Job cost?

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nizak

Senior Member
Got a call to change out devices in a cottage, owner explained what was needed(was about 2/3 correct) job was sight unseen. 15- sp switches, 6-3w switches,6- duplex rec to GFCI, 22-duplex rec, 1-stacked (3) sp switches, all applicable plastic covers, trim 2 plates to fit boxes too close to backsplash. All outlet boxes were pvc, and wire length and grounding was fine. 1 man 6 hrs 125 miles round trip, also picked up material on the way. BTW, this job is located in Northern MI.
 
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mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
nizak said:
Got a call to change out devices in a cottage, owner explained what was needed(was about 2/3 correct) job was sight unseen. 15- sp switches, 6-3w switches,6- duplex rec to GFCI, 22-duplex rec, 1-stacked (3) sp switches, all applicable plastic covers, trim 2 plates to fit boxes too close to backsplash. All outlet boxes were pvc, and wire length and grounding was fine. 1 man 6 hrs 125 miles round trip, also picked up material on the way. BTW, this job is located in Northern MI.
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Honestly, I think you work pretty slowly. You've gotta pick up the pace. Not many people wanna pay $800 bucks for device change. If using "standard" devices on a changeout, I estimate at 5-6 bucks per device.(not including plates) I can average around 60-80 bucks an hour that way. That's giving you about 3-4 minutes per opening, which is plenty of time to changeout a device. I can change out a regular house pretty quickly, even when pigtailing to eliminate backstabs, I can average 60-80 bucks an hour.
 
E

emahler

Senior Member
mcclary's electrical said:
Honestly, I think you work pretty slowly. You've gotta pick up the pace. Not many people wanna pay $800 bucks for device change. If using "standard" devices on a changeout, I estimate at 5-6 bucks per device.(not including plates) I can average around 60-80 bucks an hour that way. That's giving you about 3-4 minutes per opening, which is plenty of time to changeout a device. I can change out a regular house pretty quickly, even when pigtailing to eliminate backstabs, I can average 60-80 bucks an hour.
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so, we should kill ourselves to save the customer a few dollars?
 
quogueelectric

quogueelectric

Senior Member
Location
new york
mcclary's electrical said:
Honestly, I think you work pretty slowly. You've gotta pick up the pace. Not many people wanna pay $800 bucks for device change. If using "standard" devices on a changeout, I estimate at 5-6 bucks per device.(not including plates) I can average around 60-80 bucks an hour that way. That's giving you about 3-4 minutes per opening, which is plenty of time to changeout a device. I can change out a regular house pretty quickly, even when pigtailing to eliminate backstabs, I can average 60-80 bucks an hour.
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I think that with some effort you could cut both your time and price down remember this is a recession you know so hurry up!
 
C

Controls

Member
Location
North East
Recession or not ?, too slow/fast ?.Why should those be any reasons to work for nothing with a fairly small job above..Can we we ask our lawyers and doctors to lower their rates or what they charge for their services? When did anyone ever (in general) ask a lawyer or a doctor to lower their rates and also ask them to hurry up so they could charge less?Whether you do this job in 3 hours or 6 hours, most likely, your day is shot.Do you want to work for 300$ ( just an example), driving 2 hours?. Why should I rush to replace a GFIC receptacle in 3-4 minutes?I would not!
 
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Teaspoon

Senior Member
Location
Camden,Tn.
I Agree with Controls. No one else is cutting rates. Why should Electricians cut their rates? I would have flat rated the job. No Hurry Haste makes waste.
 
Dnkldorf

Dnkldorf

Senior Member
If the receps in this cottage, are also on the same circuit as the lights, you're might be changing some with a flashlight.

Then's there the moving furniture to find all of them. (site unseen?)

I think this is a 12-14 hr day including travel.
 
mcclary's electrical

mcclary's electrical

Senior Member
Location
VA
ptonsparky said:
I would have figured 8 hours for the job. By the time you get back the day is shot even if you do finish early. That said I am an Old Fellow with a GPS and would have taken a different route back home.
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If you allow 8 hours and bid against me,,,,,you're nver gonna get it. This job can be done in about half a day. It's not the customers fault that you don't ahve any other work in the area, so you gotta charge them for all day. This is a job I could do on my way home, after pulling 4-5 hrs somewhere else. That's how I roll.
 
Sierrasparky

Sierrasparky

Senior Member
Location
USA
Occupation
Electrician ,contractor
Boy it's interesting how many posted comments.
From the OP's post we don't really know very much.
1) did the 6 hrs inlude the drive time
2) what was the op's question as I really don't see one here.
3) was the house furnished and how much stuff was in the way


My 2 cents if that included drive time not too bad but we don't know do we!
 
A

aline

Senior Member
Location
Utah
mcclary's electrical said:
If you allow 8 hours and bid against me,,,,,you're nver gonna get it. This job can be done in about half a day. It's not the customers fault that you don't ahve any other work in the area, so you gotta charge them for all day. This is a job I could do on my way home, after pulling 4-5 hrs somewhere else. That's how I roll.
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Dear Customer,

I will not be able to make this 125 mile round trip to your cottage to install these devices until I have another 4-5 hour job nearby so I can do your job on my way home. I'm sorry for any inconvienence this may cause but that's just how I roll.
 
S

satcom

Senior Member
quogueelectric said:
I think that with some effort you could cut both your time and price down remember this is a recession you know so hurry up!
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I guess you have not noticed that most of the services a business uses have increased since the recession started, so just how would plan to pay your bills. As for cutting your time, that is a great idea, you just have to learn how to leave out a few things like pesty grounds, and outlets that are out of site, use quality back stabs, they go in faster. after all think about the customer, you have to give them the lowest price, even if you have to work yourself to death, or take food off your own table, get with the times.

You just have plan to cover your costs, and make a small profit, to continue in any business
 
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growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
mcclary's electrical said:
If you allow 8 hours and bid against me,,,,,you're nver gonna get it.
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This true but I'm willing to gamble that I'm not going to be bidding against you.

Even here there are guys that come in from outside and bid dirt cheap but I have to take a chance that they can't get to every job. What kills those guys is the time when they get a call back because they didn't make any money in the first place and when they have to make another trip any thing they did make goes right out the window.

Bidding jobs cheap may work for you but it's not for everyone. I have seen some of the cheapest go out of business so it's not a surefire success method.
 
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