re: Paying for a contractor estimate

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Um The building code is the specs. It's their business to know the damn building code for their work.

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cookie cutter yet it includes design and detailed electrical, plumbing and plot plans which must be submitted to the city. 3 separate permits, Site work, concrete work, equipment cost to set the genset, electrical and plumbing. Don't forget elevation certificate..This does not even mention specific subdivision restrictions.

Now throw that bid together in an hour.

I was a bank facilities manager for several years, and dealt with contractors regularly. We were never charged a "consulting" fee for any job that we placed for bid. That said, we were dealing with very large numbers from several hundred thousand to as much as $2-3 million, and the contractors with whom we dealt recognized the sizable pay-off should they be the winning bid, as well as the opportunity to bid on future bank projects. However, for a small home generator job, I wouldn't flinch at a consulting fee. As someone else in this thread pointed out, there could easily be 8-10 hours of work involved in bid preparation unless, you, sir, are providing the plans and specs for this home generator project. From what I read, I sense not. The "consulting" would be to figure out what you want, what you need, and how to make it happen. In other words, they are likely putting considerable thought into their estimate. Otherwise, you can expect one of 2 things to happen. (1), they will prepare some very low-ball specs in order to win the bid, and then charge you an arm and a leg for the inevitable change orders that are sure to follow, or (2) they will heavily pad their estimate to cover their asses. In the case of #1, you're gonna be really pissed when the job either isn't completed to your satisfaction, or costs you significantly more than you were initially told. With #2, the contractor probably won't get the job, but if he did, it's only because every other bid-invited contractor did the same exact thing and padded his estimate mightily. Either way, #1 or #2, you lose. If I was you, I would either go to an electrical engineer, and ask him to prepare the plans and specs, which, I assure you, will cost considerably more than the $125 consulting fee from each of the contractors that you invite to bid. Or, alternatively, I would consult an electrical contractor and offer to pay him a fair and reasonable fee for his thoughts and ideas on the project...with an upfront understanding that you are not, at least at this time, asking for a bid to perform the work. Then, take that information, and prepare your own specs, and have him and other contractors bid on those specs. This will work if you have some degree of knowledge and expertise to begin with, and have some competence in preparing job specs. Note - Specs mean specifications. You have to be specific about the project. Name the generator make and model, specify it's placement on your property, specify how it is to start (manual or automatic), how the wiring is to be run from the generator to the panel, amount of training (if any), length of warranty, etc, etc . Then, see what they come back with. You really want to avoid a situation where you're comparing one contractor's "apples" with another contractor's "oranges". Bottom line, here, is you usually get what you pay for. There aren't many contractors out there who are going to invest the time and effort to give you a meaningful estimate on a "small job" unless they're being compensated for the bid, or have some reasonable expectation of getting this, or future work, from you.

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Would have no problem paying if I wanted deliverable s in the estimate such as exact permits required, layout drawings, etc. However I want them to come out tell me whats the best way to do the project and a price in which I then decide who will get my business.

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Like the OP stated, there are generator companies on every corner now and for companies that offer other services and do not rely solely on generator sales and installs to stay in business, they probably charge a service fee for the estimate to save themselves the headache of dealing with a customer who is going to call (12) other companies and base their decision strictly off the lowest price. My suggestion would be to find a company who specializes or concentrates strictly on generators and you will probably get the best pricing and product. Or just go with the company that gives the free estimate, has the cheapest price, and is probably insured by the General.

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love the guys in this thread that act like $100k and multimillion dollar jobs are the same as $5-10k jobs residential jobs.

If I had to guess said Generator company was tied up with work right now, therefore they didn't need the job. Therefore, what is the harm in charging some people for an estimate to weed out the ones that were not serious.

Charging for an estimate is no different than bidding lower or higher depending on how badly you need the work and how many subs you will have to hire out. Anyone that is in contracting knows this is the name of the game.

Ultimately, if one company can charge for estimates and do well while the rest of their companies can't than that tells you a lot about the company. Mainly, that they are the boss dawg around.

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If I was getting some sort of deliverable, I would agree with you. Otherwise I am wasting cash just to get an estimate.

Doublecutter, you hit the nail on the head. Upvote, sir!