First time bidding a whole house instead of just my own scope
I've been running pipe for eleven years and I have never priced anything except my own work. An investor I've done rough-ins for asked me to bid the whole rehab on a 1,380 sq ft ranch he's buying at auction. Full gut on the kitchen and two baths, all new HVAC, panel upgrade, roof, floors, paint, and a rear deck that's rotted through.
What I have so far: my own plumbing scope at $9,400, an electrician friend at $11,200, HVAC quote $9,800, roof $8,600. Flooring, paint, drywall patching, cabinets and the deck I've guessed at $19,000 total and that guess is doing a lot of work in this number. That puts me around $58,000 of cost before I add anything for myself.
What I don't know:
- What I add on top. I've heard 10 percent, I've heard 20, I've heard "cost plus a fee." General contractor markup is supposed to cover my time managing the other trades, my truck, insurance, and the days I'm on site not turning a wrench. I don't know what's normal for a house this size.
- Who pulls permits and whose license the job runs under. Licensing rules for general contracting are set at the state level and sometimes at the city level, so I need to confirm mine before I sign anything.
- Payment. He mentioned draws. I've always just invoiced at rough-in and again at trim.
If my materials guess is off by ten grand I eat it, and that's the part keeping me up. How do people who moved from a trade to running whole jobs handle the parts of the scope they've never priced?