On this proposal, I was the hired gun and the engineer was the proposal manager, so we did it his way. The proposal was lengthy, very lengthy, and I felt sure that we would bore the reviewers to death. Maybe, by telling them repeatedly that we were great, the reviewers would be anesthetized into giving us high scores. Maybe they would just put the proposal on a bathroom scale and award the heaviest proposal.

Although I never said so, I developed a huffy attitude about the way things should be done and, privately at least, I would always promote clear concise language over what I thought was repetitive drivel. Then the engineer’s proposal won the bid.

Yes, the proposal we sent out was not a great one. It really was too long. It was very boring to read, and it could have been improved with good editing. Nevertheless, it won and in my mind, the engineer’s insistence may have been the one of the keys to winning. Perhaps, I should rearrange my attitude and listen to what the engineer said and then apply my own writing and editing ideas to his basic concept: "Tell ’em, and tell ’em, and tell ’em again."
I am pleased to say, "It works!" And, figuring out how to do it wasn’t hard at all.

How to Tell ‘Em the First Time
1.1 Penetrations of Walls, Floors, Ceilings
The Contractor shall make no penetration of floors, walls or ceilings without the prior consent of the Contract Administrator. The Contractor shall be responsible for coring holes in all wire closets. Most floors have spare cored holes, one to three additional holes may be required on some floors. The thickness of the concrete is 5 1/2 inches. Holes must be 4 inches to accommodate all new backbone cables. If new holes are cored, they should be distanced from the existing holes by a minimum of 30 inches and separated from each other, by at least 18 inches. Prior to coring the additional holes, sufficient investigation should be done to ensure that existing beams are not cored.

The challenge of telling them the first time is not so great. Just rearrange the text a bit, replace the "shalls." Use present tense, not future! The reviewers should "see" what you "do."

Penetrations of Walls, Floors, Ceilings
Our installation team pre-plans any additional cored holes that may be required to add cabling. The crew first makes a thorough site inspection at each floor’s wire closets to locate spare core holes. Once this has been done the crew requests approval for the additional holes. After approval, the coring crew identifies the specific locations for the new holes, carefully testing to ensure that existing beams are not cored. They mark the new core sites on the floor, and on the appropriate closet plans, using the appropriate specifications for core size and separation. Our crews generally coordinate directly with the building engineer before proceeding and provide copies of the design plans and the "as-built" plans after the coring is complete.

How to Tell ‘Em the Second Time
How do you tell ’em again? It isn’t as hard as you might think. Just tell ’em who is going to do the job and throw in the details again.

The on-site Cabling Supervisor is responsible for coring holes in all wire closets. Orinoco requires that this supervisor obtain the prior consent required for each new hole cored. In our normal crew of five, three of the team members are experienced in inventory and assessment, planning and locating the new core sites, testing for structural beams, sizing and marking the core sites for final approval and performing the actual coring to the specifications. The remaining crews are usually apprenticed helpers in training.

Core Hole Specifications
One to three additional holes may be required on some floors Thickness of the concrete is 5 1/2 inches Holes must be 4 inches to accommodate all new backbone cables Distance from existing holes a minimum of 30 inches Separated from each other, by at least 18 inches.

How to Tell ‘Em the Third Time
The third time’s a charm. Just tell ’em how you did it before.

Orinoco cabling crews have completed 14 cabling efforts in the Phoenix area. The contract most similar in scope to this project is the Branden Telemarketing Project that was located in the RMF Tower. We completed the installation of an entire new backbone last August. The building is structurally similar and the project required coring new holes in wire closets on each of seven floors. Many of the floors had spare cored holes, and most needed three or four additional holes. The thickness of the concrete was 5 1/2 inches, and the core site specifications were similar (4 inches, distanced from existing holes by a 30 inches, and separated from each other, by at least 18 inches.) Our Cabling Supervisor coordinated with the building engineer, obtained prior approval for each new hole cored, and the installation crews successfully avoided coring any beams.