Services To Contractors

Every General Contractor works to produce an overall bid which safeguards profits yet stays competitive. We can help. We’ve created hundreds of successful estimates for General Contractors ranging from $200,000.00 to $102,000,000.00.

And we go the extra mile so make sure that your budgets are inclusive of the entire scope. We also include Client options that often result in added sales.

We work on an “as-needed” hourly basis. You receive the benefits of an experienced Project Estimator, but only pay for the actual hours or portions of hours used.

Our estimates feature scope columns for Shell, Finishes, Guest House, Pool, and Hardscape, or we can add or remove scope columns to best fit your needs.

And since we work for many different contractors, we can even tell you when your General Condition line items and Overhead & Profit Percentages are higher or lower than the rest of the field in Los Angeles for the same project size.

Contact us today for a Sample Budget.

Our Process

On your behalf, we send your selected subs & suppliers an invitation to bid & plan link to our FTP site containing all construction documents.

As revised construction documents & RFI Answers are received, Bidders are immediately notified to check our plan site. We also invite those subs who (amazingly) are still resisting the computer age, to come to our office to review our hardcopy plan set.

For new construction, we schedule a job-walk for demo, grading/excavation, plumbing & electrical subs to location of existing utilities & access. For remodels, we schedule a job-walk with all applicable trades. We also take photos of every existing condition, so when we meet with you, we can show you what we learned.

We build you a Detailed Budget and linked Summary Budget using our in-house cost data base & your sub/supplier bids. We also provide you with Bidder Comparison Charts (after a lot of emails & calls to subs for revised bids) so you can see at a glance which competing bid to go with.

Budget Reviews & Edits

Come to our office to review the budget. Or we can make edits via email. Or let’s meet via computer using the GO-TO-MEETING. (We found meeting in front of our computers or using GO-TO-MEETING works the best, as we make your edits in real time, and can show you on-screen takeoffs, plan details, site photos and our Bidder Comparison Charts.

And of course, each budget will include your company’s name, logo and contact numbers in the masthead, and can be used as an attachment to your contract. And not to brag, but we’re also very good at Gantt Charts.

Frequently Asked Questions from General Contractors:

Question: How much do you charge?

Answer: We charge by the hour (or by portions of hours) used on behalf of your project, and we provide you our hourly log with our weekly invoice.

Question: Can you tell me how much a budget will cost?

Answer: If you send us PDF’s of the project and the architect’s instructions to bidders, we can give you a general estimating cost.

Question: Will you be using my subs & suppliers to bid, or will you provide subs you know to bid?

Answer: Sadly, we have had to restrict the practice using our roster of approved subs to bid, as some GCs were simply looking for check bids. That said, we can suggest subs for you to contact directly, after which, we can forward the plan link.

Question: How long does a budget take to build?

Answer: Week #1: Once we receive your Sub & Supplier list, we send out the invitations to bid via email, and allow one week for subs & suppliers to print & review plans and issue RFI questions. We then assemble all RFI’s into one document to send to the architect, designer, and structural engineer. Please note there will be extra costs if you provide us with an outdated sub contact list.)

Week #2: While RFI Answers arrive and are posted, we create a rough draft of your budget scope.

Week #3: We create Comparison Sub & Supplier Bid Charts and ask subs and suppliers to revise their so we can arrive at an apples-to-apples bid comparisons.

Week #4: We review both the Preliminary Summary & Detailed Budget with you, along with the completed Comparison Sub & Suppler Bid Charts, then give you a few days to contemplate the budget, before we provide you a PDF of your budget to send to your Client.

Please Note: We unfortunately can’t condense the process, so it’s important you bring your project to us as soon as you receive it and not wait until the bid is almost due. That said, we can create a Feasibility Budget for you in under two weeks, based on our database of unit costs.

Question: What keeps you from working for a competing contractor on the same project?

Answer: We have a first come / first serve policy and are forbidden by our contract with you to work on the same project for a competing contractor, nor can we reveal anything about your bid or any of your in-house costs or info to any other GC.

Contact us today for a Sample Budget.