Hughesbuildingco's Blog

Common Quandaries in Pricing Your Project

hughesbuildingco — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:28:14 +0000

Conventional wisdom tells us that we should always get 3 bids for any work that we want to have done on our home. Convention doesn’t really explain what that means. If the work that is being done is “single trade” work, then getting 3 bids would involve defining the project by documenting the specific tasks, materials and constraints and sharing the information with the chosen audience in a “request for quote”. The request should ask the bidders to document all that is “in scope” and “out of scope” in their quotation. The quote should also include a start date, a completion date and a general schedule of when and how the work will get done.

So, what does the “in scope” and “out of scope” look like? A proper scoping document is detailed with specifications for the materials type, quantities, placement, performance requirements and any constraints. For instance a scope document for painting would indicate the number of colors, the placement of each color, the paint finish type (flat, eggshell, high gloss, etc.) It may specify a brand and a requirement that the paint is low VOC (volatile organic compounds). The document would reflect whether the trim and ceiling was to be painted and what color applies. The bid should define the materials in as much detail as possible.

For bigger jobs, where you need expertise that spans a multitude of trades and someone to coordinate and schedule the series of activities, a general contractor is essential. The general contractor spans the “white space” that exists between the silos of vendors, trades and craftsmen. In the selection of a general, your comfort and trust in their expertise, processes, and communication style is at least as important as your confidence in their pricing. You will want to determine how they will charge you. The bids should be a part of their process and it may or may not make sense for them to go out for bid on every line item in assembling your pricing and selecting the trades and craftsmen from their portfolio of providers. In seeking a request for quotation from a general, the approach is typically iterative and will require some collaboration on your part with them to help define scope.

As the owner, to the extent that you do not define what you want in your project, you are leaving the decisions up the contractor for the bidding purpose. You can be guaranteed that each of the contractors you engage to provide a quote will interpret your plans and objectives differently; therefore you will not have comparable bids. The point here is that without specifying what you want in your home (scopes of work for each phase/item of the project), getting three bids doesn’t really get you what you want, which is three bids for a comparable outcome. So, you need to do your homework before giving your plans to general contractors by producing scopes of work clearly defining what is in scope and what is out and what materials you envision. Additionally, if you have any specific constraints or requirements, you should indicate those as well. The general contractor is adept at simplifying this very complex process and helping you to value engineer your plan to meet your goals and objectives. Look to your general for guidance in how to accomplish your goals and stay on budget.

A Little More on Us and Pacific Crest

hughesbuildingco — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:51:21 +0000

Below is the press release we recently sent out covering our collaboration with Pacific Crest Cabinets as dealers:

“Hughes Building Company, Inc. teams with Pacific Crest Cabinets as your local Pacific Crest Cabinet Dealer

Effective June 2010, Hughes Building Company, Inc. is a Pacific Crest Cabinet dealer. After many years relationship with Pacific Crest, Hughes Building Company, Inc. believes this new relationship will enable us to better serve our discerning clients by eliminating the middleman.

Because of our close working relationship with clients and the design team during the planning and design phases of our projects, our ability to provide direct access to a quality cabinet line will allow us to better meet our client’s needs and expectations. With lower pricing opportunity, improved control over the communication process, and more intimate knowledge of the client’s full project, we can improve the client service experience.

Over time, Hughes Building Company, Inc. offices will host more cabinet samples and displays. We will also have access to the Sumner Pacific Crest facility should you need to see, touch and have access to more. At Hughes Building Company Inc., we can provide 3D images of your cabinet layouts so that you can experience the change before making final decisions. Talk with us now about special summer pricing on select products available through August 31, 2010!”

Pacific Crest Dealership!!

hughesbuildingco — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:45:51 +0000

We are now Pacific Crest Cabinet dealers!! We are very excited about this opportunity. Pacific Crest has been a vendor of ours for many years. This new relationship provides us with another way to serve our clients. We believe this more integrated approach will create new business opportunities, help us to build new relationships and give us more ways to serve our clientele better.

Please visit our website, as we have updated with a new Pacific Crest tab. We will be updating this page with new information and specials on Pacific Crest products and Hughes Building Company services.

http://www.hughesbuildingco.com/pacificcrestcabinets.html

Hello world!

hughesbuildingco — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:56:54 +0000

This is our first post on wordpress.com! We are excited to enter into the world of blogging! We are working on some interesting topics to post soon! Please stay tuned, and feel free to send us ideas, issues and/or questions you would like us to address.

HBC