pricelist

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Vinniem

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Central Jersey
Have any of you every been asked by a GC to provide them with a pricelist?

I don't like the idea myshelf, gives the GC to much leverage.

What are your thoughts?
 
Yes, and it can be a way for the GC to add and subtract items from your contact in a way you may not like.

I would not recommend giving them a detailed price list, or even one at all if you don't have a contract.

Generally if I have to give one, it will only cover unit prices for adding receptacles, and lights shown on the fixture schedule, and price per foot for underground feeders. There is a price to add it to the contract, and a lower price to deduct it from the contract, as well as a price for doing a wall drop.
 
Used to be a lot of contractors had price lists for adders.

$XX per foot to run extra conduit, etc.

I found it helpful so that you don't end up arguing over adders so much.
 
Are you talking YOUR complete price list or price list for a certain job?

I had a contractor tell me I could have 30 to 40 new construction home IF I matched the other contractors price, he then hands me a complete copy of the other guys price list. The list was two years old and this guy was still doing the work for the same price After beating the numbers out all this guy was doing was keeping his men busy. He was making between $200-$300 per house in profit if they didnt burn up a drill.
 
I was recently asked by a GC for a price list - but as I started to write one up I found that lots of other factors can come into play such as ceiling heights, home run lengths, size and brand of recessed lights, type of surface mounted light to be installed(ie - standard hanging chandelier or one with 100 crystals hanging off of it - or is it a low voltage track light? ) - 20 ft ceiling in the foyer? Basically I stopped writing and said - I'll look at every job first because I don't charge the same to install a dining room hanging light as I do for a 20 ft hanging foyer light, and a 10 ft track light isn't the same as a small round semi flush mount. - but the GC would think - "it says here X amount for light fixture".

Get into larger wire sizes and your AC compressors, ovens, etc really depend on how far away from panel and how easy or hard is it to install. - you really can't give an up front price for that.
 
ceb58 said:
Are you talking YOUR complete price list or price list for a certain job?

I had a contractor tell me I could have 30 to 40 new construction home IF I matched the other contractors price, he then hands me a complete copy of the other guys price list. The list was two years old and this guy was still doing the work for the same price After beating the numbers out all this guy was doing was keeping his men busy. He was making between $200-$300 per house in profit if they didnt burn up a drill.
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I would not be so sure about your assessment of his profit level. Some people are just very good at making money in circumstances others can't.

I have run across a lot of people in my short stay on this planet that have made very a good living doing things for less then someone else.

I have had some good luck because my brother used to be in the construction business and knew a lot of people who were quite good at doing things for less. I got new carpet in my house for half what several of the big discount carpet stores wanted. Same carpet, same pad. Very nice install. One of the stores called me several months after I had gotten a quote from them and asked me what I had done. I told them. They asked about the price. I told them that too. The guy claimed he could not even buy the materials for that. I don't know if he was telling the truth about the materials or not, but I do know there are some people who are just very good at doing things for less. I doubt they are doing it for their health.

I had a similar experience with a siding guy, and a dry waller, and a mason.

I made the mistake of letting my ex-wife select a remodeling contractor to redo the bathroom. Expensive and poor workmanship abounded. But I did pay a lot for it.
 
I would not be so sure about your assessment of his profit level. Some people are just very good at making money in circumstances others can't.
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Yes I can be sure on this one. Wire had gone up 183% at the time, he was running two vans 45 miles one way with 4 guys, and it was taking them 4 to 5 days on a rough in of a 2000 sq ft house. The only way he made any more was on extras and the houses I saw had very few extras. I would have had to wire 10-12 of these houses to make what I am making on one "custom speck"
 
SmithBuilt said:
I don't see how that act applies. Sarbanes-Oxley/A-summary-of-Oxley-Sarbanes-Act
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"Nearly every industry has been subject to government and industry regulations dictating how they should conduct their businesses with explicit penalties for those failing to comply.Managing regulatory compliance is no longer business as usual.

New regulations like the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 impose hefty penalties.These new regulations have moved corporate governance, risk and comprehensive corporate compliance to the forefront of corporate boardroom dialogue."

Confidential bidding is one of the Fair Business Practices and that is just one of the regulations that the Sarbanes Oxley Act - thanks for the spelling - has strengthened. That means that unless it is an open bidding process, there is no disclosure of financial details outside of the interested parties, eg. Owner and Supplier. That includes exchange of information between different Suppliers is prohibited. Multi-tier Suppliers - subContractors - are also protected and the primeContractor is not supposed to show or transfer information between the subContractors.
 
I discovered years ago when we had a really busy purchasing department that in many cases we were being had by some vendors, at least on certain items.
For the next 5 years I was made aware of any purchase and the cost. If the price was high I'd find a different vendor for that item. Lot's of other supply houses would call on us, some of these salesmen would ask what we were paying for various supplies. I would never tell them, I'd ask them what they would sell it to us for. I would not tell them if they were high, but later I would explain I got a better price.
I enjoyed going into a supply house when I had the time, ask the price on something, comment "that seems high" and then leave. Over time I got better and better prices. In many many cases I ended up purchasing materials at 60% of what we had been paying.....
I also have to admit I could never go through all that again. Those 5 years I worked so many extra hours, because I was still doing my regular job. I did lose any respect I may have had for a purchasing department.
 
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