New

flash

I am a newly licensed electrical contractor and was wondering if i could get a little bit of advise from some of the old timers out there. I was an electrician in the military for 4yrs and decided that i would be happier and make more money working for myself. I have the experience in the trade. Just not that much in how to get jobs and cost of doing something like a whole house. I have been doing little jobs here and there but i want big ones! Also does anyone know where i can get so good contractor forms.

bob the builder

I'm certainly not an electrical contractor. I do however get calls from various trades from time to time introducing themselves and telling a bit about who they are and you could do the same. Just tonight I did 2 estimates that I will need an electrician on and if the job gets signed it gaureenteed work for some wire puller...

Bob

flash

when i get called to give a bid do i get a copy of the plans for the project?

bob the builder

What I do is meet the customer, draw up an electrical plan if it's a bit of work and e mail or fax to electrician. He gives price and sends it back to me. Sometimes I meet customer with electician, not usually though.
But usually I just figure out the price and find a electrician that will do it for that. All of my prices are based off of history and are accurate enough and hassle free for electrician. Granted most of my jobs are not big jobs for electricians, but most of them need an electrician...

Bob

flash

what about the forms?

Speedy Petey

http://www.contractortalk.com/f65/give-form-take-form-3935/

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flash

what about the estimating part for a bigger job then just putting in a new outlets or a light etc.... i am talking a whole house. I have no job history to go off of so it would be kinda had rigth now

Speedy Petey

You need to calculate your TOTAL overhead. Add to this what you intend to make for profit. This will give you a baseline of what to charge.
I must say, when I first heard this, and when I write it now, I think "Yeah right".
How do you figure what you intend to make? How do you know what your total overhead will be for the first year of a new venture? You do not. You can guess. You can estimate. That's it.

What I did was base my pricing on the low average of every contractor I could find in my area. Most were doing real well, so I figured I would do ok as a solo guy if I charged on the low side of everyone else. (Fly-by-nighters NOT included).
After a year you can truly gauge what the cost of doing business actually is. The first year is almost never good anyway but you can see what it cost you. When you start doing better the overhead will rise with the volume of business you do.
For me I did better than expected the first year and my overhead was lower than expected.
I'll tell you what, employees are an overhead/paperwork nightmare.

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wolverines57

What would you charge on a T&M job. What are most electricians charging per hour. And also what is a fair mark up on material.

Speedy Petey

What I charge is of no consequence, unless you're in my general area.
Going rate around here is in the $40-$75 range for residential, for a REAL electrician. Of course since we are mainly a non-license area there are handymen and GCs who charge $25-$30 an hr. Yes, I do get asked to fix their screw ups pretty regularly.

Go out to the left coast and those numbers go up dramatically. I have seen numbers in the $125/hr range, for ONE man.

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