[Robert T]

Last week I was asked to give a customer a bid on a design another company has drawn. This is the first time i have been asked to do this, I was told his friend who only does high end residential drew it, but doesnt want to install it. I scanned the plan and asked for a copy he didnt have one at the time to give me. It looked to be $15-18K Install. I have driven past a house where another landscaper installed my plan and I still get upset seeing it when i am in that addition 3 yrs later.

The truth is I really want this Job. I am already hydroseeding the lawn for the builder, so i will have the equipment there.
Should i assume he is telling the truth and bid the job as drawn?
I would rather draw my own design, but I dont have time to draw and sell the plan before we install the lawn next week.

Any thoughts would be appreciated,

Robert

[agla]

Robert,

All you have to go on is what the client told you. You have no reason to believe otherwise.

I have drawn lots of plans working in design/build with the plan being the first contract. The client bought it and had every right to shop it around. Many times they did not accept our proposal to build the plan and hired someone else to do so. There were no hard feelings at all.

Sometimes a company is in demand and is able to charge a higher price than many others or are too busy to take on jobs that are not as profitable as others. Not every client is willing to pay more, or sometimes they don't realize that not everyone following the same plan will get the same result.

You should feel good about bidding on the work. In the past, you were willing to give a plan to someone without getting paid. It was a calculated risk that you were willing to take to get a job. That might be what has happened here as well, but that has nothing to do with you. If it is a good professional plan, it was almost certainly paid for unless there is a statement right on the plan that claims ownership (very rare).

Go forward with a clear conscience.

[Robert T]

Thanks for giving your prospective alga, i feel much better about placing a bid. I just dont want to be the company that steals plans because I cant design my own.

[Alberto]

We provide quotes from time to time on plans brought in by clients. Only rarely would we question how the client got the plan, if they paid for it, etc. We just pretty much see it as an opportunity to get work.

[thegreenman_us]

A thought on this...

In the rare cases where I do a design without a deposit payment up front, I always watermark all preliminary designs I show a customer. It clearly says
"This design has not been purchased and remains property of Company Name, Address and Contact Number". I also tend to leave off certain vital details until the finished design is accepted and paid for.

If you design on vellum you can easily watermark by writing the watermark text in bold marker on a separate sheet of paper and when dry, placing it behind your original when photocopying it.