Search the forum,

How to quote!

Post new thread

Discuss How to quote! in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Killy Bing

Plumbers Arms member
Plumber
Gas Engineer
Messages
4,249
In advance sorry if this was already posted and i couldent find it, i did try (don't whip me croppie)

little bit of background!
I'm just finishing my apprenticeship (yay) and I've been offered to do a full rip out and full install on a house excluding the bathrooms or kitchen.
this is something i really cant pass up and totally unwilling to give to my boss.

All new pipework, boiler and cylinder (or combi depending how things go tomorrow night)

Now my boss has never taken me to quote so i'm on the back foot here.

how do you guys weigh up what needs to go in and decide what to charge labour wise?

my workmate is joining me to help out thank god. Any advice is appreciated!
oh and the customer is paying all materials upfront as I've said i don't have the cash flow but he was fine about it.

Thanks!
 
Best advice I could give you 1king55 .... Listen to what your customer is after and supply their wants....... :) Sounds easy but It isn't ... So many installers are more than willing to 'tell' their customers what they need rather than listen to what they want IMHO :)
 
List all the materials you'll need and price them up, then add 10%.

Then work out how many days it'll take and times by your daily rate, add an extra two days for unforseen problems.

Add the two figures together and job done.

Hard part is remembering all the materials needed and correctly estimating the amount of time. Too little and you're working too cheap. Too much and you won't get the job!
 
Pretty sound advice there ! Wont your boss work for you so to speak ? You pay him his day rate but its ur job ?
 
Who"s gonna register the boiler and cover the gas side if your doing it on the side not under your boss"s gs number
 
I have a mate who works for someone and when he does similar jobs im amazed at how cheap he is. He is used to working for a wage and doesn't understand how to charge what he is worth.

Obviously you have done the work before for your boss and know what is involved and how long it should take. You need to be charging accordingly and not what your boss would pay you.
 
Thanks guys !!
I wont be having my boss on any of my jobs if i can help it.
His charges would price me out of the job straight away.

plus hes useless at piping anything up!
The other apprentice is faster and far cheaper!
And my workmate will be there the whole time as i dont have my acs awarded yet (i have done it)
 
Has your workmate got his own gas safe registration? What about public liability insurance? How does your boss feel about you working in competition to him?
 
Yup, he has his own reg. he just does all my bosses install work, my boss will only do servicing and boiler repairs.

i have my own pl at 2 million , I'm self employed.

My boss said its fine as ill learn my lesson to just do other peoples work.

frankly he totally dismisses my abilities, he just wants me to do the labouring + running materials about.

ive put up with ....bad circumstances in every way to get qualified, I'm lucky my parents have supported me so much.
In a nutshell he can gripe about it if i do well and laugh if it goes badly.
ive worked weekend and evenings to get the experience I've needed

I will be charging mark up , wages +profit!


Destroyer my work mate subcontracts to my boss to do all his installs and swaps.
im taking less money for myself to have him there as ive worked for 3 years for this and im not chancing it at all!


not quite a have a go hero ;)
 
diamondgas said:
Best advice I could give you 1king55 .... Listen to what your customer is after and supply their wants....... :) Sounds easy but It isn't ... So many installers are more than willing to 'tell' their customers what they need rather than listen to what they want IMHO :)
Click to expand...

what the customer wants is a first class job for peanuts and all the extras you can handle after all while you're there you can fit in a few small jobs for nothing can't you?
Most customers don't know what they want have to be told what they need!
 
note all requirements and measurements for boiler, controls, flue, condense and gas.
Be Calm and knowledgeable when describing the work to be done and all should go well.

Go away take your time and price it all up, don't give a rough figure.
 
Didnt give a rough quote as im far far far to inexperianced!
nipped the little jobs in the bud and stated that will be on the quote for the first fix for kitchin :)
Hes agreed to material costs up frount.
im keeping all scrap.
noted everything i need, will have a better work out tomorrow too.
was even lucky enough to get a scale copy of the house plans!

Will do the heatlosses and sizing tomorrow.

pretty sure the jobs as good as mine!

his neighbour from across the road also quoted him. (8 grand)
this was him alone for 3 days..........
alarm bells rang when the customer was confused as he said can only install combis to new systems, cant install boilers in lofts at all and in new heating systems you cant use copper......has to be plastic!!

He changed his career 6 months ago....... Bricklayer to gas engineer..thats a new one!

Thanks everyone!! Been a great help
 
1king55 said:
he said can only install combis to new systems, cant install boilers in lofts at all and in new heating systems you cant use copper......has to be plastic!!

He changed his career 6 months ago....... Bricklayer to gas engineer
Click to expand...

That quote needs framing ^
 
Tempted to ask the bloke for a copy as a benchmark to look and think" yup it was worth doing an apprenticeship"

The customer did say in the event someone else does the work the neighbour wants to inspect it! That will be highly amusing.
 
1king55 said:
Tempted to ask the bloke for a copy as a benchmark to look and think" yup it was worth doing an apprenticeship"

The customer did say in the event someone else does the work the neighbour wants to inspect it! That will be highly amusing.
Click to expand...

Why, what's it got to do with him? We talking about the bricky here?
 
Yup the bricky come plumber/gas engineer.

I guess he's being nosey or trying to look out for his new neighbour from across the road however after telling the customer than bull he sounds like a complete tool!
 
Oh my i'm struggling here!

have list of all my materials and such
labour blah blah but i have no idea how to put it into a quote to give to the customer!
could someone send me a sample one of theirs?

Pulling my hair out with worry now.
 
What's your email address?

I use an excel spreadsheet to show materials & labour charges then usually provide a brief cover letter that I also use as a works schedule giving an outline of work to be carried out!
 
To put to supply and fit combi boiler of blah blah spec consisting of 11 rads pr whatever ! Then list chemicals and magna clean ! Then labour !

State all rads will have trvs if you want and say lagging will be applied to pipes! And equipotentiol bonding supplied.

Its upto you if you want to go into detail you dont have to !
 
[email protected]

need to make a business one now actually!

i was hoping to just do materials and labour with an outline of work being under taken but i wasn't sure,

thanks tom!
 
TomLane said:
What's your email address?

I use an excel spreadsheet to show materials & labour charges then usually provide a brief cover letter that I also use as a works schedule giving an outline of work to be carried out!
Click to expand...

Can i get a copy tom ? Wouldnt mind a look might help me out !

[email protected]
 
on31ll said:
Can i get a copy tom ? Wouldnt mind a look might help me out !

[email protected]
Click to expand...

1king55 said:
[email protected]

need to make a business one now actually!

i was hoping to just do materials and labour with an outline of work being under taken but i wasn't sure,

thanks tom!
Click to expand...

How desperate are you both for them? I have some on the Mac that I could send but I'm on my phone at the minute. Could send them first thing in the morning?!
 
Quite ! Never been involved doing anything like this before.
i don't want to come across as a joke tbh.
 
Okay, I'll see if I can find one on my email server on my phone. Just feeding my son at the minute so hole tight for a bit!
 
No rush tom but thank you!

i'll sort out email addresses and spa website when i get my acs awarded. Just a waiting game.
 
1king55 said:
No rush tom but thank you!

i'll sort out email addresses and spa website when i get my acs awarded. Just a waiting game.
Click to expand...

Think I've managed to get one to you. Wanted to find a more detailed one for you to look at but this should give you an idea hopefully.

As I said in the email just keep it to yourselves.
 
It wont go anywhere, ill delete it after ive used it as refrenced.

your a star tom!
 
thanks mate ! sounded a bit snotty when i said thanks anyway ! just realised ! sorry mate
 
1king55 said:
Thanks guys !!
I wont be having my boss on any of my jobs if i can help it.
His charges would price me out of the job straight away.

plus hes useless at piping anything up!
The other apprentice is faster and far cheaper!
And my workmate will be there the whole time as i dont have my acs awarded yet (i have done it)
Click to expand...

Actually a lot to be learned from that post if you read it again.

As your boss I take it you have served some of your time with him, so he could get top prices is that not a skill in itself?

Plus you are already working against yourself assuming the customer would not pay a good price (from our side) without sounding him out.

Elsewhere you state he has a price of £8,000, he didn't dismiss the figure so don't try to impress by going in at something too low.
 
My boss is well established and sadly I'm just starting out.
he can happily turn work away if he doesn't feel he can earn enough money out of it.

Maybe i can be that way one day but not yet.

its not an issue with the customer paying a good price.
the issues how much my boss would charge me for him to be there.
ill pm you the cost!

my quote doesn't come out a great deal below it but its what the customer wants.
the bricky come plumber/gas engineer wouldn't put the boiler in the airing cupboard but i don't mind doing it.
 
New posts
Status
Not open for further replies.

Reply to How to quote! in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Similar plumbing topics

B
Posting a thread as until now I've only read the forum
Hi, I've followed this excellent forum for several years but have never posted, so decided I'd better give some details. My status is the upper end of DIY and I've a couple of house renovations under my belt (my own homes) I am retired but do volunteer handyman jobs for the elderly. Not...
Replies
0
Views
37
Bob Kerr
B
Stigster
Does anyone know the name of this model of Roca toilet?
Hi guys. I'm trying to identify a toilet model before ordering a seat for a customer. I went to what used to be a Roca stockist (they no longer are) and one of the guys there reckoned it might be "The Gap". I went to the new stockist and the guy there disagreed it was "The Gap" and that he'd...
Replies
2
Views
136
Stigster
Stigster
S
Using coil to clear pipe leading to gutter
Hi, I seemed to have a blockage in kitchen sink. A plumber came and cleared all the pipework that is visible inside my home (there was debris and pebbles!) We saw that the pipe that takes water down the gutter was visibly full to the top. He said he will return with a coil to push through...
Replies
1
Views
50
Chuck
C
S
Advice needed for a mixer Spray for kitchen ?
Hello plumbers in my internet. So the Mrs want a spray mixer tap in the kitchen as we had two separate taps. I changed the tap for a temporary two hole mixer but the cold water pressure is high mains fed and the hot is low pressure immersion tank fed. I've been trying to find info on what I...
Replies
2
Views
119
Lou
Lou
D
Replacing outdoor P-Trap Gully with Bottle Gully
Hi all, I'm installing a concrete patio out back. By the wall under the kitchen sink I have an existing P-Trap gully for the grey water from the sink, dishwasher, washing machine etc. When I pour the concrete there won't be any chance to dig it up anymore. From my own research I get the...
Replies
0
Views
97
DIwhYdidIstartThis
D
Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

Newest Plumbing Threads

Tiling Tools
Tiling Blog
Tiling News
Contractor Talk
Contractor Forum
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock