Finishing someone else's work

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shputnik

shputnik

Senior Member
Location
Utah
Occupation
Expert wirenut installer
Had a home owner call me to finish a project that another Electrician didn't finish....for one reason or another....it's a kitchen remodel....

How would you bid it? I can't see me doing it for anything but time and material because I don't know what loose ends there are.


I'm new to the estimating side of things
 
shputnik said:
Had a home owner call me to finish a project that another Electrician didn't finish....for one reason or another....it's a kitchen remodel....

How would you bid it? I can't see me doing it for anything but time and material because I don't know what loose ends there are.


I'm new to the estimating side of things
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Not only loose ends, but potentially hidden flaws inside walls. A lot of folks are not comfortable taking over with the walls closed unless they know the original contractor's work.
 
GoldDigger said:
Not only loose ends, but potentially hidden flaws inside walls. A lot of folks are not comfortable taking over with the walls closed unless they know the original contractor's work.
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I have two million dollar liability.... would that cover me just for what I'm doing...am I accepting liability on the other contractors work....

It's an Crouse Hinds panel. I plan on afci protection.....Does Crouse hinds list Murray breakers?
 
shputnik said:
Had a home owner call me to finish a project that another Electrician didn't finish....for one reason or another....it's a kitchen remodel....
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How many jobs have you ever walked away from in the middle ? If you do there will probably be a good reason.

Did they get an inspection on the job? Who holds the permit?

There may not even have been another electrician the homeowner may have gotten in over his/her head.
 
growler said:
How many jobs have you ever walked away from in the middle ? If you do there will probably be a good reason.

Did they get an inspection on the job? Who holds the permit?

There may not even have been another electrician the homeowner may have gotten in over his/her head.
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Those are my thoughts... I'm turning to my peers here because I appreciate your opinions
 
Look into the permit history and verify there aren't any liens on the property before you price the job. It can help you get an idea if the electrician was failing inspections or if the GC/customer was delaying the job for one reason or another.

Also, find out why the homeowner is hiring you instead of the GC. Talk to the GC as well if possible.

Finishing someone else's work is risky, as others have said. Pricing the job requires paying your crew to inspect the work completed to date for quality and code compliance before you can estimate your costs.

Unless you are looking to build a relationship with a repeat customer, price the job very high and hope you don't get it.
 
I've had jobs in limbo over the years

there's always a reason, the more one has to dig for that reason, the more one should distance his/herself from the job
;)
~RJ~
 
cdslotz said:
99.9% chance that is the case.
Find out who the EC was and call him
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The general contractor is the home owner.... actually has a license as a contractor

I'm not familiar with how liability insurance works....I'm going to call my insurance provider later


Things happen....it's the price of running a business....i just want to make sure I'm covered by liability.
 
I looked at a job recently that I was to do the control work on. The EC on the job was only doing the building etc. When I called in about permitting my portion, the area inspector asked “What building?” Not a good question at that stage. I didn’t get the project due to the number of zeros in my guesstimate, but most likely I got the blame for the stop work order.

CYA.
 
You sound like you are hungry, don't let the need for work cloud your judgement. I would rather lose money on bidding and not getting jobs than winning and getting hosed, tread lightly, do your homework. GC personal work will be a pita.
 
shputnik said:
Does Crouse hinds list Murray breakers?
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LarryFine said:
I believe you'll find that BR is the line you want. Check the panel label if it's still there.
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Crouse-Hinds was Murray, and Murray is the successor company, since Siemens bought the Crouse-Hinds distribution line from Cooper, and restored the original name, the breaker catalog numbers should be the same. Crouse-Hinds did list ITE, EQ-P, and EQ-T, Bryant BR, as acceptable in a lot of loadcenters, Murray is the OEM replacement though.
 
shputnik said:
Had a home owner call me to finish a project that another Electrician didn't finish....for one reason or another....it's a kitchen remodel....

How would you bid it? I can't see me doing it for anything but time and material because I don't know what loose ends there are.


I'm new to the estimating side of things
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Don't run from a job like this. Proceed with caution and CHARGE LARGE! And ask for payment daily if that's what it takes.
 
norcal said:
Crouse-Hinds was Murray, and Murray is the successor company, since Siemens bought the Crouse-Hinds distribution line from Cooper, and restored the original name, the breaker catalog numbers should be the same. Crouse-Hinds did list ITE, EQ-P, and EQ-T, Bryant BR, as acceptable in a lot of loadcenters, Murray is the OEM replacement though.
Click to expand...
BR line is part of Eaton now, and this may lead to some confusion of what is acceptable today.
 
shputnik said:
The general contractor is the home owner.... actually has a license as a contractor

I'm not familiar with how liability insurance works....I'm going to call my insurance provider later


Things happen....it's the price of running a business....i just want to make sure I'm covered by liability.
Click to expand...

If the owner is a contractor does he have a permit for the job and if so was there a rough inspection? The original EC should be on record for the rough-in.

If they passed a rough inspection then the rest of the work on a kitchen remodel is much like service work. You install receptacles all the time on circuits installed by others with no option to open walls and check the wiring.

I don't know how things work in your area but here if another electrician is listed as the electrician of record on a job then they must be officially replaced on the permit before work continues. The original EC has to sign a document saying that he had quite the job and close out his permit and that all financial matters are settled.
 
Sometimes people just don't get along and decide to split ways even if neither has really done anything wrong.

Maybe the other EC was the one that did something that didn't go well with client, not all clients are bad. Fact the client is a GC, maybe complicates things, maybe wasn't a good GC if you asked the other EC about him?

Be clear what you will or will not do and proceed at your own risk.
 
We did a kitchen remodel recently. The GC handled everything. He included a cost for electrical in his original bid to us. However, once the walls and ceiling were uncovered, it was clear that the existing wiring was, at best, hack work. The GC gave me a price for the additional electrical work. I approved the change order. I was present at the city's cover inspection and final inspection. I know, from personally seeing the new wiring, that the job was done properly. The extra costs were well worth it to me, as I know the kitchen wiring is safe.

That is the experience an EC and a GC should get from the homeowners. I can't tell if you are looking at a similar experience, or at an unexpected disaster. I hope it is the former.
 
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