Construction business

jimbo1979

Hi everyone,I'm starting a construction business over the coming months and looking for a bit of guidance.ive 15 years carpentry experience but am going out into the big bad world of self employed.just wondering does anyone know about chasing up work and how other builders price jobs.any information would be appreciated

duploelabs

jimbo1979 wrote: »

Hi everyone,I'm starting a construction business over the coming months and looking for a bit of guidance.ive 15 years carpentry experience but am going out into the big bad world of self employed.just wondering does anyone know about chasing up work and how other builders price jobs.any information would be appreciated

You're 15 years in the business, albeit as a subby, and yet you still don't know how to price a job?

Jamesgrace

Quantity surveyors will be able to help you out with pricing.

jcon1913

jimbo1979 wrote: »

Hi everyone,I'm starting a construction business over the coming months and looking for a bit of guidance.ive 15 years carpentry experience but am going out into the big bad world of self employed.just wondering does anyone know about chasing up work and how other builders price jobs.any information would be appreciated

Do you know any lads who priced work in the past? there is probably a daily rate that they aim for e.g. €150 a day and add on the price of materials. Ask someone you know to have a look at your price before going back to the customer

You price a job by calculating your costs of materials, cost of labour, add in a % to cover mistakes you have to fix from the work done after inspection, price in your profit margin, your insurance and bill utilities to the client. Don't get a QS unless your project is really big.
But seriously man if you don't know this after 15 years your heading for trouble. Get yourself a partner or advisor who knows how to run a business because contractors who don't know how to price jobs properly go bankrupt all the time.
You run into big trouble with your clients because you underpriced jobs to get them and run out of money but you are contracted to complete them, and your client will think you just tried to screw him with your low quote.
In construction companies underquote all the time to get jobs on the basis they'll get the client later, very unethical and also high risk if your dealing with a smart developer.
If on the other hand you do it out of incompetence and you have no experience running big jobs you will lose your hat.

jimbo1979

[Deleted User] wrote: »

You price a job by calculating your costs of materials, cost of labour, add in a % to cover mistakes you have to fix from the work done after inspection, price in your profit margin, your insurance and bill utilities to the client. Don't get a QS unless your project is really big.
But seriously man if you don't know this after 15 years your heading for trouble. Get yourself a partner or advisor who knows how to run a business because contractors who don't know how to price jobs properly go bankrupt all the time.
You run into big trouble with your clients because you underpriced jobs to get them and run out of money but you are contracted to complete them, and your client will think you just tried to screw him with your low quote.
In construction companies underquote all the time to get jobs on the basis they'll get the client later, very unethical and also high risk if your dealing with a smart developer.
If on the other hand you do it out of incompetence and you have no experience running big jobs you will lose your hat.

Thanks for the reply.maybe I worded it the wrong way.yes I know how to price materials price labour add it together plus a margin of profit.i have a business partner coming on board that will be helpful to me.thanks again

scwazrh

Without sounding patronising , there is a hell of a lot more to running a construction company than being a good carpenter. Successful building companies are run by business men not tradesmen.If you have to chase work you will be competing on price and if you don't know how to price work properly you will be losing money every hour you have a site under your control .
If you're intending on working as a small one man band with a helper and a business name then try to concentrate on local work where you can build a reputation.If you're aiming for a business where you're not hands on with site work and will spend you're time managing and promoting the company, you're next step should be some business management courses.