ᐅ Everything from a single source – but still obtain additional quotes

Hi,

I am currently building a house and have everything coordinated through a general contractor who has a good reputation in our area. I have now received a quote from them that includes all the individual trades (plumbing, electrical, painting, etc.). The contractor always works with the same companies because they coordinate best with them and know and appreciate their work.

Since building a house involves a significant amount of money, I would still like to get competing offers from other plumbers, electricians, painters, and so on by sharing the existing quote with them, while blacking out the prices.

Ultimately, I want the existing companies to do the work, but I am hoping for a better price.

Is this approach considered inappropriate or unusual?

Best regards

legacy-man schrieb:

Hi,

I’m currently building a house and have everything coordinated through a general contractor who has a good reputation in our area.
I have now received a quote from them that also includes all the bids from the individual trades (plumbers, electricians, painters, etc.). The general contractor always works with the same companies because they coordinate best with them and know and appreciate their work.
Since building a house involves large amounts of money, I would still like to obtain competing quotes from other plumbers, electricians, painters, etc. by sharing the existing bid with them, but with the prices blacked out.

Ultimately, of course, I want the current companies to do the work but to offer me a better price.

Is this somehow unethical or unusual?

Best regards

I would be surprised if a tradesperson made you a great offer under the current circumstances. From the point of view of the tradesperson who originally submitted the bid, I would tell you “Get lost.”

Some people simply black out quotes.
However, this is disrespectful to the creator and some just discard them.

Depending on the region, you might not receive any quotes at all.

Negotiating with fully booked contractors is hardly possible.

You lose control over site supervision, coordination, etc.
You are comparing apples and oranges.

If you do this, you need to request everything from another general contractor (GC).

haydee schrieb:

However, it is disrespectful to the original poster and ends up in some people’s trash folder.

Personally, I hope for a code of honor among craftsmen when the client does not have one.

You can’t forbid it, but going around with borrowed materials to ask someone else to do it cheaper is not acceptable. It is equally questionable to try out displayed products and then order them 5% cheaper from an online retailer.

Besides, it makes sense to have everything done by a single source.

legacy-man schrieb:

Ultimately, of course, I want the existing companies to handle it, but I’d like them to be a bit more flexible on the price.

They have already been flexible with you and have made you an offer through your general contractor on terms that take into account their good working relationship with you. First of all, they wouldn’t have offered these conditions to an unknown client, and definitely not to a “clever” competitor trying to play them against each other. If you enjoy gambling, try that approach with individual trades once: you’ll get less favorable offers, the person you send the counteroffer to will recognize the original bidder even if their name is blacked out, inform the original bidder, and you’ll ruin your relationship there. Then the original bidder will add extra charges for every small change you request. They’ll quickly show you how “clever” you really are. Always these amateurs.

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Especially since the craftsmen know each other!