Basement finish

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ELAR

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I am a new EC and am having trouble comming up with a price on a basement finish project. The GC is providing all materials, mounting all boxes and lighting fixtures and drilling majority of holes in walls. The basement is 2300 sqft (1849 sqft finished, 451 sqft unfinished).

(3) Bedrooms
(2) Full baths
(1) Office
(1) living room

Sub-panel already located in basement.

I am located in Denver, Colorado. Need to give a fair price, please help.

Thanks
 
"The GC is providing all materials, mounting all boxes and lighting fixtures and drilling majority of holes in walls."


Tell him your not going to charge him much for the little work that is left, and you will do him a favor now, because he might have more work for you later, and after all, he is saving you, from making any money on the material, $7,900
 
Why bother giving a fair price? Is the GC giving you a fair opportunity to make a living? I don't think so. Tell the GC to stick to hanging kitchen cabinets and you will stick to doing ALL of the electrical work.

Walk away from this schmuck! He is only trying to line his own pocket with the money that you deserve. After your labor rate becomes too high, he will find someone else with a license to work for him.

DO NOT ever do business with this person. He has no respect for anyone else but himself. You do not want to be associated with him. I can assure you that his work is shoddy, cheap, and ladden with hidden problems. If you make this mistake and work for him, you will be called at all hours to repair is f-ups, be expected to be at his heals and gracious for the meager scraps of "work" that he is giving you.

If this is the only "work" that you can get, go back to work for someone else, you will have less headeaches.

I apologize for the harshness of this post, but it is an absolute reality, ask any other contractor..please, for your own benefit.

Good luck on your new endeavor, and remember, you are now in business, so treat it that way, not just a job working for hourly wages.

Rich
 
A "good friend" was building a house for his in-law's and had me bid the electric. He was to supply the light fixtures and labor to hang them. He also provided the devices, but my labor.

Beside taking FOREVER to get the job past rough and ready for trim, he bought an inferior brand of decora switches and recepts. If there was any pressure on them at all, they would not make. On top of that, his father in-law only had to wire up to the lights to the pigtails that I provided, but about 1/4 of them didnot properly connect. I had to go behind him and fix everything.

All in all, the job took WAY longer than it should have. NEVER AGAIN!
 
Chances are you are gonna have to add/remove/move half the boxes, and of course drill new holes, or end up using 12 boxes of nail plates. I would give him a price for you to do it or send him up the road. Stuff like that causes nothing but problems and doubles your labor in the job, especially when "they" supply the material; it's either wrong broken or just not there at all. Then when you think you are done they start to "add" stuff to the job like they already paid for it or something.
 
You are the electrical contractor of record. You will be responsible for any failures or injuries that can be traced to the electrical work. You will get the failure notice if something does not pas the electrical inspection. You will be expected to cover the warranty on any electrical work. Therefore you will need to do the work AND provide the materials. Bottom line, short and sweet.
 
I can't give you a price for this job. I can tell you that if I gave a price, it would be more if GC provides materials, installs boxes, and drills holes than if I just did entire job and supplied materials myself.

John
 
The GC is actually doing a pretty good job mounting boxes, I have checked all so far and they are spaced to code. I am the one who told them where to drill the holes, so that's not a problem either. This particular job comes in a busy time for me, so doing less works out great. Besides the fact that the GC is doing work that I would normally do, can anybody help with the original question? How much to charge.
 
If you are so desperate for work that you would accept a job under these conditions, estimate the hours that you will spend, and charge accordingly. You are working for wages only. You might as well be an employee of the GC. This is agreat deal for the GC. You take all the risk, and he makes all of the money.
 
ELAR said:
How much to charge.
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How much do you think it's worth?
- GC provides all material (no profit for you)
- GC drills holes (no money for you)
- GC is mounting fixtures (no money for you)
- You are "checking" his work (no money for you)

Think it's worth grabbing your ankles?
 
it sounds to me that the GC is trying to put more in his poclet and just use you to pull permitt.
I do not let GC or Homeowenr supply materail execpt for Lighting fixtures.
If they want to supply materials then I walk away form job.

you are in busienss to make money not to put more money in the GC pocket.

what about all your time so far to lay him out tell him what materials to buy& your travel time to and from job.
.
IMO I would walk away form this GUY

I may only be a 1 man shop but I am in Business to make money.
 
2 ways to bid it.

Bid it by the hour
$100 per hour
$125 per hour if you watch
$150 per hour if you help.

Bid it like you normally would
The more he does for you the more profit you make.

Realize every other EC is getting the same oppurtunity & odds are not many will even return his call with a price.
 
How does your liability, and comp insurance carriers view taking on the liability of work done by others?
 
Hospital where I work supply all material to contractors,
and just pay for labor, lots electrical parts they dont need, most of the time contractors need more parts and have to wait for it, they loose in the end, and never come back.. They also tried to play the game on me, I sign the work permit and they get the cheapest worker, I just refuse, and if they start work, I check online if there is a permit for the location, if not I call the electrical inspection and report...............
 
Well, I think it is unanimous. As harsh as the reality may be, you should not work with this GC. He is not dong you any favors by "letting" you do the wiring. How are you so sure that after you pull the wires he won't just have some free time to trim out the place? Since you may not be so busy right now, ask the GC if he minds if you add hanging doors into your bid to keep you busy. I'm sure you will get nothing more than a chuckle from him.

The bottom line is electrical work is electrical work, do it all or do none of it in this home. Let the GC do GC work. What he is suggesting is not a business relationship, it is an employee (with a license) relationship. He is fully aware of your relative inexperience and is taking advantage of you. If you refuse to work for him, his way, he will find another "contractor/employee" to work for him.

If you proceed, and continue to work for this GC, you will be subjecting yourself to a life of servitude. By that I mean you are not in control of your business' fate. The GC will treat you like an employee, not as an equal partner in completing a quality project. Every future project will have this GC completing as much electrical work as his time allows, after all, why pay someone else when he can make the money?

Do what is right for the homeowner. As a homeowner myself, I would want plumbers doing plumbing, hvac workers doing hvac work and carpenters hacking up lumber.

Please keep in mind that our opinions are expressed with your best interests in mind. Collectivly there is a lot of experience being dispensed free of charge. If you prefer, we could call ourselves "consultants" and charge you a substantial fee, however the advice would be exactly the same.

Again, I wish you a very successful future,

Rich
 
ELAR said:
I am a new EC
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Elar, please understand, that most of us are speaking from experience and mean no harm. I, for one have learned a lot since I became a EC - all of it the hard way (And believe me, I'm still learning. That's why I come here!)

You will be okay, this time, if you just make wages. Also, many of us have heard GC's promise us the moon, if we do "this one" at a special price. But who knows, this guy may come through.

There is ALWAYS a tuition to pay for education. Thus far, most of my education has been paid with sweat.
 
This is all great information, except I am 90% done with the rough-in. I appreciate every ones input and it definitley taught me some things I hadn't thought about before. I wont work a job like this again, but I need a solid hourly rate to bill for this one.
 
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