Online estimation

[lutonlagerlout]

I know it doesnt apply to driveways and patios but I have 4 jobs to price all extensive stuff ,all probably over 100k

problem is time , my time is eaten up with logistics

so i had a look at online estimators

I have seen one crowd i like the look of its between £75 and £125 a pop,but it could free up a lot of personal time for me

anyone here used one or could recommend one?

cheers LLL

[Forestboy1978]

I can't imagine the hassle you have to deal with workign that stuff out, well I can imagine but damn.

90% of my jobs are small 1 hr - 1 week for 2 people type affairs and they often bite me in the ass even after plenty of planning. I don't/ can't take on larger stuff cos I end up working till 8pm keeping up with maintenance tasks and I get skinny really fast. I've gotten better at them but it's still 5 hours a week to book in a weeks work on average. That's why I love fencing. So damn easy to quote for if it's standard stuff.

Sorry that was no help to you whatsoever lol

[lutonlagerlout]

not really but thanks for the input
I am thinking of charging for big quotes too
I reckon a 100k job takes around 20-25 man hours to estimate
thats real time out of your life when you could be doing something more life enhancing
we are working 6 days a week again and I dont want to spend every evening and sunday hunched over drawings
might give it a try
cheers LLL

[msh paving]

a mate of mine is a groundwork man , he has a freelance QS working for him to price every job MSH

[Captain Concrete]

I always think you are the best person to price it as you know what your doing on site, with big jobs if were busy I price it fast and loose and round it up. Then if you get it bingo if you don't well your busy anyway, having said that a good friend of mine has a QS do all of his and it works out ok but they have worked together for years now, and have a good understanding.

[lutonlagerlout]

I have taken a punt and given it a go
I still intend to work through the figures but pricing med-big jobs with up to ten trades is a lengthy and time consuming process
if you get it wrong its a big hit
missing one item can cost you, a mate of mine priced a job but did not include the material for the roof
cost him 5k,basically all his profit on that job
a mate who is a QS wants similar money so no real gain there
cheers LLL

[Captain Concrete]

Let us know how it turns out! bet they miss some thing out!

[lutonlagerlout]

well they reckon they are doing 1000+ quotes a month so someone must be happy!
we shall see
LLL

[DNgroundworks]

Interesting subject LLL, never heard of this before

[lutonlagerlout]

http://www.estimators-online.com/
I will let you know how I get on
for £125 which is basically freeing me up for 2-3 site meetings or appointments it seems a bargain
LLL

[John156]

I reckon go for it. For that money if it works it makes total Sence. The only problem is they don't how fast you work, site conditions etc. as you say though if you check against items and all seems inline then this is going to save you a lot of time.

Will they put in local labour rates etc ? Or do you give them those rates?

I lose a fair amount of time pricing so interested how you get on. Not sure if there is a service for my kind of work though. I need to get more efficient at my quotes, been better recently though.

[London Stone Paving]

Its funny because people who dont run a business have no awareness of all the non paying tasks that have to be carried out to keep a business ticking over

Cant imagine people being happy about paying for a quote but on the same note it would definately root out the time wasters

Luton, have you ever though about charging for quotes but then refunding the cost of the quote if the project goes ahead?

[Captain Concrete]

Good idea but people just wont ask you to quote, the quotes you win have to pay for the quote you don't. Be interesting to know what are people strike rate? Mine is around 1 in 3 which is ok but I do get a lot of repeat work from the same customers.

[lutonlagerlout]

exactly the same as you captain
but its getting up towards 50% in the latest boom
I dont think you could charge per se ,but my favourite architect charges £50+VAT for a site visit and he says it weeds out the timewasters

the way I see it is that if someone is spending 100K £60 for a professional quote which takes around 20 hours to produce is money well spent
cheers LLL

[rxbren]

Travis also do a job price calculation not sure how it works price wise