The Iceman 007

Hey guys I'm new here so this will be my 1st post.
I have been an electrical contractor in Florida now for 16 months.
I put a bid out on a commercial project for a general contractor.
There were around 7 EC's bidding for the job. I was in the middle when it came to the bid results.
There was one EC whose bid was 10,000 dollars less than mine.
Things have been really tight so on this particular job my profit margin was less than 10%. Also My labor rate per hour was less than what I used to make working for contractors in the past.
Even if I did the job with no profit, I wouldn't be able to come close to there number.
Now I have 3 estimating programs, one which was $3000.00. I bid all jobs three times then I even pinch these numbers. I'm saying this because I feel like I'm a very good estimator and I'm not leaving anything off.

So question one. Are Electrical subs giving you a price that is low and leaving something off on purpose, then try to get a change order?

The general contractor said to me, that they have not made a decision on who they are going to pick but he also told me they are waiting on the bank to approve the loan. He also stated that they gave the bank the lowest bid results of all the trades.

Question 2. If that is the case. Wouldn't that mean they will be going with the lowest bid?

# 3 Why not just tell me that?
# 4, Do gcs always pic the lowest bids?

DBBII

As a GC, in today's climate you have to use the low bid, or you don't get the job. Yes, when I bid a job I am scared to death with some of the sub prices I see, especially when it's a price that shows up via fax 20 minutes before my bid is due, and it's from a sub I never heard of. If I have time, I try to call them and try to at least do a 30 second scope of work review.

If I don't use the low price, I probably don't get the job. If I use the low sub price, and it turns out the sub won't honor it, I'm still on the hook.

I bid a job a week ago. There were 21 GC bidders. I had over 200 sub prices to sort thru on bid day.

In general, I tend to feel there are a lot of people bidding jobs that really don't understand their costs. I don't think they're doing it on purpose -- I think some just don't know.

The Iceman 007

Thank you for the response

bwalley

I am a Certified Building Contractor in Tampa, I am also an A/C Contractor, I don't always go with the low bidder, sometimes I do.

Sometimes the guys are so low it scares me, because I have an idea what things should cost, and I don't expect my subs to work for free.

If your numbers are tight and the lowest guy is $10,000 cheaper, either you missed something or he did.

Some subs will come in with a lowball number to get the job and will stick it to you on change orders, or they will write their contract to purposely leave things out that they can charge you for later, that should have been in the 1st bid.

As a GC I read my subs bids very well, and if I have any questions I hammer them out before signing.

I also go over the scope of work in detail with my subs, so we are on the same page, luckly I used to do electrical work years ago, so I know enough to talk to the electrical contractor about it and give them my preference the way I want things done.

Where are you in Florida?

The Iceman 007

I'm in the Leesburg area, I do work in Lake, Sumter, Orange counties.

bwalley

You aren't too far from me then, I live in Plant City, which isn't too far from Orlando.

I take my Plumbing Contractors exam on the 17th of next month in Orlando, it takes me about an hour to get there.

wyoming 1

Most government jobs have to take the low bidder unless they have a good reason to exclude a bid (and you better have a good documented reason)but non government jobs can take what ever. I like using subs I know and trust and try to keep the policy of I would gladly pay a little more up front if it would run a little longer in the end. I to have bid on jobs and thought I would have more in materials than that and I have seen the same ho's later and they said that guy up charged us to death and he ended up being x amnt more than you.