It is relatively easy for consumers to compare price and value in the retail marketplace where most vendors carry exactly the same or very similar products. Comparing price and value among service oriented companies is more difficult and requires a consumer to first establish a well defined "conceptual" product that all service companies can use as a basis for establishing their prices. In the landscape industry this conceptual product is the landscape plan with its accompanying specifications. All competing service companies must use the same conceptual product to arrive at their prices in order for the consumer to make valid comparisons.
The first step in buying a landscape is to select a designer qualified to handle the size and scope of the intended project. The design process then begins, producing at some point a "plan" (i.e., Master Plan) and specifications. If the designer is also a landscape contractor, then a proposal to complete the project is usually submitted along with the plan. If desired, the plan can also be sent to competing landscape companies for their bids (i.e., prices to do the job as specified).
For all practical purposes bids, prices, estimates, and proposals are the same things. An estimate should be free (i.e., "free estimate") because it is merely a price to do a previously defined job. Do not confuse estimating with designing: one task is done for free, the other is not. You can expect a good landscape designer to charge at least $75.00 per hour, plus expenses, to produce a plan: total design costs are directly related to the size and complexity of the job. Some design-build companies, such as Wayside Landscape Services, Inc., offer design-purchase rebates where some or all of the design fee is rebated when their crews complete the project: this can be a decided advantage over companies which only offer design services.
After reviewing all proposals, the customer then contracts with a company to do the work, and the project begins. A customer should expect to pay 25% - 50% of the estimated project cost prior to initiation of work: this is called the deposit, or prepayment. Other payments (i.e., draws) are made at predetermined intervals if the project is of long duration, or the balance is made upon completion if the project takes less than a month.
The following is a review of the proper manner and sequence for buying a landscape:
- Select a qualified designer;
- Initiate the landscape design process;
- Settle on a "plan";
- Review the proposal(s);
- Award a contract;
- Begin the project;
- Complete the project; and
- Begin to enjoy the new landscape.
<< Previous Question | Next Question >>
