Out of town contractors
- Thread starter arnettda
- Start date
- Status
John120/240
Senior Member
- Location
- Olathe, Kansas
On the million square foot warehouse that I worked on the job was in Kansas & the Electrical Contractor was from Kentucky. This job employed 8 local electricians and they would bring in 25 from out of town. The out of town guys were used for the big wire pulls, and
equipment start up.
The General Contractors must have sweetheart deals with their favorite subs. Turd chasers and tin knockers were the only local subs.
Roofers, concrete flat workers, sprinkler fitters & excavation workers were all from out of town.
equipment start up.
The General Contractors must have sweetheart deals with their favorite subs. Turd chasers and tin knockers were the only local subs.
Roofers, concrete flat workers, sprinkler fitters & excavation workers were all from out of town.
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
About 2 years ago there was a chain Italian restaurant built close to me. I ask one of the local contractors if he bid the job. He said he did but lost to a company from Texas by $1800.00. They used local help for the crap work and brought in there own PM and foreman in and then brought their trim crew in. He said they finished the job and left town but the restaurant could not get them back for warrantee work. That's when they turned around and hired his company to fix their screw up's before they could open. He said it cost them more than the $1800.00 they think they saved.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
That is where you have to sell yourself and prove the additional $1800 is worth it at bid time. Tell them you will be there when things are completed for warranty issues, or even for additional items should they be necessary. The out of town guys, especially if they had to travel very far, are not going to be as willing to come back for some small additional item as it will not be all that cost effective for them.
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
The crew that did the new Dollar General store have been doing nothing but these stores for three years. After a few these guys kn ow exactly what material they will need and almost to the minute the time involved plus these stores go up fast. If I had two or three years of work doing the same store I could get my number down to the point even if a local did under bid me the GC would probably not take it based on the fact I knew the job.
jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I did 2 Dollar Generals with a former boss. If I remember correctly, they provided all the lights and tubes, 8 foot flourescents. That is some help with costs, as they had about 200 or so lights & about 400 tubes. We had done a lot of other work for the GC and I'm not sure if he even took bids on the jobs. We did them T & M.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Pretty sure you are correct. I had an existing store in an older building that wanted to replace existing lighting with same thing you described - and they only wanted a bid on installing them as they were going to provide fixtures and lamps.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
What makes you think that the out of area contractors pay those costs for their employees?
masterinbama
Senior Member
- Location
- Huntsville Alabama
I have a friend that owns a staffing service and as a favor to him I helped an out of town contractor on a warehouse club building in a nearby town. He paid me the going Davis and Bacon rate of $27.25 which I found out was over double what this contractor was paying his lead man on the job. The contractors employees also had to fend for their selves for 2 meals a day and lodging.
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
Having the store provide the fixtures doesn't help with the cost because you don't get one penny of mark-up on those materials.
Materials cost and mark-up is much more of a sure thing than actual labor cost.
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
Rewire said that experience doing a certian type of job is a factor and that's true. Some companies specialize at certian types of work and they get darned good at it. How many Dollar stores can you build locally ( but if you are willing to travel)?
For a lot of these smaller jobs you will see companies comming from areas where the labor is really cheap and it's not that expensive to put a crew on the road.
- Location
- Massachusetts
What makes you think they do not?
I have always gotten per diems and lodging for out of town work.
qcroanoke
Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
- Location
- Roanoke, VA.
- Occupation
- Sorta retired........
yes, me too. Actually until they put me on salary I got 15% per hour more for out of town work.
That's only because you're such a nice guy!
It is hard to compete with guys that don't pay for many items they should or are required to.
I cannot in good conscious, and I'm sure its a labor law issue, order my guys to drive the company van's hours one way from the office. Then drive back each night after working, and being paid for only 8 hours a day. Some guys have a van to take home and its slightly different.
Last edited:
Blaer
Member
- Location
- St. Louis, Mo.
In my area there are a number of mills that make extensive use of contractors. These contractors - some union, some not - draw their help from all over; many of the crew have home & family hundreds of miles away. These guys are journeymen in the truest sense of the word.
Guess what? These guys get NO assistance. They get paid the same, no matter if they live here- or across the country. This town has an entire economy centered on renting houses and trailers to ad-hoc groups of these guys. Plus, these guys need to provide their own PPE, and each mill has its' own specific rules.
Per Diem? Y'all come back now - when you stop trying to speak Latin!
Guess what? These guys get NO assistance. They get paid the same, no matter if they live here- or across the country. This town has an entire economy centered on renting houses and trailers to ad-hoc groups of these guys. Plus, these guys need to provide their own PPE, and each mill has its' own specific rules.
Per Diem? Y'all come back now - when you stop trying to speak Latin!
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
Most of the guys I know that spent a lot of time on construction jobs out of town ended up on their own dime for meals and lodging. For temporary stuff usually the company covered it.
It is just a job after all, no different than if you walked across the street to work unless the company forces you to go there.
It is just a job after all, no different than if you walked across the street to work unless the company forces you to go there.
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
It is probably cheaper to rent them a room than pay for gas. When we worked out of town we always worked 10-12 hour days and came home early for a long weekend.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
I am aware of contractors that come into my area that pay the workers that they bring in nothing but hourly wage, but they often work 6 tens.
I am also aware of other contractors that pay all of the travel expenses.
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
so they let you stay in the back of the wagon when the carnival relocated.
twoelk
Member
- Location
- USA, West Coast
Our company does lots of out of town work. We usually pay $105 per day for per diem, add rental costs, fuel, etc. We're based in SW Washington and work in AZ, CA, OR, ID, MT, and even OH and OK. A lot of times it comes down to reputation and the sales pitch.
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