How do I make a tender for a commercial job - how do I cost it?

[wuffstuff]

Hi! Have been doing private flat and house refurbishments for quite a while now and have now been offered a commercial job, refurbishing a large office, including painting and decorating, basic kitchen installation and male/female bathroom refitting. Can anyone please tell me how I should cost the work? It's in the West Country and I haven't done a commercial job before and want to pitch my prices correctly so that I get the job.
Many thanks

[Hawkwalk]

take a look here

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/de tail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1073790709

[bubblebubble]

Thanks hawkwalk, helpful read. Am hoping someone would come up with examples of what people expect to pay for say, a decorator,a chippie ,plasterer or a plumber. I woul like the job,and want to pitch in with a good rate. Another (big company) is putting in a tender for the same and obviously will have bigger overheads,

[buildersmate]

I do hope this doesn't appear negative, but your second question seems very basic. If you've been doing flat and house refurbishments for a while, you must surely have a pretty good idea what the tradesmen rates for the different jobs are. And also you would be able to estimate the number of days for each facet of the job and the materials. Be clear that you understand what standard of finish is required by the customer - normal commercial finish as std, but do they want more. From that you add on an element for project management/site management, costing uncertainty/risk - that gets you to a target cost. The decision how much to price the work at is then a commercial one (how much profit am I prepared to make / what other organisations am I up against etc.).
Stepping up a bigger jobs should be a gradual process and many organisations (especially in building) come unstuck through moving from small jobs to one big one too fast. Hope that helps.

[MustafaTickl]

There is a systematic way of building up a construction estimate, but firstly you have to say what you are tendering on
(a) a Plan and Specification prepared by a professional, or
(b) a Bill of Quantities.
And I also need to know what the likely size of the job is �100000, �250000, �500000 million - you say roughly.

[buildersmate]

It will be a) - all commercial tenders work on that basis.

A Bill of Quantities is a list of materials drawn up by a QS working from item a). It is produced by the tenderer during development of the quote, never by the client.

[MustafaTickl]

Don't be silly. A Bill of Quantities is contractual document prepared by a Professional Quantity Surveyor employed by the Client in accordance with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors rules for the Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works from Plans and a Specification prepared by an Architect/Designer also employed by the Client. It is not in any way a list of materials.

[frankief]

Yes, mustafa you are talking about the larger projects side of the industry where BQs and specifications are produced (along with hundreds of pages of conditions of contract and warranties etc).
I work as a building estimator, and the standard of enquiries on some jobs is apalling. Most small builders are working from a basic plan and no spec . Therefore the builder has to work out his own quants.