rln8038 0 Posted June 14, 2013 Hello, I am new to the forum and new to the CCTV business world. We are a small company in competition with the larger companies and we have some concerns about installation costs. For instance: We are bidding on a large wharehouse job, 32 cameras, 700 TVlines Indoor and Outdoor, with 2 16 CHannel DVR's and over 7000 feet of cable. Our price with tax and labor works out to be roughly $29K. Are we high, low or in line with what is being quoted out there? We don't want to lose these jobs, or be under priced. It seems that we are coming in way under other companies withthe smaller jobs, but we don't know. Any help is appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Numb-nuts 1 Posted June 16, 2013 The answer will be different depending on where you are working and who your competition are. You really need to become friendly with other installers in your district even though they may be your competition, find out who won which contracts and what they went for. You'll soon discover who they buy from and what they charge. I am at a stage where I know what wins my local contracts but when I quote further away I tend to win some and lose more than I do locally which isn't a bad thing really. My figures would be irrelevant to your location and besides I'm not going to reveal to my competitors how I work out my quotes. I will simply say that I an very friendly with at least two of my main competitors and life is far better that way. What I can tell you is that labour cost should be fixed by you and estimated according to the cable runs, and various jobs that need doing such as data cabinet assembly, commissioning etc. I have specific range of mark-up on equipment and include a nominal sum for materials based on a per four cameras figure. Longer runs, require extra labour time and extra cost of materials. Yes, don't forget to charge for materials even if you charge at cost, charge for materials or you'll be out of business before you know it. Use quality materials but shop around if possible, buying quality materials will work out cheaper in the long term and will pay you back. Hope this has given you something to work with... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
