Thread: Construction Pricing

I did a large very detailed extension in 2004 and when I submitted my quote the client said the next nearest was $35K cheaper, I told them to take it but I won't be interested in either finishing it or fixing it when the time comes. A week later they said when can you start. Turns out their apples were very rotten. That job got me a lot of work.

I saved this saying from above (I love it):

"I'm not cheap, I dont have to be: I'm good"

My old man uses a similar one...

Good, fast, cheap

You can have 2 of the above

Fast and good but it won't be cheap,
Fast and cheap but it won't be good,
Good and cheap but it won't be fast

[QUOTE=John.G;2088073]The comment on time really hit home.

As a sawmiller we see this all the dammed time - the guy who walks in the door and wants about half a house by next Friday. And its hard to give it to them.
It takes time for wood to dry from green to a point where we can grade it so... up here at least the industry runs on GOS hardwood. And as soon as you start sending GOS you know that there will be a percentage that drop out of grade as they lose some water. As a mill I dont care: you order GOS you pay the same as for graded hardwood without us having to double handle the boards. But its bad for business... mine, the builders, everyones really. It costs time and money to replace timber once its installed and the solution was as simple as order it 5 weeks in advance so it could be dry enough to grade and we could see the defect that wasnt visible with wood that wet the leaves were still turning brown

We got one house order on our books for 6 months out... all of it, big traditional Queenslander. Once upon a time everyone ordered timber that way... you knew you were going to be building a house so you contacted your timber supplier with a list and told them you wanted delivery on the X day of 3 months hence. And it arrived on time and all was well.
Now it seems no-one wants to order until the last minute, and all that does is make life difficult for all concerned... even if you got a hardware shop in between me and the builder theres still wood to go on trucks and... I don't know the why of this thing. What happened to the building game that none of you are organised enough to know you're going to a job next month? Reno's are different you never know what you got until you lift the roof and take some cladding off... but new work?

Off to cut 56 8x3's for the weekend... in a rush... yeah, I hate bloody builders.[/QUOT
Spoken like a true miller. I come from both fields, so I can see it from both points of view. You are right, it would be much easier with a decent lead time, but here is the catch; the builder, if using a formula, right up to job start has no idea on accurate quantities. He wins the job on his formula quote and won't be working any quantities until he is standing on site. Dumb but true. I think they call it "flying by the seat of your pants." These type of builders can often go right through to completion without having any idea how they are fairing. In fact, they can go right through until tax time before they know where they're at. The hands on builder is a very busy boy. Time is his enemy. There are not enough hours in the day to do everything properly. Sooner or later, something has to suffer. This can be quality, supervision, organisation, billing, bill paying, tax delays etc. "Last minute is a very common thing in the building industry. And sometimes it aint real pretty.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Originally Posted by John.G

Now it seems no-one wants to order until the last minute, and all that does is make life difficult for all concerned... even if you got a hardware shop in between me and the builder theres still wood to go on trucks and... I don't know the why of this thing. What happened to the building game that none of you are organised enough to know you're going to a job next month?

Spoken like a true miller. I come from both fields, so I can see it from both points of view. You are right, it would be much easier with a decent lead time, but here is the catch; the builder, if using a formula, right up to job start has no idea on accurate quantities. He wins the job on his formula quote and won't be working any quantities until he is standing on site. Dumb but true. I think they call it "flying by the seat of your pants."

it's called Just in time ordering. and it's everywhere from Wollies's shelves to the building game.

No one wants to hold stock unless they absolutely have to.
The old "can you look in the back" no longer applies -- the business's entire stock holdings are on the floor. The better ones can tell you what's on the truck due tonight or tomorrow, and the really great ones can get it included on tomorrow's or next week's truck -- but more often the delay will be weeks.

here (Calgary) I can walk into a "home centre" (Bunnings / Mitre10 equivalent) and if what I want is not on the shelf I can get customer service to search stock levels at all stores in Calgary -- Calgary is about the same size as Adelaide, but much easier to move around.
So if I were building a house, I can basically order what I need for delivery tomorrow or the day after.

The other aspect to it is cashflow, I don’t know how you work things John.G but to order material that far out to be cut to an order I assume it would need to be paid for?
As a builder you have a hard time getting paid for anything that has not been installed

Originally Posted by Gabriel

My old man uses a similar one...

Good, fast, cheap

You can have 2 of the above

Fast and good but it won't be cheap,
Fast and cheap but it won't be good,
Good and cheap but it won't be fast

I love this gem. May i start quoting this gem too ?