Cost per foot doesn’t always work. For example you are building a 3 story staircase in San Francisco. The foot print is approximately 3’x12’ which is 36 square feet. Clearly not accurate to determine a square foot price even when adding the landing and next level going up.
So we have devised a labor cost based on time projected to do the job plus cost of materials and our Profit and Overhead. Typically its 25% Labor, 25% Materials, 25% Overhead and 25% Profit.
A 3 story project will take 2 men 3 weeks or 30 Man Days. At $300 per day, the labor cost is $9,000. If you multiple this by 4 you will be pretty accurate with a proposal of $36,000. It works every time.
We do all our own estimating. We have developed our own format and system that we have been using for over 20 years. Our system is very thorough and very detailed. By laying every detail out one at a time it is easy to understand and easy to make changes to.
We typically get brought on very early before plans are drawn up. Our estimates are based on a combination of different historical data we have collected after 18 years in business. 80% of our buildings are design-build so we work with our clients to design something within their budget.
Every plan and project are different so I don’t have a formula for coming up with a bid. No computer program can deal with the nuances of each project. I itemize the bid. Every element of the project has a line item with the material and labor costs. If a change order comes up I go to the line item with the homeowner and we make adjustments.
Every plan and project are different so I don’t have a formula for coming up with a bid. No computer program can deal with the nuances of each project. I itemize the bid. Every element of the project has a line item with the material and labor costs. If a change order comes up I go to the line item with the homeowner and we make adjustments.
We go by size and material cost with a projected time frame to complete… we look back at other similar projects to give us a pretty good understanding of what we could run into and what we might be looking at for real time…
I put in extra time making sure that the material cost is up to date with the market and try to make sure I account for everything. I really don’t like to give my clients a bill at the end of a job.
We don’t use a formula. The software we use actually helps dictate our budgets and what we need to get materials and items for or cheaper to make the job profitable. However, for the customer, it all depends on the type of finishes they decide they want to use in a certain space. Example: laminate counters vs. granite, the granite is much more expensive. The best advice I always give a customer is try to design a space that you not only love but will give you the most equity or resale value in your space. Keeping in mind not all customers care about this fact. For example, they may value an apartment with the lowest possible maintenance.
I take my material cost and use a multiplier between 2 and 3 based on the difficulty of the work and if there is a lot of ladder work or 2nd story work. This covers material, overhead, sales, labor cost and leaves me a profit.
Hard Cost (What contractor pays for sub-contractors, material, labor and equipment) + 10% Overhead (What contractor pays for office expenses, insurance, bond, transportation, utilities, etc.) +10% to 15% Profit= Budget for a project
Wire Wiz Electrician Services always provides prices up front before any work begins. If there may be some “unknowns” that may arise with behind the wall wiring that may not be found until the wall are opened, we still can give an estimated price on a worse case scenario to perhaps totally rewire, so even the unknown can be estimated.
The formula for a project is done by adding all the work hrs from each phase, sub contractors, tools needed, plus the material needed to finish the project.
