I lose a lot of estimating work due to the contractors in this country that do free estimating on projects in the budgeting and pre-construction phase of a project. I also get a lot of work from the owners that get the free estimates and then find out that free doesn’t necessarily mean a good deal!
As a consulting estimator I have to contend with owners and developers that have been unduly influenced or trained to expect free estimates for their project. The lure of a “free no obligation estimate”, such as can be found in the want ads or the phone book, must be too irresistible to pass up. How often is there really a free estimate or a no obligation service actually provided?
I also have encountered the contractor providing the free estimate so that they can receive “preferential treatment or some extra goodwill” by their potential client. How far does goodwill go to pay the costs of the estimating staff required? How much paying work has to be given up to meet get the promise of preferential treatment?
The free estimates may not be such a good thing. On many projects the early estimates are prepared with little or no reliable cost data. Where a firm may excel at bidding per plans and specs or with a great deal of information, they may be terrible at conceptually considering all of the costs. This is when the free estimate is my best source of revenue.
Oh By the Way…I also get a lot of work from contractors and construction managers that are being paid for the pre-construction estimates.
