Oklahoma Plumbing Business and Law

Company overhead is the cost of doing business that cannot be directly linked to a specific project (office rent, accounting fees, taxes, telephone, legal fees, administrative labor), while project overhead is job-related (bonds, temporary storage, temporary office, security, utilities, dumpsters, portable toilets, plus indirect items like small tools and pickup trucks) and typically runs 5–10 percent of the total bid.

Bid peddling is the subcontractor approaching the general contractor after award intending to lower the price submitted on bid day, whereas bid shopping is the general contractor seeking lower bids from other subcontractors.

Bid rigging is collusion in which contractors coordinate their bids to fix the award outcome (forbidden by some state statutes on public projects), while bid peddling involves one subcontractor undercutting its own bid after the award.

In arbitration a third-party arbitrator acts as a judge and renders an arbitral award that legally binds all parties (nearly all states adopted the federal Uniform Arbitration Act), while a mediator only facilitates dialogue and the parties set the terms with no binding decision.

Named peril policies have narrower coverage and list only the perils covered (e.g., fire and lightning), while all-risk policies cover all perils not specifically excluded by the policy.

A bank letter of credit is not a bond but a cash guarantee to the owner that can be converted to a payment — it is not a guarantee of performance and customarily covers only 5 to 10 percent of the contract rather than 100 percent.

Maintenance bonds often use a figure of 10 percent of construction cost as the required bond amount, while performance bonds are usually set at 100 percent of the contracted price.

Under the accrual method (used by most construction businesses) income is recognized when the services occur and expenses when they are incurred, not when money is collected or bills are paid.

On the income statement, direct costs are those directly linked to a particular project (materials, subcontractor fees, permit fees, labor), while operating expenses such as office salaries, advertising, and warehouse rental are indirect.

CPM graphically illustrates the interdependent relationships of tasks, whereas calendar and bar chart methods do not show interdependencies or the impact of a delay on other tasks; calendar scheduling's advantage is linking tasks to specific dates such as deliveries, payment schedules, and vacations.

Free float is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the early start of the next activity, while total float is leeway without delaying the overall project completion date; activities with zero float are critical activities.

Under IRS guidelines (behavioral control, financial control, type of relationship), a worker who uses his own methods and tools, advertises to multiple companies, is paid a flat fee, and can realize a profit or loss is more likely an independent contractor rather than an employee.

The superintendent is the onsite supervisor over all daily operations (coordinating activities, tracking schedule and cost deviations, punch lists, records), while the foreman supervises specific areas by trade, such as rough carpentry or concrete installation; certifying progress payments belongs to the architect/engineer, not either one.

Per OAC 158:30-5-1(c) and (e), an unlimited plumbing contractor may engage in the plumbing business without category restriction, while a residential plumbing contractor is limited to detached one- or two-family dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories in height with a separate means of egress.

When specifications and codes conflict, the contractor must follow the stricter of the two because codes are the minimum requirements by law.