using the Advanced Search on BC Bid.

01. $136,173 - Hamelin Silviculture
02. $148,878 - Mihis Silviculture
03. $152,421 - West Arm Silviculture
04. $233,357 - BBK Contracting

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:57 pm

For those of you wondering what "Left On The Table" means, it's the gap (in dollar or percentage terms) between the lowest and second lowest bidder. Why is this important? Let me use an example, with two different contracts being bid upon by four companies each. We'll pretend that the contracts are in very different geographical areas,

Contract 1:
01. $499,998 - Company A
02. $500,000 - Company B
03. $500,002 - Company C
04. $507,738 - Company D

Contract 2:
01. $400,000 - Company F
02. $500,002 - Company G
03. $510,212 - Company H
04. $578,827 - Company J

In the first contract, the amount left on the table (the gap between the lowest and second lowest bids) is $2 in absolute terms, or about 0.0004% in terms of percentage difference.

In the second contract, the amount left on the table is $100,002 in absolute terms, or about 25% in terms of percentage difference.

The lower the amount left on the table, the more confidence that the bid was a good one that accurately reflects fair market pricing. Admittedly, this depends on the assumption that all bidders are trying to price their bids fairly, and no mistakes or misjudgments occurred when putting the bid together.

The phrase comes from a situation where you didn't get your money's worth. If Company A had placed a higher bid, they almost certainly wouldn't have won the job. If their bid was even three dollars higher, the job would have been awarded to Company B. They left almost nothing on the table for BCTS to keep.

Company F misjudged badly. They could have bid a lot higher and still won the job. If they had bid $460,000, they still would have won. At $480,000, they still would have won. At $500,001, they still would have had the lowest (and therefore the "winning") bid. This is like throwing away free money. BCTS would have paid them $500,000 to do the job if they had submitted a bid for that amount, but since Company F was bidding too aggressively, BCTS will only pay them $400,000. It's analogous to BCTS having a pile of $500,000 in crisp hundred dollars bills on a table, and after the job is done, Company F gets to walk away with $400,000, but leaves the last $100,000 for BCTS to keep.

It's traditional for some money to be left on the table. The only way that this wouldn't happen would be through collusion between bidding companies, which is illegal. So due to the statistical probability of bids being different amounts, there's almost always going to be some small gap between the two lowest bids. It seems to vary a lot, and I've attached a chart showing the amounts left on all of the bids from this past year (ie. tenders from Fall 2016, for planting in 2017).

Looking at the numbers in percentage terms is more useful than looking at absolute numbers, because the size of all the planting contracts can vary so much. Obviously, dollar amounts matter more to the bottom line of a company's profitability. I'd rather leave 10% on the table on a tiny job of $100,000 (missing out on $10k that I could have made) than leaving 3% on the table on a huge job of $3,000,000 (missing out on $90k that I could have made). However, by listing amounts as percentage terms, it's easier to compare them. Leaving a few percent on the table is common and not a huge deal. But when you start to get up close to double digits, maybe you were bidding too aggressively.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:14 pm

Here are partial results for a contract for Planting in Quesnel

Contract: PL19DQU001
Client: MOFLNRO (Ministry of Forests)
Season: Spring 2018
# of Trees: 1,099,730
Left on the Table: Unknown

I found this in the Contract Awards section on BC Bid. This office didn't release the results of all competing bids. I'm not sure why - it's taxpayer money. Perhaps someone could find out more by going through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIPPA). It's a free request from this link:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/gove ... nformation

It would be useful to have full information about all bids, for our annual post-bidding-season analysis of bids across the province. You'd think that the government would want to share this information in the interest of transparency, and trying to make fair use of the public purse.

All that can be determined from the small amount of information that is currently online is that Coast Range put in a winning bid. There may or may not have been other bidders.

01. $377,789 - 34.4 cents per tree - Coast Range Contracting
02. ???????????

This entire contract is for fill planting.

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:22 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Revelstoke/Shushwap

Contract: PL19TKR004
Client: BCTS Nelson
# of Trees: 140,144
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: No
Left on the Table: 3.6%

This is a small job. However, it's also a technical job - entirely 512A stock, with difficult ground, very long drives, and some helicopter access.

01. $ 92,702 - 66.1 cents/tree - Seneca
02. $ 96,022 - 68.5 cents/tree - Zanzibar
03. $108,201 - 77.2 cents/tree - Evergreen
04. $113,904 - 81.3 cents/tree - Fireweed
05. $124,833 - 89.1 cents/tree - Raven Ventures

Post by **Scooter** » Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:28 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Williams Lake

Contract: PL19TLE002
Client: BCTS Williams Lake
# of Trees: 4,353,002
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 9.3%

This job is in an area that I'm quite familiar with, having worked there twice in the past five years. This is the biggest single job by number of trees that I've ever seen advertised in the province, although it's not the largest by dollar amount. I believe that there is a firm deadline of June 5th to get these trees in the ground. Apex will need to have a lot of planters in May. My guess is that they'll need three camps of 50 people each.

Edit: This is an amended set of results. The first time I posted this, I was using an outdated tender form with the incorrect number of trees (too many), which made the prices seem lower than they actually were. The original tender was for about 4.6m, but a few blocks were dropped to bring the project down to 4.35m.

01. $1,298,390 - 29.8 cents/tree - Apex
02. $1,418,495 - 32.6 cents/tree - Dynamic
03. $1,491,266 - 34.3 cents/tree - Celtic
04. $1,533,755 - 35.2 cents/tree - Folklore
05. $1,553,577 - 35.7 cents/tree - Blue Collar
06. $1,587,232 - 36.5 cents/tree - Coast Range

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:30 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Houston

Contract: PL19TAS101
Client: BCTS Houston
# of Trees: 2,209,281
Season: Spring 2018 (Option to Renew)
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 5.8%

Quite a large gap between the #2 and #3 bidders on this list. I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to this post. Additional maps and documents can be found by going to the Advanced Search section on BC Bid.

01. $630,095 - 28.5 cents/tree - Windfirm
02. $666,936 - 30.2 cents/tree - Hybrid 17
03. $798,894 - 36.2 cents/tree - Next Generation
04. $809,133 - 36.6 cents/tree - Dynamic
05. $812,859 - 36.8 cents/tree - Folklore
06. $834,515 - 37.8 cents/tree - Seneca

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:42 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Merritt

Contract: PL19TEF001
Client: BCTS Kamloops
# of Trees: 2,917,876
Season: Spring 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: 1.2%

I've attached a few of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post. Additional maps and documents can be found using the Advanced Search option on BC Bid.

01. $ 971,039 - 33.3 cents/tree - Dynamic
02. $ 982,327 - 33.7 cents/tree - Apex
03. $1,014,202 - 34.8 cents/tree - Leader
04. $1,024,790 - 35.1 cents/tree - Seneca
05. $1,063,762 - 36.5 cents/tree - Celtic
06. $1,064,489 - 36.5 cents/tree - Blue Collar

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:49 pm

Here are the results for a contract for Planting in Vanderhoof

Contract: PL19TJE007
Client: BCTS Vanderhoof (FFT Funding)
# of Trees: 335,500
Season: Spring 2017
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: Inconsequential

This is a job funded by the Forests For Tomorrow program. It's all fill plants and mechanical knock-down of pine beetle stands, or planting through wildfire areas. Not really that pretty. I viewed it and the blocks were mostly pretty ugly-looking, except for one nice-looking sandy fill near the Kenny Dam. It's also very spread out, with blocks from close to Fort St James down to Kenny Dam, all over the place in five different areas. But for a company with multiple camps working around Vanderhoof, that may not be an issue. Also, it's a small job, so this could have fit nicely into a gap in scheduling for someone, especially as it is ground that is low elevation in areas that open up quite early in the spring.

I've attached some of the relevant contract documents to the bottom of this post. Additional maps and information can be found using the Advanced Search option on BC Bid.

01. $111,377 - 33.2 cents/tree - Spectrum
02. $111,733 - 33.3 cents/tree - Integrity
03. $117,594 - 35.1 cents/tree - Seneca
04. $156,086 - 46.5 cents/tree - Folklore

Post by **Scooter** » Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:45 pm

Here are the results for the first of four BCTS contracts for Planting in Quesnel

Contract: PL19TLH003
Client: BCTS Quesnel
# of Trees: 985,720
Season: Spring & Summer 2018
Contractor Rating System: Yes
Left on the Table: Negligible

This contract consists of 487k spring and 499k summer. Most of the blocks are east of town, towards Barkerville. The rankings below are listed before contractor ratings are applied, so the actual order of "winners" is slightly different.

01. $333,275 - 33.8 cents/tree - Celtic
02. $334,429 - 33.9 cents/tree - Seneca
03. $350,642 - 35.6 cents/tree - AKD
04. $352,116 - 35.7 cents/tree - Coast Range
05. $378,408 - 38.4 cents/tree - Blue Collar
06. $386,024 - 39.2 cents/tree - Folklore
07. $392,934 - 39.9 cents/tree - Apex