How detailed do you get with your estimates?

[iMuse97]

Ya know, telling a GC that you'll be adding a trip charge just makes them laugh. They can simply throw away such an invoice. They act like little kings and will just dismiss such a threat and say they'll just get another electrician for the next job.

I always wonder about people who say they backcharge GCs and send them invoices for scheduling too early, I wonder where these GCs are that would actually pay such an invoice.

Do you guys really backcharge GCs? Just how does that play out? GCs are selfish, arrogant and dictatorial, which is funny because they are profoundly stupid, lack construction knowledge and don't have a clue how to run a business.

I've never back charged a GC, it just seems like a waste of time...

Developing the relationship with the GC is everything--work, talk, work, talk, and a little golf once in a while. You could only back charge anything if you had developed that relationship to the point that they understood their responsibilities to you, AND understood that they had not fulfilled such responsibilities, AND were willing, therefore, to pay for their mistake. Or if such language was written in the contract.

 

[RH1]

I'm very appreciative of all the input I'm getting from you guys, thanks.

 

[LarryFine]

They act like little kings and will just dismiss such a threat and say they'll just get another electrician for the next job.

Let 'em.

Or, tell them you'll get another GC.

 

[jaylectricity]

Basically the three things I'll do is add an item from this list:

A receptacle
A switch
A fixture box
A TV Jack
A phone jack

That's about it, I won't do a recessed can or under cabinet light for free. Customers like to get a couple of freebies and doing them makes it easier when you have to sell them something more substantial.

But I am very strict after the freebies, people say "But it's only $5 of parts" but since the electrical trade is unique in that electrical generally appears on every wall and ceiling of a house, these little things can really add up, if you are lax in charging, soon you'll have installed an additional 20 boxes.

Very good examples. Wednesday I installed a dimmer but then the customer presented me with CFLs for the main kitchen light fixture. I told them they would have to keep the dimmer at full brightness unless they found some dimmable CFLs. Well, after an hour or so of installing some other things in the kitchen I noticed that light flickering.

So I replaced the dimmer with a regular single pole switch. I told her that I wouldn't charge her for changing it, nor would I charge her to put the dimmer back in there if she decided to put some dimmable bulbs in the fixture.

Small beans when you consider that we're talking about 20 minutes worth of work while I'm doing $4000 worth of work, not including $1000 of work I had done for them a month or two ago.

 

[bigjohn67]

Trim out anyway

Trim out anyway

Yeah, customers always ask if the installation is included, which of course it is, I probably should add language to that effect...

Hey, I like your language and charge about fixtures being present at trim out, I'm going to incorporate that, but I have a much bigger problem that I have not figured out how to solve:

General contractors call me and say "we're ready for you to trim out" and I give them a quick IQ test, I ask if the walls have been painted, cabinets hung, etc. Almost always they schedule me to start trimming out while painters are painting and floors are being put in, etc. I try to reason with them and say that they are not ready for trim, but they say "oh you can trim out 2 bedrooms upstairs, and the garage, there's plenty for you to do". But invariably they lied and there are painters everywhere, guys sanding drywall, etc.....

This is the most infuriating part of my job, is stupid GCs scheduling trim as soon as the drywall is nailed up. They like to see lots of guys on the job and they could care less how this ruins my productivity.

How do you handle this?

If they call for a trim out, we trim out. It's the painters problem the walls are not floated or painted. The know how to cut around it. Just make sure your plates and fixtures are installed straight. We put our screws one way for everything. If the painter takes it off, his problem. We put our plates on with the screws horizontal, if the GC has a complaint just look at the screws.

 

[jaylectricity]

If they call for a trim out, we trim out. It's the painters problem the walls are not floated or painted. The know how to cut around it. Just make sure your plates and fixtures are installed straight. We put our screws one way for everything. If the painter takes it off, his problem. We put our plates on with the screws horizontal, if the GC has a complaint just look at the screws.

I prefer vertical, but that's just me.