estimating a fire/insurance job

1491 Views 18 Replies 9 Participants Last post by nrp3, Mar 9, 2014

24 big guy

Discussion Starter · Mar 8, 2014

Got a house that needs a conplete rewire up to code obviously. But contractor wants me to price it up in 2 seperate parts.

1st part its what was already existing

2nd is what is required by code.

Has anyone done this maybe you have a invoice that I could look at for reference.

I dont need anyone's prices just how they wrote it up.

Thanks

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

drspec

· #2 · Mar 8, 2014

Ive been doing restoration work for years

and I will list the code upgrades separately from the main work, but I only provide one price

I don't break down the cost difference

if you don't normally do restoration work and know how the game is played you can lose your ass

Reactions: 2

Hmacanada

· #3 · Mar 8, 2014

Why? Would he want that?
Priced it elect included , now wants to charge extra for the updates?
Never heard of such a thing.
Sounds like he low balled it, now trying to squeeze extras out of the owners.
Not the kind of guy I want to work for.
Sorry didn't answer your question, I would,nt answer his either .

drspec

· #4 · Mar 8, 2014

Hmacanada said:
Why? Would he want that?
Priced it elect included , now wants to charge extra for the updates?
Never heard of such a thing.
Sounds like he low balled it, now trying to squeeze extras out of the owners.
Not the kind of guy I want to work for.
Sorry didn't answer your question, I would,nt answer his either .

insurance work is different than a normal bid job

required code upgrades are supplements and have to be listed separately from rewiring to original

I never break out the cost of the upgrades. I just give a grand total for the job since the job wouldn't pass without the required upgrades

Reactions: 1

Hmacanada

· #5 · Mar 8, 2014

drspec said:
insurance work is different than a normal bid job required code upgrades are supplements and have to be listed separately from rewiring to original I never break out the cost of the upgrades. I just give a grand total for the job since the job wouldn't pass without the required upgrades

Really ? I've never had to do that , I have only done a couple fire jobs in the last couple years , maybe it coming for me yet.

drspec

· #6 · Mar 8, 2014

Hmacanada said:
Really ? I've never had to do that , I have only done a couple fire jobs in the last couple years , maybe it coming for me yet.

it all depends on the company you work for, the homeowners insurance company and what their coverage spells out

its not a big deal to list the upgrades separately

I probably don't spend more than 30 minutes on an estimate

sometimes I do the job and then bill later

a few times I will have to change the way things are worded but I never have a problem getting paid

24 big guy

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 8, 2014

Thanks guys well the helpful ones lol. He never said anything about breakdown of dif prices and I think thats what confused me about how to quote it.

Based on a few of the responses im gonna list it sep but with one price. As I dont break down my costs anywas on my estimate.

Hmacanada

· #8 · Mar 8, 2014

Good to know

drspec

· #9 · Mar 9, 2014

If you still want to see some examples I could dig some up for you

MHElectric

· #10 · Mar 9, 2014

drspec said:
If you still want to see some examples I could dig some up for you

Complete re-wires, or just partial jobs? Id be very interested to hear more about this kind of work.

btharmy

· #11 · Mar 9, 2014

I want to get in on this one. I am pricing my first fire insurance job. The one I posted about in the thread about GCs.

See less See more

2

daveEM

· #12 · Mar 9, 2014

That's not repairable.

MHElectric

· #13 · Mar 9, 2014

A company I used to work for got a huge re-wire job on an old mansion where at one time there had been a small fire in one section of the house. They didn't really do much about the burnt wood, other than slap a few new boards up around the bad areas.

I really kind of wondered what the deal was with that, but I guess it wasn't a structural problem.

btharmy

· #14 · Mar 9, 2014

daveEM said:
That's not repairable.

They are keeping this part and adding another 900 sq feet to the house as well.

The guy with the beard drew up the new floor plan. He gave me a copy of the drawings. Believe it or not, they are not stamped with an engineers seal or approved by the state. Haha.

See less See more

2

LGLS

· #15 · Mar 9, 2014

24 big guy said:
Thanks guys well the helpful ones lol. He never said anything about breakdown of dif prices and I think thats what confused me about how to quote it.

Based on a few of the responses im gonna list it sep but with one price. As I dont break down my costs anywas on my estimate.

Some insurers only insure the cost of what was lost, and not the needed changes required to comply with the current codes. Hence the need for a breakdown that segregates the two prices.

drspec

· #16 · Mar 9, 2014

MHElectric said:
Complete re-wires, or just partial jobs? Id be very interested to hear more about this kind of work.

both

been involved with restoration in one form or another for over 10 yrs now

hit me up with a pm with any specifics you want to know about

Reactions: 1

Deanos01

· #17 · Mar 9, 2014 (Edited)

drspec said:
insurance work is different than a normal bid job

required code upgrades are supplements and have to be listed separately from rewiring to original

I never break out the cost of the upgrades. I just give a grand total for the job since the job wouldn't pass without the required upgrades

I don't like braking down any quotes!, that job looks beyond repair.

drspec

· #18 · Mar 9, 2014

Deanos01 said:
I don't like braking down any quotes!, that job looks beyond repair.

I don't like breaking down quotes either, but when you do remodel work or restoration it's a necessity. If you don't spell out exactly what your pricing includes, you'll be doing a bunch of **** for free once the job starts.

Homeowners will claim all kinds of kooky **** when their house is being rebuilt. You don't break out your pricing, you just clearly state what work is being performed and just list the code upgrades that will be required to pass inspection. It's not hard to do and I literally never take more than 30 mins - 1 hour to finalize a bid for one of these jobs.

As far as being beyond repair, I've seen a lot worse. Rarely have I seen them bulldoze a house and rebuild from scratch. You would be amazed at what Kilz and some odor removers can do.

The house in the OPs post will definitely be a total rewire, but the majority of the structure will likely be saved.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

nrp3

· #19 · Mar 9, 2014

The more open and close to a total do over, I would think the easier it would be to bid. Its the ones that are partial, old and lots of unknowns, that would scare me. Probably takes some experience to get it right.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.