Keeping Costs Down
Everyone wants to have work done at their home or business that is of high quality and at a price that is reasonable. Clearly getting the right tradesperson in to do the work is a good first step, and employees at CSE would like to consider themselves honest, trustworthy, efficient, and highly skilled. We work hard to get jobs done quickly and on time.
There are a variety of ways clients can help us make sure costs remain reasonable. Here are the main ways we have found clients can assist us in keeping jobs on track:
Make/draw a plan for the job early. Put measurements down on paper in as much detail is as possible. Make note of positions of electrical points including heights off the floor. If possible, mark these points indelibly on the walls/floors/ceilings ahead of time.
Let us know how you want to control each device (light/fan, etc). Is it one way or two way switching? Do you require dimmers? Where will the isolators be positioned? Make these choices early.
Decide what sort of finish you want. Are you happy with white plastic fittings or are you looking for chrome, or something else? Who is going to buy the fittings? Is it the client or are you expecting CSE to furnish the devices? We don’t mind sourcing items generally but the amount of time we spend organizing the job away from the site does add to the overall costs. Normally white plastic sockets and switches are the most cost effective both to buy and install. Metal components normally take longer to install due to their shape and the connections required.
Stick to the plan. We know this can be difficult. Along the way plans tend to change, especially on bigger jobs, and many times this can’t be helped due to unforeseen circumstances along the way. But simply changing your mind along the way can increase costs dramatically, especially if we have to re-do some aspect of the job.
Obviously, when plans change or when things get added along the way, there are cost implications, as well as impacts on timings and schedules. Rarely do big jobs remain unaltered from start to finish, but when clients spend time thinking ahead, making decisions, and then sticking with them, normally this makes it easier for us to predict costs and end up at the end of the project as close as possible to those predictions.
Any questions? Contact Us.