[CAUT] Bid Process (was Re: becoming a university tech. HELP!)

[wimblees at aol.com]

John

One thing about having an arrangement like yours, which is the case in 
many institutions, is that with the current department chair, 
everything seems to run smoothly. You send him a quote, but does he 
give you an acknowledgement of that quote?
What happens when the department chair changes, and he/she could care 
less about maintaining the pianos on a regular basis? Do you have it in 
writing that says "I'm supposed to tune these pianos according to this 
schedule, get paid so much for the work, and I am authorized to do this 
amount of additional work"?

I think that is what the CAUT Committee is trying to put together.

Wim
Willem Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
School of Music
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL USA

-----Original Message-----
From: John R. Granholm <granholmjohnpian at qwest.net>
To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 10:25:13 -0700
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Bid Process (was Re: becoming a university tech. 
HELP!)

On Jul 5, 2006, at 7:27 AM, Fred Sturm wrote

> Whether or not this discussion leads to a Journal article, the > caut 
committee would welcome a wide ranging discussion of these > issues as 
we work toward development of a "CAUT Credential."

Is the CAUT committee going to consider only full-time university 
techs, or are you going to include people like me, who are part-timers?

I maintain pianos for a local community college. The work involves the 
usual Baldwin 243s in practice rooms, two 7-footers in classrooms (one 
Baldwin, one Steinway), and two 9-footers (D and old M&H CC) in a 
concert hall. It's a strictly part-time arrangement, and compared to 
what I've read in this thread so far, it's very simple.

I don't deal with bids or parts budgets, which I think must be an 
unusual situation. I deal directly with the department chairman, who 
wants me to send him a quote once a year that covers the next year's 
projected work. His basic directive to me is that he doesn't want to 
have to worry about pianos--he wants them in tune and working. I don't 
do any rebuilding, just tuning, regulation, voicing, and any necessary 
repairs. My feeling about this work is that as long as the money holds 
out, and as long as my work keeps the chairman happy, I've got the job. 
It's all pretty informal.

The M&H in the concert hall does mostly accompaniment duty, but needs 
rebuilding to get back to fulfilling its potential as a concert 
instrument. It would take grant money to get that done--nothing in the 
budget for work like that. I mention this need occasionally, but I 
don't push it.

I suspect there are many techs out there doing CAUT work at this lower 
level, as contractors rather than employees.

John R. Granholm, RPT
Registered Member, Piano Technicians Guild
Assistant Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
jtuner at qwest.net
________________________________________________________________________
Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email 
and IM. All on demand. Always Free.