Contractor site visit fees – what's "normal"?

Question

I'm preparing to do a full renovation of my tiny (<40 sqft) kitchen and have reached out to a few General Contractors who were referred to me. One of them already came on site and separately had an electrician come on site to scope the renovation we discussed – both without fees. A different GC is telling me that they charge a $200 fee for a site visit to discuss options and start planning the renovation.

What's normal when it comes to GC site visit fees? Does it just depend on the GC and the project size, or is it a red flag for a contractor to ask for a site visit fee (or to not...)?

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I never charged a fee. If a job was good enough for me to go and look at it was good enough to do for free. I just felt it was rude and looked greedy, and that was not my style.

It doesn't mean that a GC is bad because he asks for a consult fee, I definitely got tired of doing 'free estimates' for lookie loos, but fortunately I got about 80% of the jobs I looked at.

Just go with your gut feel.....

Russell Brazil · Answer

My GC charges $500

Scott Mac · Answer

Mr no charge might be Mr charge too when he has more jobs to work on currently.

You never know.

Ask to look at a pics of their current similar work re quality of craftsmanship, and ask for referrals--call them and ask about how easy or hard the contractor was to work with.

Good Luck!

Nicholas L. · Answer

@Laura Chevalier

some charge some don't.  it's not a red flag to have a charge, but if you don't want to pay an estimate fee just call a whole bunch more.  call 20.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Laura Chevalier

If you have photos, plans and a ascope of work then typically they know you are serious and not wasting time and would probably come out for free.

Andrew Bosco · Answer

I find that the biggest issue working with GC is communication. Setting the standard for discussion and changes are key. Between your expectation and theirs. This includes the initial visit. I would just ask further for next steps and see where the line is drawn in the sand.

Stephen Dispensa · Answer

It's a tough one. I have worked in construction in the past and continue to project manage on select jobs for my clients.

Residential Renovations are a tough market. Margins are razor thin, the work is often time/labor intensive and can get even more complicated when permits are involved because of the difficulty involved in retrofitting an old home to current code.

So if a client is out getting 100 different estimates, and you've got a ton of work on, do you really want to waste all the time it takes to put together an estimate? So on that level I understand charging for a site visit and estimate.

On the other hand, if it's a contractor you've worked with before and have a history with, they shouldn't really be charging you that.

I think the fair answer would be to charge an estimate fee but that fee gets rebated out of the contract if the contractor gets hired.

Mohammed Rahman · Answer

Hey @Laura Chevalier it's not out of this world to get charged a site-visit or service fee when you call out a GC to a site. It depends on GC to GC as well as project to project. Not a red flag by any means.

Jussi Lundstedt · Answer

I've seen ones that do not charge, and some that charge a fee. One GC that I've actually hired charges only if you don't own the property yet (i.e. are using them for deal analysis), and after hiring him to do a $16k job on one house, offered to look at deals for free going forward. The fees I've been quoted were between $400-$700, so $200 doesn't sound that unfair. However, since there are plenty that don't charge fees, you can probably find one.

Contractor site visit fees – what's "normal"?

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