Estimating Questions

[JOHNEO99]

Hello

My name is John and I am a licensed contractor who has 20+ years experience. I have worked for the union for 15 years and decided to go on my own. I mostly have done residential and mild commercial such as office buildouts and strip malls. All the work has been done in the Chicagoland area which means everything is don in pipe including residential. We have done a lot of romex north of the border in wisconsin. So, my guys know how to pipe very well since that is all they have really known their whole carreers.

I am cuerrently trying to bid a condominium complex. I can bid the living units easily enough because thats been my staple for years. Also basic openings on the commercial side like emergency lights, exit signs, etc. are not a problem either.

The problem I have due to my lack of experience with bidding these these types of things comes with things like the main distribution panels and cct meters. There are (2) 120/240v 800A Main Dist. panels with cct meters on each side of the building. I have helped install these and piped to all the panels within the building...public and private, but have no idea what to charge for it besides the labor.

Any insight or references on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I have a inside connection with the GC and the investors. I really dont want to turn this work down with the market/economy going the way it is.

Again any help would be great. I have even thought about going partners with another contractor on this job just to get my feet wet.

Thanks for the great site


John

 

[BryanMD]

"I have helped install these and piped to all the panels within the building...public and private, but have no idea what to charge for it besides the labor."

Well heck John, the labor calc is the hard part.
The gear and wire prices should be simple enough to determine by asking a few suppliers to quote what is specified.

Or am I missing something?

 

[Bob Kraemer]

For 50 bucks you can buy this estimating program http://www.electrimate.com/ you will need to update the prices manually maybe change the labor rates to suite your area and maybe change the labor hours for some items, but for the cost it is a very good program.

 

[JOHNEO99]

Hi

Ya I am still waiting on the PDF with all the specs. This would probably make it easier. I ran work for a big shop for 15 years so all I did was order the material and keep track of the labor. That seems easy comared to bidding this job but I suppose running work was more challenging at the beginning too.


:-? :-? :-?

 

[Rewire]

The labor is the hard part now just get quotes on the gear from your suppliers.

 

[satcom]

"I have a inside connection with the GC and the investors."

Let's hope your going to make some decent money, and a nice profit on the job.

 

[JOHNEO99]

"I have a inside connection with the GC and the investors."

Let's hope your going to make some decent money, and a nice profit on the job.

indeed....im def. gonna try to bid it high to make up for the lack of bidding knowledge etc., etc.

 

[hardworkingstiff]

indeed....im def. gonna try to bid it high to make up for the lack of bidding knowledge etc., etc.

Don't let that cost you the job.

It sounds like you have the skills to come up with a good bill of materials and an accurate labor (time) estimate. The part you may not have a handle on is the appropiate markup for overhead and profit.

 

[ITO]

.... There are (2) 120/240v 800A Main Dist. panels with cct meters on each side of the building. I have helped install these and piped to all the panels within the building...public and private, but have no idea what to charge for it besides the labor...

1) Make a detailed bill of material. If you have plans and specs you can always to photocopy the one line and spec sections in lieu of making the list.

2) Fax or email it to an inside salesman at 2 or 3 supply houses. Get ready for them to ask questions, but don’t worry you should know the answers or at least know were to look to find them.

3) When you get your quotes back, go over them line by line and make sure they are apples to apples. A neat trick those bastards like to use is to leave something big off the quote to appear to be low and hope you don’t figure it out until after you have written a PO.

Do not shop their numbers, do not play games, he who is low gets the job. If they think you are a game player you wont get the best number. It is ok to give bid tabs after you have committed to somebody, but only after.

Do this right enough times and the supply houses will assign you a donut deliver man to pick up quote sheets act as a contact. Be wary though the donut delivery man is a gossip and will repeat every word that comes out of your mouth to all your competitors; the up side is this goes both ways and you can get a feel for what your competitors are doing.

Good luck.

 

[ramsy]

..I have worked for the union for 15 years and decided to go on my own.

Me too, & ready to join an association in direct competion with NECA.

I have even thought about going partners with another contractor on this job just to get my feet wet.

I've seen plenty of commercial service quotes described before, all different shapes & sizes. You'll need to do some searching and reading. Many contractors treat this forum as a sunday morning paper, they're not availbable all the time.

 

[jtandthefiddler]

Congratulations on going out on your own. I started out about 5 years ago and estimating was the most difficult to learn. Everything seems to change daily on prices and its hard to lock them in. I have found that using the supply house to estimate the switch gear and lighting is the best way to get accurate prices. Good Luck on the project I wish you well. I think I finally figured out how to use the computer for something besides Solitare.