[MassHistPres] Seeking bids for painting 1743 Pelham Town Hall

[Richard Smith]

You should bid with specifications of exactly what you want for paint, ancillary materials and surface prep, and don’t be afraid to enforce it.  Can your paint expert review submittals of materials and make some site visits?  It’s money well spent.  

 

I generally include some language in my specs to require trades to have experience with historic buildings; usually we look for 3-5 references for buildings on the National or Massachusetts Registers.  Some phrasing like this:

 

The work of this Section shall be accomplished by a specialist firm of established reputation for performance of work of the highest quality having not less than five years of successful experience in the preparation and painting of clapboards, architectural trim, interior woodwork, and repair of historic lime plaster on buildings of similar age and type to the XXXXXXX, or, if newly organized, whose personnel have previously established a similar reputation in the same field, and which is regularly engaged in and maintains a regular force of workman skilled in the work of this section.

 

The XXXXXX is listed in the STATE and national  REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES. All work performed shall meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Projects.

 

If the bidders can’t show the experience, this entitles you to toss their bids.  MHC has lists of contractors for different trades who have done PPF projects.

 

Richard Smith

Adams & Smith LLC

55 Thomas Road

Swampscott, MA 01907

rcsmitharch at verizon.net <mailto:rcsmitharch at verizon.net> 

(617) 512-5697 cell

 

From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> On Behalf Of Joseph Larson
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2020 7:07 PM
To: MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Seeking bids for painting 1743 Pelham Town Hall

 

The Pelham Historical Commission has had difficulty in securing bids from painters who have experience in painting historic buildings We have recommendations for paint color and method of application from a nationally recognized expert in painting historic structures. The required state bidding process requires accepting the low bidder. Our first attempt brought us to consider a low bidder who refused to use the type of paint recommended by our expert. We had to re-bid with a condition that the Town would supply the paint. But absent having the funds to employ a watchdog to monitor the painters all day every day we could not be sure that the method of application was followed on the entire building. The paint has not lasted as long as it should.

 

We are considering inserting a requirementall that all bidders must must include in their bid a list of buildings of the era of our town hall that they have painted along with references person who have first hand knowledge of the bidder's performance.on the projects.

 

1. We would appreciate hearing whether this process has been used by other towns.

2. We would welcome any advice on other approaches to solve our problem.

 

Joseph S. Larson

Member, Pelham Historical Commission

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