Patching and Plastering - plaster disaster

does anyone out there, know a way to detect lead based paint and what precautions to take when repairing plaster that has it? Also, on this courthouse job. it has turned that we have to pickup and clean up every few days because of court which means new plastic and awhole lot of extra work and slower progress. We didn't realize the details before when we bid the job. I would like to adjust the bid accordingly, which will not go over very well with the county. any suggestions?
I know this is touchy because we should have been more thorough, i suppose.
but i feel as though we should insist on lead testing and have it exposed of before going back on the job, even though we are 5 days into it and should have realized this hazard prior

Hey Arch,

Sounds like this courthouse job has turned into a real can of worms for you. Are you doing this yet? :wall: You might check with the local extension office from the university, they might be able to get you a test kit or take a look at these sites
http://www.leadcheck.com/LeadCheckSwabHU.shtml
http://www.leadinspector.com/
They offer swab test kits for a nominal fee, these would just be preliminary tests and if they proved positive, which in any historical public bldg such as this is highly likely, if that's the case specific procedures must be followed for lead abatement. This is regulated & enforced by the state thru a couple of different agencies. DNR & Health, possibly others get involved, mandated certified training is required to obtain state licenses, which are generally required in order to bid this type of work on public bldgs.

But given that you have already secured this bid for the plaster repair & new paint, and I assume have already signed a contract with the county. You're going to have to rely upon the language of the contract as to whether or not you can add the costs of the extra work.

My hat's off to you for going after and getting such a large & public job such as this. But it seems like you sort of went in full speed ahead with blinders on without thinking thru all the variables, time will tell if it was worth it or not.

Who drew up the contract on the job? Do presently have a working relationship with an attorney? If not, try to work on that, it'll come in handy. I assume this job was posted for public bid and the full details of the work involved were available to you prior to when you submitted the bid. So the working conditions should have been taken into consideration by you when you set your price. How are you charging, ftg or hrly? I think I would have tried to figure out the total amount of time & manpower necessary to complete the job & bid it at an hourly rate for something such as this. Honestly I can't ever see myself bidding on such a job. I prefer to work for individuals remodeling, improving, or building a home.

As to the paint, I'd just about bet the farm that a swab test is going to prove positive for lead paint, unless the bldg has been repainted within say the last 15 yrs. Then it's possible that the old lead paint was sealed by the subsequent repainting. But I'm guessing here that the existing paint is cracked and peeling, so you have a very real danger of lead being present. Again it's hard to believe that this type of thing wasn't specified on the specs of the job.

Did you bid on this from a public bid notice or was your company approached by the county to do the work? That's all for now, post back, really like to hear how all this works out. Good luck!

We were one of the 2 crews to bid and ours was the lowest. And the contract is nothing but a slip of reciept and a handshake, with nothing indicated other than "patch and paint= 3600$" yeah, this is a hillbilly town ! and the county didnt specify anything in the newspaper ad other than the patching and painting, and the county doesnt want to put cash into anything other than their own pockets. but anyway we were very foolish in bidding this job without further research. we were bidding the job in terms of drywall and we would have done well had it been drywall.
we are 5 days into the job and then realized the lead possibility. The commissioners, I think realized, but weren't saying and we had to approach them. (We did this today) and agreed to buy the lead tests and test tomorrow . We also explained that cleanup and delays because of court would have to be rebid and and we were told that it would have to be advertised again after testing and resulting cleanup, so this may work to our benifit, but definately to the benifit of the community and employees who have been breathing this dust into their lungs thus far . We are going to have to get a lawyer for future precaution but, I really dont think theres a lawyer in a 60 mile radius that would take on the courthouse. because they are all good buddies and pay each other real well when theres money to throw around(if you know what i mean) and if you dont, ask your lawyer about shannon county. different rules around here.
so this chalks up to job halt and hazmat called in and hopefully we can correct our bid and make a little chunk if they accept a new bid
Thanks for support and constructive criticism. needed both.
archie

Well sounds like you wil come out of this & still have a shirt. This is good, lessons learned, even better. Anybody who's been in this business for a few years has got some sort of horror story similiar to what you're going through.

I know exactly what you're talking about as to dealing with county governments, I've dealt with two or three counties up in this area, and they all work pretty much the same, good ole boy network working at peak proficency. If you weren't born & lived here you're whole life, you're an outsider not to be trusted and you better watch your back or they'll be stickin it to ya first chance they get. Well off the soapbox for now.