Is that expensive? My price for 100A service upgrade starts at $2,600. 200A starts at $3,200.
As for the rest of your post, I commend you for doing what's right. But we both know that NJ inspectors overstep their bounds extremely often.
Contractor doing electrical work
- Thread starter subman
- Start date
- Status
As for the rest of your post, I commend you for doing what's right. But we both know that NJ inspectors overstep their bounds extremely often.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
He did also say: that only needed less than 20' of seu and four twenty amp breakers.
And did not mention just how long ago that was either. What kind of price would you have charged 10, 15, 20 years ago compared to today?
I know that, I quoted him saying that. He also said the age of the person it was for. But neither of those things matter since I posted a starting price for the most basic service.
I didn't know that we are talking about decades ago, nor do I see how it would make a difference... Either way, should an inspector be forming an opinion about the price of an electrical installation at all?
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
You are free to sell your products and services for any price you want. Sounds a little steep for no more than what was mentioned as being needed. I do agree that whatever sale price was is none of the inspectors business.
RICK NAPIER
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
In this forum I felt free to discuss the issue of price without mentioning the contractors name even though they are no longer in buisiness but I would not do that in my professional role as an inspector. The job I mentioned happened about 9 to 10 years ago and the hole job would taken a half a days work with one man. The water main was even less than 2' from the panel and the ground is soft for the ground rods. And while it is true that the age may not be pertinent when I was in buisness I tended to give a little consideration to the elderly living in little homes on an obviously fixed income.
Last edited:
If Mr Electric, Gold Medal, and other franchises can sell services for $4,000+, I could do them from $2,600+. That was my mindset from the beginning and it has worked. Sure, I lose some, but the ones that I get make up for it and then some.
I could go back to the union and make $49/hr plus great benefits and retirement packages. The only reason I deal with the stress and aggravation of running a business is to do better.
Last edited:
With all due respect, this right here is part of the problem that I am talking about...
It's not your place to judge. You've got it all worked out, you've put a lot of thought into this, and it's all negative for the contractor. You shouldn't be involved in this in any way, shape, or form. You shouldn't be comparing the price that a contractor is giving to what you used to charge. You shouldn't be worried about the age of the homeowner and how you would have discounted them.
Now you may have held your tongue, but many inspectors don't. And even if holding your tongue, the negativity that you formed around the contractor effects your other decisions.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
You and others are still free to charge whatever you feel is necessary. Someone is likely out there that will do it for less, and for no more time and work it will take on this particular installation we are talking about they can likely do it for much less and still make some profit. On top of that they may have less overhead expense than you making it even easier to do this relatively small job for less. Same guy may have a harder time competing with you on a larger project. That is a reality of business.
You want to sell a service change, which the price maybe includes a lot of things that are commonly needed for such a job, but a lot of things maybe not needed on this particular job.
Contractor X may sell them a panel, four breakers, necessary conductors and other accessories which maybe are not much and 3 - 4 hours of labor.
You are free to do so. The customer is also free to hire someone else if they don't like your price.
Of course, there are people here (high cost of living area) doing services for $1,200. I've seen a member of this forum who is in my area saying that he charges $1,500 for a 200A service. That was a year ago and since I have seen him say that he is now well into the $2,000+ range. But it just goes to show that you can't worry about other people's prices.
That's the way it works.
RICK NAPIER
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
There are contractors I personally like and there are those I dislike but I am a professional and I do not pass or fail people based on personal likes or dislikes. There are guys out there I like who are not that good and some I find distasteful who do a good job. When I go to do an inspection I don't even look to see who the contractor is I let the work speak for itself and that is what an inspector should do.
- Status