How do they do it?

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growler said:
I think it's just the law of supply and demand. There so many people wanting into the electrical contracting business and there are always plenty of new ( green ) ECs so it's easier for the GCs to shop around.

In areas like this where only the owner is required to be licensed one master can put 50-100 people to work under one license and only a few of them need to have any real skill level. It can be easier to find those wanting to do electrical than finding carpenters or masons or even dry wall crews.
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Makes sense
 
growler said:
.....There so many people wanting into the electrical contracting business and there are always plenty of new ( green ) ECs so it's easier for the GCs to shop around. ..........
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The bulk of which, at least right now, are laid-off electricians who decide to hang out their shingle solely because they can't find a job due to the economy.
 
satcom said:
Funny thing I discovered when I was invited by a GC friend to an annual dinner meeting, no one else at the table new I was an EC, and as they started talking, I got a great education, they talked about dealing with subs, and they all agreed the EC's were easy to cave on price, and they can play games with the EC's the other subs would walk, and if you played games with them they might not come back. It's sad we are looked at that way
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It is sad. But I also find it funny that you can't get a plumber to change a faucet washer for less than $125.00/hr and they all stick together (we've had this discussion here before). We EC's seem to have no problems cutting each other's throats.
 
MarkyMarkNC said:
I guess my opinion on this is a bit different than most on here, but 10 grand for an 1850 sq ft house with no bells and whistles IS a ridiculously high price. I would like to make $140.00 an hour on a commodity installation too, but I would not be upset if I did not get it at that price.
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Figure it out at a labor rate of $40/hr. If you are working for less than that you are a fool and might as well go get a job with someone else and forget the headaches. GC had me go with the other EC's count which was way over the top. For example 17 gfi receps on the first floor...What?
 
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laketime said:
Figure it out at a labor rate of $40/hr. If you are working for less than that you are a fool and might as well go get a job with someone else and forget the headaches. GC had me go with the other EC's count which was way over the top. For example 17 gfi receps on the first floor...What?
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Agreeing with MarkyMark the price for THIS area is high. I would be in the 7k range for min. install. I will say that your going with some one else's count was probably not a good thing. After seeing 17 GFIC's I would really question what the other guy was thinking. You should have done your own take off and price it accordingly.
 
I can sit at home for nothing. No need to work myself to death and have pay for it, too

Sometimes you have to bide your time and let those hacks run out of $$$ first
 
ceb58 said:
Agreeing with MarkyMark the price for THIS area is high. I would be in the 7k range for min. install. I will say that your going with some one else's count was probably not a good thing. After seeing 17 GFIC's I would really question what the other guy was thinking. You should have done your own take off and price it accordingly.
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Not a big deal, but yeah tried that and the gc wanted apples for apples count because he had made changes from the drawing that only the other ec knew about.
 
laketime said:
So I bid an 1850sq ft house sort of basic but had some small extra stuff nothing too pricey. I came out with 10k for a price. The GC calls me and tells me the other guy I bid against was $6500 lower than me. I don't know how these guys can even make any money to live let alone stay in business. Anyone else seeing low prices like that?
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My bet it is a Fairy Tale by the GC trying to get you to rebid lower at his bottom line profit margin. :roll:

Again my guess is some EC beat you out by a couple hundred dollars and he is upping the ante hoping you will come in a bit lower than the real bid. FWIW call his bluff and figure out your lowest price if you need the work and see what he says.
 
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"I just went over the plans again, and noticed a couple of things I had missed; I need to re-submit my bid for a little more." :cool:
 
An old saying

An old saying

The sweetness of low price is long forgotten, while the bitterness of poor quality remains.
 
Sadly, we have resi ec's within 50 miles that are doing new const for $2.65/ft, and there seems to be alot of them.....It's a young man's game around here, and you've got to be ultra fast. Personaly, Im too slow and finicky. I cant compete any more, and make money at those prices, so we dont even try....it's not where it's at for us...
 
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