maintenance cont.

I have been in the sealing / striping business awhile now but not as an owner, fairly new to that. I have a chain of banks that want sealed- no problem, but as I talk to the man in charge he would like a maintenance contract. He knows how much sealing will cost this year but, he wants a figure for every year to keep up the sealer, striping, crackfilling etc. Is there any rules of thumb, like pay the big figure and 25% of the whole job, for three years? Any advise will be truely welcomed. Gary

First thing, I would personally not commit to long term pricing, more so in this unstable oil market we are in. Here in Utah, we have seen asphalt costs alone rise above 40%, mostly due to shortages caused by the governments new low sulfur diesel emission regulations, anyway back in the days you could add 5-10% a year to cover increases, but now that may be too small. I would develop a pavement management plan, that outlines what you recommend for his lot each year, and then an estimated cost, however I would make very clear, that the number would be for estimation only, and that you would have to calculate actuals at the time of service. Also its hard to pin down exactly what will happen to the lot over time, I have seen new pavements completely grenade over a winter, and likewise I have seen old stuff that is alligatored seem to last forever. Typically I recommend to owners to crack seal 1-2 times a year, seal coat every 3-5 years, and restripe yearly or as needed. You can use that to your advantage to sell things like "spring clean up's" that may include a sweeping of the lot and a restripe, or something like that.....