[ADLSCAPES]

I am currently in my 3rd year of business as a landscape and hardscaping company and enrolled in Rutgers University Landscape Architecture.

I have taken on a few landscape Lighting jobs but never really had a strong way of pricing them out. If anyone could give me input on how they price out a lighting job that would be great

Thanks
J

[Inspired]

Low voltage or line? I'm guessing low voltage.

Home depot or quality light fixtures? Just my opinion, but nothing you can buy in a home center store like Home Depot or Lowes is worth installing as a contractor. Not if you are planning to warranty them.

As a landscape contractor 7 years ago my average installed system cost retail ran about 155.00 Per Fixture. I would use that figure to shoot people a ball park estimate up front and make sure we were on the same page. I would never use it as a bid price.

That means an average 10 light system with transformer, timer, photocell, wire, waterproof connectors, lights, install labor, final adjustments, and bulb exchanges would cost 1,550.00 before tax.

That was 1999. Obviously I would charge more now. Also the cost of fixtures and transformers is a very large portion of a lighting job. We only installed the higher grade fixtures like:
Nightscaping
Focus
Vista
Hadco
FX
Etc.

I arrived at that figure by experience and keeping close track of my costs installing systems over a few years, including keeping track of warranty issues and what caused them.

All that said, never just accept someone elses figures and run with it. You really have to know your own costs, and abilities.

Hope that helps you somehow.
Bill

[ADLSCAPES]

Thanks Bill,

Your input definitely is appreciated.. as for the Home depot brand products. I did say i was a contractor i thought LOL. Mainly using Kickler Low Voltage, and some Unique lighting products as well. I have been pricing them out alot by labor hours, and not so much per fixture (labor hours was not giving me the profit i wanted to see being that my crew could put in a system in no more then an hour or two).
Once again Thanks
J

[LandArts]

We do retail on the fixtures, $1/ft on wire, estimated hourly rate on the install. Lighting for us is just one element of a project. I'm hearing through the grapevine that the dedicated lighting companies have to face pretty brutal competition on price.

[Inspired]

ADL:

The per fixture rate was just a tool for me to ball park a prospective customer. I've never been a lower priced contractor so I needed a way to qualify people before I designed a really nice system. Thats all.

You have to figure the cost of all the materials you need to complete the job right down to the bulb grease & silicone seal. Then the labor hours needed to complete it. Then you can add in your profit, margin or whatever you want to call it.

In our case I used to charge warranty work back against the original job. That will really motivate you to find better installation techniques and better light fixtures. The supplier may warranty a fixture for you, but you still have to drive out to the customers house to swap it out, or pay someone to do it.

I've used Kitchler before, some of the fixtures were very nice. I've seen some in Home Depot or Lowes so I won't use them anymore. I wasn't impressed with Unique when they first hit the market. I'm told they have improved quality since then (1997 or 98). Some contractors swear by them.

Hope this helps ya,
Bill

[Cochran]

At Ewing Irrigation, where we buy the majority of our lighting supplies, their advice on breaking down lighting jobs is like this:

Retail Cost of Transformer
$175 per Light (more if it's a specialty light)
--they say the $175 per light to cover the cost of the light, wire, misc supplies, and labor.

They give this as a ballpark figure for beginners in the low voltage business to give them a place to start.

Like every project we do, I still price out all lights, transformers, wire, misc supplies and labor and then propose/charge according to that number. That number is always pretty close to the basis that the guys at Ewing give though....

[jwholden]

Why in the heck are you guys letting your supplier tell you how much you should be charging for your services? I pray you have a handle on your overhead and provide customer service that justifies your pricing.

I don't mean to come across as harsh. After basing my pricing on what suppliers told me to charge, what the competition was charging, and multiplying material cost times some magic multiplier I realized there must be a better (AND MORE CONSISTANT WAY). Get some books on pricing your product and service, go to some of those boring seminars that are not about machinery.

Pricing your product or service correctly is of VITAL importance along with giving your customers the SERVICE that makes that price justifiable. Your customers don't care if you can install landscape lighitng in 1/2 the time of your competition...they care that your crew is polite, you return calls in a timely manner, don't trash their house, get the job done when you say you will, and don't hit them with surprises.

If your customers are fighting you on what you charge it means they don't see the value of spending money on your services. Something else is lacking in your presentation and service.

I'll stop myself here. Please remember one thing...it is not just about price. It is about the intangibles that make your company shine over your competitors.

[AZTLANLC]

I have used only few lights so far but the one I'm really impressed with are from CAST those are top of the line along with the price, usually the light itself runs about $150 for path and 60 for up-lights.
A minimum job for us is 10 fixtures with transformer, not going under walks or crazy digging would take 2 guys one day to complete about 8hrs. that's $1,200.00 plus the cost of all materials.

[Raj Venugopal]

We just used a set of landscape lights, fixtures, mailbox and number plate from a Canadian company called SNOC.

They are out of Quebec.

Excellent quality of product. Very nice to be able to have all the finishes custom matched.

[nightscapespaul]

I will not discuss pricing in a public forum because clients can google your name and it will come up and then they know how you go about getting your prices. I will say however that the prices I am seeing on this thread are Waaayyyy below mine. I am a stand alone lighting company that specializes in lighting design and we also install and maintain our systems.

Some other things that have to be added into your pricing are liabilty insurance, advertising, vehicle payments and that insurance, workers comp, phone, office equipment, etc. Too many people forget all of these things that add up to a lot of money. These all have to be considered when pricing a job.

I also charge a design fee for my services. People who can afford quality lighting are used to paying designers for their time.

Just my .02