Electric-Light
Senior Member
It doesn't look like he's done any leg work to figure out what the customer is looking to accomplish.
Bid on small job trying to be fair on both ends
- Thread starter Doctor Electric
- Start date
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It doesn't look like he's done any leg work to figure out what the customer is looking to accomplish.
Doctor Electric
Member
- Location
- United States
I just had a call the other day, I went there today and I set it up for April 2nd a Sunday to go at 8 am
two led retro fits in a line with a fan in the mIddle add two switches cut out single gang existing switched outlet box and change to a three gang cut in fan, light, switched outlet total 5 hours cut one hole up top by top plate to get into ceiling ,,,,,,,
Two rooms upstairs install a fan box and add one switch in one room cutting out single switch box for existing switched outlets and changing to a two gang fan light on one switch 3 hours
In the master cut out existing switch outlet switch box change to 3 gang fan light on two switches both fishable from the crawl space adjacent to both rooms
3 hours free estimate one trip 30 an hour plus material I charged him.650.00 I'll do it in a day
two led retro fits in a line with a fan in the mIddle add two switches cut out single gang existing switched outlet box and change to a three gang cut in fan, light, switched outlet total 5 hours cut one hole up top by top plate to get into ceiling ,,,,,,,
Two rooms upstairs install a fan box and add one switch in one room cutting out single switch box for existing switched outlets and changing to a two gang fan light on one switch 3 hours
In the master cut out existing switch outlet switch box change to 3 gang fan light on two switches both fishable from the crawl space adjacent to both rooms
3 hours free estimate one trip 30 an hour plus material I charged him.650.00 I'll do it in a day
$30 an hour? On a Sunday no less. Triple it and you will be close.
Doctor Electric
Member
- Location
- United States
Triple it I kinda left the day on they're hands I still work a day job Monday through Friday so I aimed for the weekend in the first place when your breaking down the price to them how do you explain to them to triple it or do you not break down the pricing and just say hey after further review this is my price.
I want to make a good impression I know I try to keep it short and simple and speak with confidence I believe that stands out and obviously a job well done
I want to make a good impression I know I try to keep it short and simple and speak with confidence I believe that stands out and obviously a job well done
Electric-Light
Senior Member
Just on/off switch or on a dimmer?
If the latter, some combo dims down quite deeply. Some only dim to 10%, which means it feels it only dims by 2/3. LED ballast usually fails to work to satisfaction on regular dimmer so you have to use something like Lutron C-L (which goes from like $25 for basic stuff to $100+ for the fancy stuff that looks baller). Dimmed LEDs can be extremely finicky so commissioning them to work correctly most definitely increase billable hours. if they seem interested in fancy stuff and go for it, the added profit earned while there is your gain.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Schools often do receive some funds from the state. I doubt those funds directly applied to such project though, but instead any state funding they did receive probably applied more directly to education and not facilities.
MNSparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor - 2023 NEC
All that seems doable in a day for one guy with assembling & hanging three fans but I don't think you're charging enough. Not sure where you're from and what the rates are like there, but I'm guessing they are more than $30 an hr for T&M work. I think you also missed the permit fee and AFCI protection, unless you are skipping those.
If it were me, I'd quote that out somewhere around $1295.00 just so you have a comparison. That includes a permit and AFCI protection. I don't work on Sunday though.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Materials cost you whatever they cost you, how much you mark them up depends on what you need to cover overhead expenses not covered in your labor charges. Once your expenses are paid (including the not so direct overhead expenses) what is left over is your profit.
Now if you are doing this outside your regular job we need to ask if you are paying income tax, self employment tax, liability insurance, etc. on this side work? If so those are additional overhead expenses and they can take a big chunk out of $30 an hour.
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
How did you come up with $30 an hour? Is this what you normally charge and how long have you been charging this amount?
If you hope to make say $30 an hour you have to charge more because jobs don't always go the way you plan.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
He says he has another job M-F. So on the surface it likely looks like more then he makes per hour all week, but when considering overhead costs, he may not be making as much as he thinks he is.
Doctor Electric
Member
- Location
- United States
I'm not making a lot off of this except to build my clientele , if the circuit is existing do you still have to afci protect I thought no No inspection no dimmer and 30 an hour is my residential price 40 for commercial and anything involving rigid imc, 4160, or any kind of explosion proof material with seal offs usually I charge round 50 an hour and I have my own pipe threader and as of right now the 25 an hour i make on the books is comfortable but I'm a sky is the limit kind I have a two women and a daughter at home that look at me for the most part when it comes to provisions and I'm just a guy trying to make it out there the bottom of the ladder is full there's plenty of room at the top
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
When you do decide to go all out and do this on your own, those that liked $30 an hour are going to seek work elsewhere when you finally decide you can't afford to charge $30 an hour and move the rate to $75 or $100 to cover all your overhead, so keep that in mind.
It might be easy to charge that now because you don't have the overhead. Also beware if you don't have any liability insurance now, it can bite you if something goes wrong. Even if you don't break codes, your work doesn't burn someone's house down or electrocute someone, you still can have a mishap and have to repair or replace something that isn't cheap, it happens.
If your $25 hour job hires you out I bet they charge their clients at least $50 hour or more. They need to cover payroll expenses, benefits, workers compensation insurance, as well as get some profit out of you. They also must cover any losses you might create, you probably do make mistakes, break things, lose things, etc. at least once in a while, we all do. They must also cover your sick time, vacation time, etc., which is all gone if you go solo, you need to make enough to ride through those times.
You can at least double your labor rate and still would be reasonably cheap in most places, but also be within the typical market range with your services. If your current clients demand that $30, especially after you do go solo, they are bottom feeders and you will likely find they are not the kind of client you want to have once your rates go up.
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
What code cycle are you working under? Just looked at your profile and it states that you are under the 2017 Code so AFCI protection would be required.
If you would give the area where you are located it would help. Some areas are a bit more strict than others even when it comes to permits.
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