mlsgroup

I am providing a bid for a 9 building complex. Lots of scraping and caulking. Surfaces are 25% stucco, 15% brick, 25% wood (decks, porches, railing), 35% siding. The buildings are sorted at 2 stucco, 3 brick, 4 siding.

They are asking us to privide pricing by the building. I have a price for the full job at around $35k-40k. This includes roughly 12-14 full days including prep with 7-10 man crews each day.

I am really needing some advice on breaking it down. This is where I am afraid of losing some padded money.

Paul

noreast05

Divide by 9 = $4500 each. How about sizing each individually. Look at each unit to see exactly which needs what. Treat them like 9 different jobs.

AAPaint

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

slickshift

Break it down as little as possible and stick to your guns that "That's the way it is"

It may help if you post up who "they" is, as "they" can have different reasons for wanting a breakdown
It could be to pick and choose which to fix, looking to negotiate by saying this one isn't as bad as that etc., or it could be that the buildings have different funds that they draw maint. from
Are "they" needing some bookeeping specifics or looking to cheap out?

If you bid it as one big job, tell them it's one big job
You don't want to have them say OK do this building
Then 2 months later say OK now do this building
I mean, that'd be fine but there's no "one big job" discounts
...and price them that way

Even better, if they want per building pricing, tell them it's 6K (or whatever won't hose you if you do them one at a time) each

"But for you....if you sign for them all, and I can do them all-at-once/one-after-the-other....the whole package 40K"

GPI

MLS,
Ask yourself how you can break it down evenly, if there is more work on one building than the other , caulking, scraping, priming etc... If one requires more work than the other, it can only be broken down for unattached units. Attached units for example a 9 unit cannot be broken in 3s theyre attached.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
l l l l
l more scrape l more caulk l clean only l
l l l l
l l l l

Just an example above: Bid as a whole building, the variables will be different for each unit within the same structure.
Remember you are the estimator, dont let the customer try and simplify your job as if its a mindless thing you are doing for them.

The macro I made for you above looked like a building..lol but for some reason it gets smooshed when I hit reply..lol

Brian

Personally, I don't have a problem giving a separate price for each building. I have to measure each building separately, so the numbers are readily available. I just treat each building as a separate job.

If effeciencies can be gained by doing all of the buildings at once, at least a portion of that savings can be passed on to the customer. I call it a Production Cost Savings, and use it very frequently when a customer wants separate prices. It will usually encourage the customer to go with a bigger job.

While it may seem like a bit of a hassle to give separate prices, it is what the customer asked for. No matter what their reason, demonstrating that you can accomodate a simple request before you get the job will give the customer an indication of what you will be like to work with during the job. Sometimes that will make the difference.

Brian Phillips

ProWallGuy

Ditto.

__________________
Professional Wallpaper Installations in St. Louis
Award Winning Murals Installations

GPI

Brian,
It makes a difference if they asked for it to be bid individually in the first place. The "split the prices individually" issue should have came up front, not after, so if you redo you quotes at their beck and call they will expect you to be a yes man throughout the project.

I dont like the color I picked, change it.
I want that wood replaced instead of scraped.
I want you to structure your bid based on our budget.
I want digital colorized photos of my buildings with the colors selected.

Sounds like an "or else" clause thats not being spoken.
If you bid individually, theyre saying its possible they will not be doing the entire project at once, thus increasing the costs obviuosly.
Set up time, tear down time X2. Just my opinion.

Harry

Personally, I think that the owner either thought the price was going to be lower or they have another price and are thinking about splitting the job up, giving some to more than one painter.

Either way, I don't see the big deal and I've done this for million dollar projects.

If I got just one of the buildings and it was worthwhile, I'd consider it a job, smaller or not.

Simply make sure that you have your monies included for each building and certainly, push for the package deal.

Two years ago we were awarded 1/3 of a 3 million dollar project, took it, and went on to finish the first section that was awarded to another contractor because they had been booted and the second contractor wasn't large enough to take on the extra work.

That is where the good money was made because the bargaining position was in our favor.

Thanks,
Harry

electro

Paul,
One line in your post concerns me.
You say 12-14 days with 7-10 men. That's a hell of a gap. Do you have an idea how much that gap is in dollars? Do you know exactly what a man day costs you?
The money to be made in the painting industry is only there if you know your numbers. Know when to walk away. Know when to negotiate.
Where we are located the lowest bid rate is on new residential work. Can you be profitable on this type of work? Only you can determine this. I'd rather have (5) $ 5,000.00 jobs at 20% profit than (1) $ 25,000.00 job at 10%.
Just some food for thought.

Electro

http://www.yourcostcenter.com