Home/Operations/⚡ Electrical/Frustrated with subcontracting quotes for these damn subpanel jobs in north jersey
Frustrated with subcontracting quotes for these damn subpanel jobs in north jersey
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PipeLord420
·1mo·51 replies·51 participants
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PipeLord420⭐ ExpertOP1mo
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Been subbing out electrical work for a few years now, mostly residential upgrades, and I'm gettin sick of undercutting myself just to win bids from GCs here in north jersey. Last week I quoted a 200A subpanel install using Square D QO breakers for a detached garage, figured it'd take two days with my helper, and I put it at $4200 all in, materials and labor. The GC came back sayin some other sparky did it for $3200 and can I match? Hell no, that'd leave me eatin costs on the 4/0 copper SER I had to haul from Ferguson. Saw a similar rant on r/electricians about GCs pitting subs against each other, and someone in the Electricians Network FB group mentioned always addin 20% buffer for these zone 5 headaches like permits and inspections. My margins are gettin razor thin, and with the way fuel and wire prices are spikin, I cant keep racin to the bottom. Any of you subs out there got tips on quotin firmer without losin the gig?
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ColorCraze2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
22
same here, GCs treat us like disposable.
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BeamBoss3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
14
screw em, walk away from lowballs.
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BrushStrokePro13⚒️ Journeyman1mo
10
nah, match and then upsell the trimout for extra.
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RollerRanger9⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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that's shady as hell, but yeah it works sometimes.
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SweepSquad⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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HueHustler4
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DoorOpenerDan2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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DoorOpenerDan2
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BrushStrokePro9⚒️ Journeyman1mo
10
i feel your pain on those SER runs, kills the back.
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DustBunnySlayer2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
20
add a line item for 'GC BS factor' at 15%, charge it every time.
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PestPatrolPete2⭐ Expert1mo
13
that's gold, gonna steal that for my next bid.
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DuctTapeDave⚒️ Journeyman1mo
12
north jersey GCs are the worst, always.
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PipeLord4209⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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use jobber for quotin, it lets you build templates with your real costs baked in.
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DeckBuilderDan⭐ Expert1mo
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seconded, switched to it last year and my hit rate went up 30%.
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BlowerBoss⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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jobber's great but their sub fees suck now.
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LeakHunter3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
27
been there, lost a $5k job over $500.
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BoardBenderBob⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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proud to say I turned down three GCs last month, now im bookin direct.
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ColorChaos⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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yeah man, that square d markup aint worth the hassle.
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NailGunNinja3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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commiseration, my last sub gig paid peanuts after changes.
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SparkPlugStan2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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controversial take: subs should union up and set min rates.
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PipeDreamer19⚒️ Journeyman1mo
13
exactly, solo ops get screwed hardest.
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AmpedUpApprentice⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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we're all gettin bent over by these GCs.
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AntAnnihilator5⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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hell yeah, time to push back collectively.
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NewbieNailBanger⚒️ Journeyman1mo
11
helpful: quote T&M for unknowns, saves your ass.
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LawnLad2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
13
frustrated af, just fired a GC client yesterday.
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PestBuster99⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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controversial: sharkbite for temp fixes only, dont sub that crap.
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WireWizardWalt⭐ Expert1mo
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GCs and their low bids are killin the trade.
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PanelPusher6⚒️ Journeyman1mo
12
feelin that, my quotes keep gettin shopped around.
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BackflowBuddy⚒️ Journeyman1mo
11
commiseration, zone 5 permits alone add $800 sometimes.
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BreakerBreaker⚒️ Journeyman1mo
16
frustrated, had a GC change scope mid job no extra pay.
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FrameFreak3⭐ Expert1mo
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we gotta stop this race to zero.
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BreezeBoss⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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commiseration, same boat in PA.
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PipeLord42028⭐ Expert1mo
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commiseration, lost sleep over a bad quote last week.
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GrimeFighter⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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frustrated, these GCs act like wire grows on trees.
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RatRanger⚒️ Journeyman1mo
25
funny story, quoted high once and GC called me arrogant lol.
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VentMaster992⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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helpful: always get 50% upfront on subs.
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VoltageVagabond4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
19
frustrated, margins down 20% this year from material hikes.
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RefrigerantRanger2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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i bumped my subpanel fees to $4,500 flat last quarter and clients are still lining up 'cause they know i deliver clean work with square d gear. margins back up to 35%, feels damn good after that rough patch.
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LiftLord⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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hell yeah, $4500 for square d bliss while the rest of us are out here quoting $3500 and eating ramen in north jersey winters.
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ShingleShark16⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, same here in the northeast, undercutting on square d jobs just to keep the lights on while these subs rake it in. north jersey winters hit different when you're scraping by on ramen budgets.
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RoofRat873🔧 Apprentice1mo
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man, up here in north jersey i tried jacking subpanel prices to $4200 last year but the damn inspectors keep nitpicking every install, ate half my margins.
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V2776🔧 Apprentice1mo
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inspectors up here are like that one uncle who finds fault with your grilling technique every barbecue. jacked my prices and now they just nitpick even harder, guess im eatin ramen for dinner lol.
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ThermostatTitan⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those north jersey inspectors are the WORST, i quoted a simple 100A subpanel at $1800 last week and they red tagged it over some BS grounding bullshit, gonna be eating ramen with you bro.
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V6500🌱 Newcomer1mo
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try quotin with a 20% material markup buffer and shop around at ferguson for better subpanel deals, itll help keep your margins steady.
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V8604🌱 Newcomer1mo
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man i been gettin screwed on these subpanel jobs in north jersey too, the material costs are killin my margins and ferguson aint always savin me shit.
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VoltageVirgin⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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collective rage: damn GCs ruinin it for everyone.
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ColorCraze2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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humor: at this rate, ill start quotin in bitcoin to confuse em.
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HVAC_Hustler🔧 Apprentice1mo
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stick to flat rates for subpanel jobs, makes the quoting way easier and less room for these cheap ass subs to nitpick. i started using housecall pro last month for all my bids, it lets you build templates with all the north jersey code stuff baked in like nec 210.8 for gfci requirements. just plug in the amps and wire sizes, spits out a clean pdf in under five minutes. had one job where a sub tried to lowball me by $500, but my quote showed the exact material costs from ferguson so they shut up quick. throw in a line for unexpected conduit runs too, cause these old houses always got surprises. shoulda done this sooner, saved me so much headache on callbacks.
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WrenchWiz3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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bitcoin? hell, i tried quotin in monopoly money once just to see their faces, but these north jersey gc's still lowball ya like its nothin.
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MopMaster3000⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those gc's are the WORST, always tryin to squeeze every last dime outta us like we're their personal ATM. north jersey market's a lowball fest, makes you wanna just walk off the job half the time.
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NotAnElectrician17⭐ Expert1mo
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yeah man, those gc's in north jersey been treatin me like their cash cow for years, makes me wanna hang up my tools half the time.
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CircuitSurfer⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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stick to flat rate quotes on those subpanel jobs, i use square d qo breakers and aim for $1200-1500 installed to keep subs from lowballing. north jersey inspectors are picky as hell on the 240v feeds, so build that buffer in upfront.
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RoofRat3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those north jersey inspectors prolly think they're the panel police, makin us jump through hoops just to flip a switch. i once quoted a sub and he lowballed with cheap breakers, ended up eatin the call-back fee myself lol.
