Getting beat up

[xjfam]

Anyone ever have issues with a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price and that you need to rework the price. Then come back and ask for time and material and a material list because your new price was still not good enough. They are really beating me up and I think I need to walk away, even though I would like to get more work.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

I will give them my best price, tell them it's my best price and then walk. When they act this way before the job starts, just wait until you get some small problems and they always push it to you without agreeing to pay extra (cause it's like Ragu, "It's in there"). It's a fight to the end.

 

[480sparky]

Sit down and go line-by-line. Does your price include all the 2008 requirements (all the AFCIs, TR's, CCE, etc.)? Smokes? Temp power & light? Permits & inspections?

 

[Robert Hutcherson]

Review estimate and verify no mistakes.

Provide gc with schedule of values and have him tell you where he thinks the overage is.

Tell the gc not to plug the electrical trade in his pricing unless he knows how to estimate electrical. Most gc's have no clue.

.02 cents

 

[LarryFine]

Have they ever asked? Absolutely.

Have I had issues with it? Nope.

Just say "That was my best price."

 

[Split Bolt]

"We underestimated the budget for the electrical so you are going to have to lose money" is the message I got out of it! Don't walk, RUN!

 

[roger]

Anyone ever have issues with a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price and that you need to rework the price.

Tell the GC that you hope the customers are Amish

Roger

 

[IrishRugger]

I'm sure the world has good GC's but I really only remember the one's that irritate me.

Stand your ground remember a confronted bully will cave. A GC like the one you are dealing with sounds like a bully. The one's that irritate me are usually the arrogant one's who think the know everything, if they did know everything then they would understand how pricing electrical works.

Give him a schedule of values as some one had suggested. Stand your ground. With some people if you give them an inch they will take a mile.

Then tell him this old Irish proverb:

Beware the anger of a patient man.

 

[IrishRugger]

You know I have gotten beat up by GC's. They can even be your "freinds".
One time a GC would not pay me after a rough in inspection and then had the gaul to aske me if he could use my golf cart all this in the same day.



Your situation could be just a matter of holding you ground. That can be difficult to do at times. Just remember that you are providing a service that requires you to be spot on and heads up at all times. You are an electrical contractor. You do not deserve to be beat up about price. You have a responsibility to make this installation safe and operational. You should be compensated as such.

 

[satcom]

Anyone ever have issues with a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price and that you need to rework the price. Then come back and ask for time and material and a material list because your new price was still not good enough. They are really beating me up and I think I need to walk away, even though I would like to get more work.

These are not GC's that you are dealing with, they are just 'want to be' GC's who have no idea on how to estimate a job, most of these guys guess the pricing, and then panic and expect all the subs, to come down to some un real pricing, try not to waste your time on their games, find a decent GC to deal with, they are out there, and many of them will help you, if you are a good EC.

 

[480sparky]

.............Tell the gc not to plug the electrical trade in his pricing unless he knows how to estimate electrical. Most gc's have no clue............

They sure do!

They take the cost of their last electrician, and divide it into the square footage of the most recent project. Now they have a square-foot price...........

For instance, let's say the last job was a family room gut/refinish. Ol' Sparky replaces the devices with white Decora and removes/rehangs the ceiling fan. Charges $250. Room was 320 ft?, so it costs 78?/ft? to wire a new house. :grin:

 

[charlie b]

. . . a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price . . . .

That was the GC's error. The GC should be the one to pay for that error, not you. This sort of thing happens in the engineering world as well. I agree with the "stand your ground" advice.

 

[cowboyjwc]

How can there not be enough in the job for your price? You hadn't given him a price yet. That means he gave a bid on his own without getting any of the other bids and messed it up and of course he's not going to drop his price. I never feel sorry for those guys. I would tell him sorry and you already gave him your "best" price.

 

[satcom]

They sure do!

They take the cost of their last electrician, and divide it into the square footage of the most recent project. Now they have a square-foot price...........

For instance, let's say the last job was a family room gut/refinish. Ol' Sparky replaces the devices with white Decora and removes/rehangs the ceiling fan. Charges $250. Room was 320 ft?, so it costs 78?/ft? to wire a new house. :grin:

We stopped at a site to look at a job, and a plumber came by to look at the same job, the GC comes out, and the first thing he says to the plumber is, I need to know how much a sg ft for the plumbing, the plumber smiled, and then got in his van, and you could hear him laughing as he drove away, I guess to pick up a square foot of pipe, heck we would need to find a supply house that had a few square of NM.

 

[Ruff-N]

Anyone ever have issues with a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price and that you need to rework the price. Then come back and ask for time and material and a material list because your new price was still not good enough. They are really beating me up and I think I need to walk away, even though I would like to get more work.

Just give the GC a Time and Material quote and say I can do it for this $$$ per hr+material w/markup payable on a weekly basis. Dont' let this guy tell you what your price will be, enough red flags have come up, in the end the GC will most likely fold, oweing you a bunch of money if you do this job on a bid basis. So if he takes the T&M way by the first week or two you will know if he is legit or not. Can you say mechanics lien OUCH!

 

[Rewire]

GCs know one thing about a down economy and that is thier are alot of subs who are circling the drain who are willing to cut thier price so they can circle one more day.

 

[growler]

Anyone ever have issues with a G.C. telling you there is not enough in the job for your price and that you need to rework the price. Then come back and ask for time and material and a material list because your new price was still not good enough. They are really beating me up and I think I need to walk away, even though I would like to get more work.

If the GC is not satisfied with your price then just ask him how much he has in his budget for electrical on this project.

Many GCs have no idea how to price electrical because they have no idea what it will take to accomplish the job. They often use new construction prices for remodeling and remodeling is much slower and more expensive.

 

[Ruff-N]

And make sure all is in contract, and up front before you even walk on the job with tools intow, just remember the more time you spend going back and forth with this GC on pricing, that is time and money you are wasting that could be spent on other more fruitful prospects. JM2c worth

 

[growler]

GCs know one thing about a down economy and that is thier are alot of subs who are circling the drain who are willing to cut thier price so they can circle one more day.

That's very true but there are a lot of GCs circling the drain also that are taking jobs at dirt cheap prices just to make it another day. You have to be carefull just who you work with these days.

If the guy has a reasonable plan to accomplish the job for the price quoted then you may be able to work with him but I have herd figures quoted that I knew there is no way the job can be done for that amount and it's time to head for the hills. Desperate times cause people to take desperate measures and calls for caution from subs.

 

[satcom]

GCs know one thing about a down economy and that is thier are alot of subs who are circling the drain who are willing to cut thier price so they can circle one more day.

What the GC knows and the sub's do not, is in many areas with low loan rates construction is profitable, even with down and up months of construction starts, the trend is up on the profit end.