Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
In your opinion being within what % of the actual "right" number for a job do you consider a good estimate?
Good Estimate
- Thread starter Alwayslearningelec
- Start date
readydave8
re member
- Location
- Clarkesville, Georgia
- Occupation
- electrician
Every time I don't get a job where I was middle price I'm relieved
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
No such thing as a "right" number. Do you mean the winning number, the lowest bid? How your number compares to the others?
-Hal
Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
That doesn’t make sense
Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
Yea I guess you’re right . Have me thinking now ..lol
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
You have to look at your performance over a period of time, not just one bid. If you find that you come in at the bottom consistently you need to look at what you are doing wrong. If you are consistently second or third with a few wins I would say that you are right where you should be.
-Hal
-Hal
Alwayslearningelec
Senior Member
- Location
- NJ
- Occupation
- Estimator
Makes sense thanks
readydave8
re member
- Location
- Clarkesville, Georgia
- Occupation
- electrician
I don't want to work for customer that is looking for cheapest electrician and have often thought middle bid is likely the correct price
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
If you are bidding a project for a commercial GC they only take the lowest responsible bidder.
If you are bidding on something for a homeowner, they play that game with you.
-Hal
James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
I think it's good to occasionally compare with someone. Maybe a coworker, boss, peer, etc.
I freelanced some estimating back in 2009-2010. After not winning a few, the boss told me he wanted to figure one as well as me, on a restaurant.
After I got it done, I called him to compare.
He was at $128k
I was at $131k
He was surprised how close we were, and submitted my number
We didn't win it.
He found out the winning bid was $45k
We had the right number, it just happened that someone came along and put his own neck in a guillotine.
I freelanced some estimating back in 2009-2010. After not winning a few, the boss told me he wanted to figure one as well as me, on a restaurant.
After I got it done, I called him to compare.
He was at $128k
I was at $131k
He was surprised how close we were, and submitted my number
We didn't win it.
He found out the winning bid was $45k
We had the right number, it just happened that someone came along and put his own neck in a guillotine.
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
Yup. And that right there is where the term "responsible bidder" comes in. A GC or owner knows what the job is worth and doesn't want to do business with someone who is going to lose his shirt halfway through the job. Likely in that case the bid will be thrown out and the next lowest bidder chosen.
About that time you hear from the first bidder about how they missed some item somewhere.
-Hal
Not true unless your bidding jobs "off the street".
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
Are you asking if I bid a job and estimate $3,500 in materials, 3 days labor at $3,900, at what percentage would I consider that I was accurate? The over/under on the direct job costs?
mtnelect
HVAC & Electrical Contractor
- Location
- Southern California
- Occupation
- Contractor, C10 & C20 - Semi Retired
In my opinion, contacting will guarantee that you will eventually go broke. It's like that old series on TV ... "Can You Name That Tune in Three Notes". That's why I changed to service & maintenance.
readydave8
re member
- Location
- Clarkesville, Georgia
- Occupation
- electrician
How to walk away from Electrical Contractor business with a million dollars:
Start with 2 million, walk away when you get down to one
Start with 2 million, walk away when you get down to one
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
Different strokes for different folks. If all I did was service work, I’d make a fraction of what I make now.
James L
Senior Member
- Location
- Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
- Occupation
- Electrician
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
99/100ths
If I could hit that number I’d be all in for service work.
It’s low stress and fun work.You're one of the rare ones here that understand that commercial GC's don't just run with the low bidder. Most GC's have a list of "responsible EC's" that they trust their numbers and ability to do the job. I would get call from GC's to tell me my number is out of whack and may have missed something. Sure enough, I did. A lot of folks here think you can low-ball and then kill them on CO's. That's the last thing a GC wants...is to look bad to the owner