The customer wants a material list.

[lefty]

material and estimated time

material and estimated time

I have ran into this on occasion, after asking what is the need for it, I got the following answer.

They had all had work done before, they had installs done and they showed me the installs. I

understood their concern after looking at the installs. They just wanted me to explain how I was

going to do the install, and what to expect in the case of incidental work that I could not forsee,

the list of materials and labor estimates, they did not want a copy, they just wanted to view it

before they signed the contract that it was included in. They new my BOM and Labor was

estimates. So they were not going to have a list to shop bids with or did they want to, they were

smart customers, and trying to understand what they were getting. I vet my customers pretty

good, after talking to them you can get a feel for what they are up to. When I have been asked

for a breakdown and estimate, I tell them I will supply it to view, not to have. It will be offered to

them at the signing of the contract. I have had a few state they needed time to come up with the

funds and give me a call knowing that the contract is good till the sun goes down. 90% have

called within 6 weeks to sign a revised contract. That other 10% though, have no understanding

of business, if they start getting hard to deal with, I gladly refer them to my competition.:lol:

I just explain that my estimate of labor and materials is heavy, and the time left over is for the

overhead of running the business, and the material left over is better than not having electrical

service for an additional day.:happyyes:

 

[jmellc]

Once had a customer that used us for several jobs at his church. Then he would get quotes each time. We got fewer of the jobs. Found some of them done when I would go to scope another job. Our quote forms itemized materials. He was using quote for a material list & doing it himself. He was not an electrician by any means but could figure out what to do once he had materials. Sloppy, no craftsmanship. I started putting more vague items. 100 feet of wire, not 100 ft of #12 THHN, stuff like that. He called me on 1 of them & wanted to know what kind of wire & what size. Told him I had to call later, didn't have papers with me. I never called him & he never called us again. Good riddance. But I should have told him 300 ft of 250 MCM and 90 ft of 1/2 EMT. That would have been a funny sight.

If your customer seems honest, quote her a price with materials & without. IF she hires you, give her the list & suggest where to buy. Some customers do have to save where they can & you still get part of the job.

 

[readydave8]

Once had a customer that used us for several jobs at his church. Then he would get quotes each time. We got fewer of the jobs. Found some of them done when I would go to scope another job. Our quote forms itemized materials. He was using quote for a material list & doing it himself. He was not an electrician by any means but could figure out what to do once he had materials. Sloppy, no craftsmanship. I started putting more vague items. 100 feet of wire, not 100 ft of #12 THHN, stuff like that. He called me on 1 of them & wanted to know what kind of wire & what size. Told him I had to call later, didn't have papers with me. I never called him & he never called us again. Good riddance. But I should have told him 300 ft of 250 MCM and 90 ft of 1/2 EMT. That would have been a funny sight.

If your customer seems honest, quote her a price with materials & without. IF she hires you, give her the list & suggest where to buy. Some customers do have to save where they can & you still get part of the job.

Most customers just take the list to Home Depot and wind up spending more than I would have.

I have done some t&m jobs out of my stock, took materials list into HD when I was done, charged customer HD prices, & wound up with decent markup (except on wire & 1/gang boxes).

 

[mike7330]

tell her it's a stack of $20, $10, $5 and some $1s That how the job breaks down!

 

[jaylectricity]

tell her it's a stack of $20, $10, $5 and some $1s That how the job breaks down!

Haha, not bad for your first post.

 

[jmellc]

Most customers just take the list to Home Depot and wind up spending more than I would have.

I have done some t&m jobs out of my stock, took materials list into HD when I was done, charged customer HD prices, & wound up with decent markup (except on wire & 1/gang boxes).

I find prices go all over the board. HD is often cheaper on NM & spools of THHN but higher on various boxes & hardware. Service cable can go either way.

I have let customers buy material but I give them a list and have them get it at supply house. House will give them my price. Put them on their own & they will show up with a roll of NM & bag of MC connectors or some such. Will get wrong boxes, wrong covers, etc.