Bidding a new home

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sparky1118

sparky1118

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Occupation
Master Electrician
It has been a while since I've done a bid for a new home. How are you guys doing it? Per opening or square footage? Any help would be appreciated

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I do mine by the square foot. I charge $3.20 per square foot, plus $1000 for the service equipment and installation. This covers a minimum-Code wiring job with a few extras. Anything else has a separate extra charge.
 
I do a base rate per foot that covers wiring to code, it includes electric dryer and oven. This rate is adjustable for high ceilings, excessive 3-ways, etc.

Then I add for cans, under cabinet light, electric heat or water heater, aerobic, heat/vent/light, outside lights that aren't required, and so on.
 
Coppersmith said:
There's no money in doing new home construction. I stay away from them.
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I agree 100%. The builder is the only one allowed to make any $$$. No matter how you look at it the job is going to the lowest bidder so don't spin your wheels too much on the pricing. If you're OK working at that level so be it. If you can find a $5/hr employee to nail on boxes and pull wire more power to you.
 
ptonsparky said:
I agree. The daughter of one of my help is building a new home and asked for a bid. We can’t wire a home quick enough to make it profitable. It would be done well, but not
profitably.
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We're in the same boat.

When we have customers walk through the door with a rolled up set of plans looking for a bid, I tell them the same thing. We'd do a good job, but we're not competitive with the guys that only do houses. More often than not, they thank us for the honesty and move onto the next electrical contractor.
 
jeff48356 said:
I do mine by the square foot. I charge $3.20 per square foot, plus $1000 for the service equipment and installation. This covers a minimum-Code wiring job with a few extras. Anything else has a separate extra charge.
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So you could wire a 1,000 sq. ft house for $4,200? That wouldn't cover my labor
 
Dennis Alwon said:
So you could wire a 1,000 sq. ft house for $4,200? That wouldn't cover my labor[/QUOT

That would be an outlier. I didn't cover every variable, just the jist.

The only way I've been able to make it work is to build a customer base that places quality over price. This means upper end custom homes. I have zero desire to be the cheapest guy. If I'm asked to quote a house I try to make that known right off the bat.
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Coppersmith said:
There's no money in doing new home construction. I stay away from them.
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No money in doing houses for a developer that only accepts low bids from subs, unless you want to lower your standards, but even then you might still be lucky to make money when it is all said and done.

Cow said:
We're in the same boat.

When we have customers walk through the door with a rolled up set of plans looking for a bid, I tell them the same thing. We'd do a good job, but we're not competitive with the guys that only do houses. More often than not, they thank us for the honesty and move onto the next electrical contractor.
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In past I would get rolled up set of plans - but nothing more than a floor layout and no electrical specs of any kind. If I give them a price it is based on asking a few questions about heating/cooling, gas range, dryer, water VS electric, and some of those types of things then usually plan for most commonly desired items most people would want, I'd usually look into what would be needed to get service and anything else (maybe power to a well if out in the country), and include all of that - only to find out they chose someone that gave them a cheap price but didn't include a lot of the things I did and ended up charging extra for those things afterward:huh:

Often they ran as few receptacles and kept light switching as basic as possible also.
 
Coppersmith said:
There's no money in doing new home construction. I stay away from them.
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What is the electric scene like down in your area now for new home construction? Mostly cheap labor and maybe one decent guy leading them? Speed is the name of the game? What are the average prices
 
DBoone said:
What is the electric scene like down in your area now for new home construction? Mostly cheap labor and maybe one decent guy leading them? Speed is the name of the game? What are the average prices
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I find often I have to take a pay cut to do a new resi job. Often I can do additions/renovations/rewires at near or at my normal full rate. Had one major addition/renovation (basically like a new construction really) and I gave them a price that figured labor at $80 (300 man hours IIRC) I figured and actual material cost. Total price was like 29k IIRC. GC told me they got another price that was just slightly higher, and then he talked to a third guy as a consultant to get his opinion on the two prices, and he said they were both LOW. In the end though , they must have found someone cheaper, which isnt really hard to do. I dont have anyone cheap working for me, nor do I care to.
 
electrofelon said:
I find often I have to take a pay cut to do a new resi job. Often I can do additions/renovations/rewires at near or at my normal full rate. Had one major addition/renovation (basically like a new construction really) and I gave them a price that figured labor at $80 (300 man hours IIRC) I figured and actual material cost. Total price was like 29k IIRC. GC told me they got another price that was just slightly higher, and then he talked to a third guy as a consultant to get his opinion on the two prices, and he said they were both LOW. In the end though , they must have found someone cheaper, which isnt really hard to do. I dont have anyone cheap working for me, nor do I care to.
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$24,000 in labor and that was considered low. Wow, that says a lot there.
 
DBoone said:
$24,000 in labor and that was considered low. Wow, that says a lot there.
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Well that was calculated based on my normal T&M rate. If I really wanted the gig, or was more desperate for work I would have figured less. My former partner said that for resi bids you had to figure less per hour than your normal rate or it would just be too high.
 
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