I give up; I need an estimating service

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hardworkingstiff said:
If you hire an estimating service, is there a recourse if they miss something and cost you $$$$?
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Probably NOT ....error and omission insurance or some flavor of insurance.
 
celtic said:
LOL .


I was walking past some guy bending some 3/4" EMT today (not one of my guys) ....I casually remarked "They other way..."....the guy stopped, looked at me, looked at the bender, and flipped the pipe around....LMAO - I have no idea what bend he was trying to make, but I know he screwed that one up :grin:
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Oh thats evil - I've done it too... ;) It's that question you ask yourself right before you pull up... Right before you should double check.
 
Yesterday two goofs on my part countered each other - I bent my bigger-than-average box offset the wrong way; then I realized I hadn't cut the pipe to length yet, so it didn't matter. :)
 
hardworkingstiff said:
If you hire an estimating service, is there a recourse if they miss something and cost you $$$$?
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No. It's up to you to review his takeoff. But if you didn't take it off, how will you know if it's correct? Plus, most jobs have last minute addendums, etc that won't allow much time to review. But if you do go this route, make sure the service is working for you, exclusively. Some services sell takeoffs to multiple bidders.
How big are the jobs you bid typically? How good is your hit rate? If you bid mostly "street jobs", using a takeoff service could be expensive, with not much to show for it. I don't feel comfortable cutting a job to the bone unless I KNOW my costs.
IMHO, I would take the time to learn how to estimate faster, better, look into a good software program set up for YOU. Or hire an estimator that has YOUR interest at heart.
 
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