are there any money in these fast food electrical jobs? these things go up so fast there isnt any time for mistakes. any idea the best way to quote these jobs? i would assume you would have to have an experienced team already doing these to make money.
I think you already answered your own question. Yes an experienced crew that does the same restaurant repeatedly. The layout shouldn't change significantly from one to the next. Drive thru always goes counterclock wise, bathrooms are usually in the door & to the right.
Fixture & appliance package should be similar if not exactly the same from one to the other.
LOL! you are right. I guess my question should have been: are these types of jobs worth the hastle. i assume the profit not much at all. these types of contractors are aready into these jobs for very small profits, they mostly make their money fining the subs on stuff like no hard hats or other safety violations. or not meeting milestones. thanks anyway!
kwired said:Some national chains (not just the fast food industry either) may provide certain items like lighting fixtures as well.
But when "their fixtures" arrive you are still responsible for dealing with damages, incorrect fixtures, shortages, etc. You may not need to pay for them, but they will still cause extra troubles and delays for you and you are not really reimbursed for it.
are there any money in these fast food electrical jobs? these things go up so fast there isnt any time for mistakes. any idea the best way to quote these jobs? i would assume you would have to have an experienced team already doing these to make money.
I bid a KFC. The "winner" said he lost his shirt. Nothing that was delivered was marked. Fixtures and lamps were broken. The biggest loss was waiting on everything. Once he had his crew on-site doing some work they needed to start installing material, of which some was missing. He ended up sending his guys home until replacement parts showed up. Then he was behind and had to work OT to catch up.
He wasn't happy.
If you know ahead of time this type of snafu is going to happen, you can factor it in to your bid.
honestly, if you actually want to make money doing these, your
single best strategy is to go to work for a company that already
does them, as a sparky. do about three of them, and then decide
if you wish to go out on your own hook. as an electrician with the tools,
you will get a wealth of information necessary to bid them successfully.
i've seen a lot of these done. no way i'd EVER consider doing one as
a contractor.
the timeline on a lot of them is in 30 minute increments, often. it's
absolutely brutal, depending on what happens with the other subs.
a 20 x 20 room with 30 people working on everything at once.
you could have a 12 year old on a pogo stick in the middle of the room,
and you'd probably never even notice.
there was a typo. i tried to fix it. got the color wrong. sorry.
congratulations on dodging a bullet.
there was a job recently. had to certify the lighting on it. it wasn't in the
middle of nowhere, it was in the CENTER of the middle of nowhere.
an hour and a quarter to a home desperate. one way.
a wholesale house, you say? sure, wilburrr.... that's not gonna happen
for two hours, one way.
EC and his best sparky spent three days in the store.
they didn't need a motel room. just napped there from time to time,
in their trucks. they got it done.
day of lighting control commissioning.... tech rep didn't show up. oops.
will be there in two days. scheduling error.
8 hour round trip to home and back. got back there for setup. one LED
down light had a bad driver. he had a spare.
second LED downlight, it wasn't the driver, it was the element. no spare.
another round trip in two days, for a single light.
16 hours and $300 in fuel. not in the bid.
I would think that if the same GC and same subs worked together enough times they could get pretty efficient, but that never happens.My experience with this kind of work has been working on a Walgreen's. It's exactly as has been described so far - very fast schedule, every trade working in the same room, very little space to set up, etc etc. You really have to specialize in this kind of work to be good at it and be profitable at it. Otherwise, you will lose your shirt.
Problems with these fast food places too, it that they want them done in 90 days or so.