Job cost/ owner shocked

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nizak

Senior Member
I was doing the electrical for an IG pool install (quoted job) and the homeowner added a outdoor hot tub. I was not asked to give a price, just to do it since I was there and already doing the other work. It consisted of a 50A 120/240V GFCI feed that was 85' thru the basement(50' drop ceiling finished living space with furniture, 35' mechanical room open floor joists), 12' 1"pvc under concrete,wire mesh bonding, outside disco and termination. Interior wiring was 6/3 NM, exterior was #8THHN. Could someone please price this job, I would like to see how out of line I was. Thanx.
 
LEO2854

LEO2854

Esteemed Member
Location
Ma
nizak said:
I was doing the electrical for an IG pool install (quoted job) and the homeowner added a outdoor hot tub. I was not asked to give a price, just to do it since I was there and already doing the other work. It consisted of a 50A 120/240V GFCI feed that was 85' thru the basement(50' drop ceiling finished living space with furniture, 35' mechanical room open floor joists), 12' 1"pvc under concrete,wire mesh bonding, outside disco and termination. Interior wiring was 6/3 NM, exterior was #8THHN. Could someone please price this job, I would like to see how out of line I was. Thanx.
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$2,200.03...:)
 
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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
It sounds like a $1500-2000 job to me too. It never seems like this kind of thing can cost this much, but it always seems to cost a lot more than it "should".
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
nizak said:
I was not asked to give a price, just to do it since I was there and already doing the other work.
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You are the professional not the homeowner. You should know that a signed change order is the right thing to do for work like this.

If you don't give a price up-front people are always going to expect work done for a cheap price.
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
growler said:
You are the professional not the homeowner. You should know that a signed change order is the right thing to do for work like this.

If you don't give a price up-front people are always going to expect work done for a cheap price.
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Second the motion here. Even if all you do is provide an ROM estimate ("$2500, +/- $500") you can go a long way to preventing the homeowner from feeling he's been had. I can hear the conversation at the block barbeque now: "Yeah, I used XYZ Electric. Seemed like a pretty good price, but he really put the screws to me on the change order. I mean, come on, it was just a hot tub." That story will spread faster and farther than the last 10 outstanding jobs you did for other customers.
 
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SBuck

Member
[FONT=&quot]I recently did a job for $3038(1360 in material and 1280 in labor) rest was profit. My labor cost is 40.02. 32 total hours including bidding, permit, material pickup. When you know what you are capable of doing it makes it easy to bid a job and not rob the customer.

5 - GFCI Receptacles [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]28 - Duplex Receptacles [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]13 - Fluorescent Light Fixtures [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1 - Metal Halide Light Fixture[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]4 - 3Way Switches[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2 - 1 Position Switches[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1 - 50 Amp 220V Outlet[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2 - Ground Rods and #8 wire to Ground Panel[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]2 - 20 Amp Breakers[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]1 - 50 Amp 2 Pole Breaker[/FONT]
600' of 12-2 NM, 250' of 12-3
30- J-boxes
 
iMuse97

iMuse97

Senior Member
Location
Chicagoland
SBuck said:
I recently did a job for $3038(1360 in material and 1280 in labor) rest was profit. My labor cost is 40.02. 32 total hours including bidding, permit, material pickup. When you know what you are capable of doing it makes it easy to bid a job and not rob the customer.

5 - GFCI Receptacles

28 - Duplex Receptacles

13 - Fluorescent Light Fixtures

1 - Metal Halide Light Fixture

4 - 3Way Switches

2 - 1 Position Switches

1 - 50 Amp 220V Outlet

2 - Ground Rods and #8 wire to Ground Panel

2 - 20 Amp Breakers

1 - 50 Amp 2 Pole Breaker
600' of 12-2 NM, 250' of 12-3
30- J-boxes
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The rest of what you called profit probably didn't even cover your overhead. For a list of overhead costs see this link: http://www.masterplumbers.com/utilities/costcalc/ Because what you are saying is that you paid yourself a small wage, and in almost one week of work your business only took in enough to put some gas in your truck, and pay your phone bill. What about all your other expenses, insurance, and a vacation once or twice a year? What about retirement?
 
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SBuck

Member
$30 Wage is set by Local union which includes 20/hr wage, 7.21/hr for Health care and additional money for Pension, annuity, and vacation. The extra 10/hr is including unemployment, payroll taxes, WComp, insurance, phone, vehicle, vehicle expenses, advertising. Fuel is in the material cost. If it was a service the price would be set up differently. The wages in my area are not like Chicago or Northwest Indiana which is where I used to work. The average profit around my area seems to be going at 7%, The job I showed was at 15%. Every area has different pay scales. It is a simple concept.
 
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