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Monaco Fire

Got a last minute request from a contractor about 20 minutes ago bid a Monaco addressable fire alarm panel. He said actually said wireless.

He told me his boss told him to get some more bids because they ones they had were too much money. My immediate instinct is to not bid it at all. Since I am a last minute contact they are either hoping I'll do something stupid and bid it too cheap, or they don't plan on me getting the job at all, but hope I will give them a cheaper bid to beat down their other bidders or favorite company.

All that being said, I have an e-mail and a fax off to Monaco asking for some general information. Since they are in in Spokane Washington it will be a couple hours before they even see those for a couple hours.

Are they proprietary like so many other fire systems? Do they have limited dealers in any region? Do they have expensive certification classes required? How much? When? Where?

Reply to
Bob La Londe
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I looked at the spec for the job real quick, and there are a few points that make it pretty much impossible for a small firm to be able to meet the requirements, and when I look at the scope of the job the prices the contractor told me he was quoted sound cheap. No need to bid this one. (besides do I really want to work with a general who tells subs what other subs bid before they even look at the job.)

Reply to
Bob La Londe

run, run fast, run fast and far... after 28 years in fire alarms if they wait to the last minute to contact you somethings fishy... RTS

Reply to
RockyTSquirrel

A fire system cheap, eh? Forget it. I'd walk away.

Reply to
alarman

How do you guys price your fire systems? Do you give a price per square foot or do you figure out every device? if you figure every device it seems like you would waste a lot of time trying to figure out what you need to quote. This wouldnt be bad if you know you will get the job, but it could turn out to be a major loss.

James

Reply to
James B

It's a little "different" in Canada. We price per device and don't worry about installation because it's done by the electrical contractor. We supply and then program/verify the installed equipment and the number and type of detectors/devices are taken from the engineered drawings. Mind you, sometimes the engineer screws up the layout. You have to know Code and Standards in order to make sure everyone's "on the same page".

Reply to
Frank Olson

Although I don't offer installation any more, I ran a small alarm company for many years. Here's how I did it. Always quote by the piece. Calculate price from cost plus margin, then add a fixed amount for labor for each run. On exceptionally large structures or places that will be more difficult to wire, add an extra margin on the labor.

This worked for me. YMMV.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

I took a look at the spec last week, based on some of the items and requirements listed, the number the contractor told me was stupid low. I called him back told him that the price he had said sounded awfully cheap after reading the spec, and he hung up on me. I figured it was the typical asshole (yes I called a general and asshole publicly) general contractor trying to screw over the specialties again. I had actually figured that when he first called, but I give all shysters (er I mean generals) the benefit of the doubt the first time they call.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

I just can't believe that can actually happen.

I thought ALL GC's were God's Children.

Someone just popped my bubble.

Reply to
ABLE1

You got a bargain. It didn't cost you anything to find out you never want to work for that GC. See... always a bright side! :)

Reply to
G. Morgan

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