Re: Bidding question's
I've had this problem with a guy that I used to work with lately. I keep having to pull his knives out of my back. We worked together for different companies before we went into business. I spoke to him a few years ago when I first went in business (he went in business before me) and he told me to give a price and if someone told him that someone else could do it for so much tell them that they need to have that person do the job than. I was told by someone recently that I had priced a gutted house for, that someone was higher than me but said they would match my price. The homeowner wanted me to cut my price by $400 basically. After a little prodding, the HO showed me the guys Bid and it was him! I had passed on bidding to someone else (a commercial establishment) because I heard that he was doing work for them. This morning I was to pick up a deposit check on a tenant job in a strip center that I had a signed ok'd proposal for, and the owner desides he wants to hack most of the work out of the job and basically just put in enough lights to get U&O and tells me after I update my price that he will get back to me tomorrow. He wants the job done starting Wends. I noticed this other same contractors van at the other end of the strip center and I went down and talked to him and found out he did the house (said the guy eliminated some of the stuff in the house, funny the guy didn't offer me to update my bid and my original bid was less than his) and he told me I was awful late starting on the other store (just met the store owner last Wends. and was never asked for a bid till than). I asked him how he does his pricing and he pointed to his head and said it was all up there. I started talking about doing prices based on estimating programs and he reinterated some of the stuff I said, but said that you need to call you labor rate the same as service labor rate and stuff along those lines. Sorry for the rant. how to bid this stuff is right in estimating software. Hanging a 2x4 layin is worth and hour, a recp. or switch is an hour, cable is so much cable in an hour, pipe is so much in an hour, depends on size of pipe, so much wire in an hour, this stuff is based on industry historical averages. you add up your total hours and find out how much an average electrician makes in your area add labor costs such as labor taxes& benefits(usually ballpark 27% of wage), multiply then together, that is labor, Basic material cost scale off how much pipe, wire, boxes, fittings, send fixture amounts to supply house and get quote, same for service equipment, add taxes to all materials if you are in MD or other places it applies, add material and labor together, add overhead (approx 10%) add profit, give quote and hope for the best. I know houses are different, I just use a flat per outlet price. You need to find out how much people are charging in your area now per outlet. A recessed, a surface light, tele outlet, S3, S4, outside flood are all worth different amounts.
[ April 04, 2005, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: bradleyelectric ]
