hourly rate for a general contractor

Friend of the family is a red flag.  Introduces all kinds of potential problems.  Plan carefully, phase the work and hire someone local and legit for phase 1 (the mechanicals).  Leave the cosmetics for phase 2 (or 3) and you won’t have to pull permits and by then may know some decent workers you can hire by the day rather than a GC.

snowman2

in General Contractors 13 years and 4 months ago

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elm_bk | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Hi, I’m just beginning the research process for a renovation. Can anyone tell me what is a typical hourly rate for labor for a general contractor? Are there any reasons to NOT use someone from out of town with a lower rate? Many thanks, and many more questions to follow . . .

jcarch | 13 years and 4 months ago

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I strongly recommend you not hire someone on an hourly basis. They bear no responsibility for misjudging how much work the project will take. Hire a contractor for a fixed amount. Now if you change things mid-construction, or if the contractor discovers that the joists are rotted and need replacing, then you’ll have to talk about added costs, but he should be on the hook for finishing the work for the amount he quotes you. Will someone from out of town be able to pull a permit w/ DOB? And if they’re too far away, they, and their subs (who will probably be coming from the same area) are going to build the cost of all that extra time on the roads back to you. Before you go to far on this, consider the difference between cost and value. Good value does not necessarily mean high cost. But if you’re only yardstick on the work is how cheap it can be done for, don’t be suprised when things go wrong. One last piece of advice…except for a reasonable initial payment (which should be credited back on the builder’s first invoice to you), do not pay for work that’s not done yet. So the contractor doesn’t get paid for the kitchen cabinets until they’re on site…he doesn’t get to bill you just because he says he’s paid a deposit to someone. The problem with cheapo contractors is at some point they realize they’ve underpriced the work, and if you don’t agree to up their fees, they may be very temped to walk away, especially if they’ve got $25K more in hand than they’ve actually completed (they’re not stealing from you, the extra money’s to cover all the extra time that was needed…honest).

scleary | 13 years and 4 months ago

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labor rate is depend with type of the labor and experience $40- $80 always go local.

snowman2 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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You would only want an hourly rate for a job that is an hour or 2 or 3.  Daily rates for carpentry/wall work can run around 225-325 plus materials.  I only use them if they come recommended by a highly respected source and I give them a couple of days worth of work.  If they do a reasonable amount of work for the quality – and I have low tolerance for low quality – then I’ll give them bigger jobs.  I do not want to be in the position of clocking them and making sure they are working the hours they say they are.  Unless it’s the first time they have done work for me, I don’t want to have to be home to watch them. I find I get better quality for the price by paying them for the day.  They aren’t in a rush because they underpriced the job and they do what they have to do to provide the quality I’m expecting. For major work, go with a fixed price contract.

denton | 13 years and 4 months ago

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A GC from out of town will not be able to work legally on any job requiring perrmits… need a DOB tracking number and DCA permit.

eman134 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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an out of town contractor will have no idea of local code requiremets, and you will end up with substandard and illegal constuction (romex on the electric, 14 gauge wire in the walls,improperly installed heating and plumbing equipment, etc.), and most inportantly, as denton said, will not be able to permit any work. I have never heard of gcing a job on an hourly basis anyway…that would be insane, since work in nyc ends up turning up endless site condition problems, and someone without local experience wil;l not have a clue…penny wise/ pound foolish

elm_bk | 13 years and 4 months ago

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thanks for all the feedback thus far — i’ve never done anything like this so all info very helpful. a question for those who have commented already, or will ni the future — if i went with this guy, who is a friend of the family, i would have specialists for the licensed work – eg plumbing and electrical.  and possibly an architect.  would it make sense to have this person work UNDER a project manager of some sort, and not run it? we are looking at a reno we don’t have quite the funds for, and if i could bring the costs of substantial labor down, it might bring the complete job into the realm of possible now, rather than breaking up the work which i also understand is inadvisable b/c costs and work goes way up, permits may need to be pulled again, etc. . . thanks for everyone’s expertise!

masterbuilder | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Maybe you should look into one of those 203K loans and just go with a legitimate local contractor.  A new neighbor of mine went that way and is really happy with the results and his contractor.  I could put you in touch with him if you are interested.  masterbuildernyc@gmail.com

rh | 13 years and 4 months ago

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I was going to disagree with much of the above until I read your comment about this being your first time. As homeowners, my husband and I have GC’ed and partially DIY’ed all of our projects (there have been a few houses) so even hiring folks who don’t know code…we are on top of that. It saves tons of money to only bring in the licensed pros as needed. But if you don’t know about renovations and are not going to be there overseeing it yourself, it can get scary. Bottom line is….how well do you know this friend of the family? Does he have skills and experience? Can he be trusted to do the right thing? I’d also suggest a job quote rather than hourly or daily. But then, you can always test the waters and fire him if it’s not working out. 🙂