Getting quotes from tradesmen

[Deleted User] · 08/04/14 - 10:39

Hi,

I am currently working on a project for my college course where i have been given a case study of a fictional business and i have to fix the problems with the business.
One of the things i have to do is get quotes for having heating installed.

This is incredibly difficult because whenever i contact tradesmen they all ask when they can come and look at the property, which is impossible because it is fictional.

Any advice on how i should go about getting a quote?

Are there any heating engineers out there who could give me a fake quote to put on my project?

All help appreciated.

sbugg · 08/04/14 - 11:28

Can you give me an idea on exactly what you want done (hypothetically)

Keefy-boy · 08/04/14 - 11:46

You have to wonder if whoever set this question has any experience of the real world.

Depending on what's at stake I'd be tempted to answer that getting a tradesperson to quote for a non-existent job to install heating in a non-existent building that they clearly can't survey is impossible.

[Deleted User] · 08/04/14 - 11:51

It's supposed to be an office reception building which has no heating installed. I've been tasked with getting the heating installed and documenting evidence of how i did this.
The building has a gas supply but currently uses electric heaters which should be replaced.

michael37 · 08/04/14 - 13:34

No two sites are the same so it is not really possible for a tradesman to give a quote for a site he has never seen.

You will have to explain to them what you need it for, and hopefully one or two will be willing to produce a fake quote.

kippeh · 08/04/14 - 13:42

Surely you can create a mock-up of quote(s) for the work to go with this theoretical work that is being done? The task you have been set is to document how you would go about it, and as long as you explain your process, including how you selected the contractor?

I would assemble three quotes, of three different prices, from three made up firms, and illustrate differences with each, such as items they have missed off etc, which go some way to explain their price differences. You can then show that you went for the contractor who may not have been the cheapest, but the one who included everything, and looked like they had the best understanding and / or timescale.

Your figures don't have to reflect real world pricing and you can explain this, and your reasoning for having to concoct fictitious contractors.

oulandy · 08/04/14 - 14:36

A useful thing to bear in mind in this case and indeed in general in life is that if you want to get information, first give information. A heating engineer would need a detailed specification of the job, if a survey of the premises is not possible.

So you might get a quote if either you provided a plan of the building with details and dimensions marked on it or told someone the age, type and construction of the building (e.g. is it 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100 years old, detached or attached, cavity wall built with brick and block, or solid stone built; flat or pitched roof, with or without a loft and loft insulation); the internal dimensions of the building (height, length and breadth), the number of storeys, the number of rooms in each storey, the size, type and location of windows in each room (i.e. on an outside or internal wall and whether single or double glazed), the construction of the floors, ie. are the ground floor and the first or higher floors made of concrete or wooden floorboards; where do you want to put the boiler and where exactly in the building is the the water mains and the mains gas (if it is gas heating) entry point to the building, ie is it at the front, the back or how far to one side or the other, or even perhaps across a neighbour's property or some other obstacle, and how far is it from the boiler location to the gas entry point and the mains water stopcock?

Armed with detailed information, a heating engineer will be able to calculate the materials and lengths of pipe runs needed, the work involved in taking up floors and floor coverings, the capacity of the boiler required, the number and location of radiators required to heat the spaces, the amount of work involved in installing them and the time it may take.

[Deleted User] · 08/04/14 - 15:01

Time is money when someone works for themselves, and working out a quote for a job they are never going to get isn't going to inspire many tradesmen.

Do they really expect you to be able to get solid quotes for something that doesn't exist?

I suggest you tell your tutor of the efforts you have made so far, and the results to date, and ask them what you are supposed to do. How are other students managing this? Probably making it up as they go along, but ask around, and you might pick up some tips.

AVTECH · 08/04/14 - 15:34

fredcat wrote: »

It's supposed to be an office reception building which has no heating installed. I've been tasked with getting the heating installed and documenting evidence of how i did this.
The building has a gas supply but currently uses electric heaters which should be replaced.

BIB
So just replace them !!!
Suggest a complete new heating system is not required instead replace the electric heaters with new more efficient versions with references to ones found in the Argos catalogue.

Maxatoria · 08/04/14 - 16:10

You've missed the most important question when looking at this sort of thing....how much money is there to spend? no point speccing for a 4k boiler, 2k's of pipework and another 3k on radiators when they are looking to spend a few hundred tops, just because theres a gas supply available doesn't mean you have to use it and perhaps a bit of maintenance of the building itself would work wonders..insulation/draughtproofing/replacing a few knackered windows etc would work wonders, even putting in storage heaters using an over night cheap rate tariff that will keep the place warm during the day

[Deleted User] · 08/04/14 - 16:28

Keefy-boy wrote: »

You have to wonder if whoever set this question has any experience of the real world.

Depending on what's at stake I'd be tempted to answer that getting a tradesperson to quote for a non-existent job to install heating in a non-existent building that they clearly can't survey is impossible.

It'll be an academic, so no absolutely no experience of anything resembling the real world.

I'd just like to wish you good luck because I've struggled to get tradesmen to quote for an "actual will be paid money job!" >:(

callmediva · 08/04/14 - 17:29

it's almost impossible to get traders round even if your property is real, trust me, I'm in the middle of a building site which I laughingly call home. There's no kitchen cos the electrics blew. It took 3 days of phoning before I found someone to come and give me a quote, then after he'd done the work I needed a plasterer, another 3 days and I found one. He did the dining room (cos the electrician had to go through the walls in their) then phoned to say he was sick and couldn't do the kitchen, which we'd emptied so he could do it, so no kitchen and no plasterer. After days of phoning I finally found one and after he'd finished he was charging £200 over his estimate, but cos it was an estimate not a quote, we had to pay.
All this has been going on since January, and we're still without a kitchen, cos the flooring people have cancelled twice and are now coming next week AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH

ACU · 08/04/14 - 17:38

I would imagine the lecturer, wouldnt want you to get real life quotes. They will be more interested in your thought process. You will get marks for showing that you have considered a variety of options. The quotes as someone says can be made up, it doesnt really matter.

The same with maths, if a question was worth 5 marks, you only got one or two marks for the correct answer, the rest of the marks were for showing how you got to the answer, i.e. your 'working out'. Which does make sense.

c4rv · 08/04/14 - 18:39

ACU wrote: »

I would imagine the lecturer, wouldnt want you to get real life quotes. They will be more interested in your thought process. You will get marks for showing that you have considered a variety of options. The quotes as someone says can be made up, it doesnt really matter.

The same with maths, if a question was worth 5 marks, you only got one or two marks for the correct answer, the rest of the marks were for showing how you got to the answer, i.e. your 'working out'. Which does make sense.

This. If you are not sure then speak to your lecturer, one of the key points is always seek help when you are not sure instead of guessing and list what assumptions you have made. As somebody mentioned, you might suggest something as simple as doing a like for like swap.

DMN1968 · 08/04/14 - 18:55

If I was a local heating installer, I would be pretty hacked off about asking to spend time producing estimates for fictitious projects when there was no chance whatsoever at making any cash from it. Do lecturers not live in the real world?

justatech · 08/04/14 - 19:12

If it's anything like the projects that I did in university then the OP is being asked to research what would be needed to carry out the work and then cost it out himself giving ideas for three different budgets.

The lecturer would probably roll round the floor laughing if he thought the student was gaily phoning tradesmen for a quote for an imaginary scenario.

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