Way to hard to say- how much damage will be done downstairs? Will an engineer be involved (commercial building) 10K-25K?

$100k.

San Jose Ca. Bath remodel$25k-50k

Boston :move plumbing “in a big building”, $50k

I meant 25K on top of what was already budgeted. Don't blame the plumber either- multi family is a pain

Probably 2 holes which will be relatively small and of course we will pay to repair.
That we have not heard about this until now, 6 months in!!, is incredibly frustrating.
I can’t imagine giving a client a proposal and then increasing the estimate 30%. We did not change the scope of anything to warrant this and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the GC job to know this and plan accordingly.
This is not a fly by night company and was not the lowest bid. I work in the industry as well but generally outside of the city proper. Expected to pay more but feel like I’m being ripped off and now not sure what my options are.

No one can see through walls (or floors in this case) It stinks. Stomp your feet, have a glass of wine, and decide if the new price is worth it. There is no point thinking about the old estimate- it was an estimate before he had all the information (or that is how I understand your description)

I used to work in contracting. Force majeure.

My boss used to say: it is what it is.

Trust your instincts, have you considered site visits. Are you doing this remote?

This is actually my master bathroom, not a client. They have been here multiple in person visits but only once with an actual plumber in tow.
My instincts are that I’m being ripped off but not according to Hallett & Co :). I literally have thousands of dollars worth of product sitting in my bedroom waiting to begin. Have already paid 30% and feel stuck.

Well you are sort of stuck. Maybe they know that and are taking advantage. You have a relationship with them and have described a difficult working environment that drives up costs astronomically (I’m not referring to you as difficult!)

My relationship with the GC has been great, other than the length of time and now this. We entered this relationship with the understanding that we might be able to work together professionally as our businesses complement one another. I don’t think the GC is escalating things- not a situation anyone chooses to be in. Just can’t believe someone could be so off. I think I’m going to tell my son to drop out of his very expensive college and become a plumber 😉!

Re Son:: in my area HVAC.

If You trust your subs, it is what is.

Would you reconsider your design, knowing now the potential huge price increase for relocation of the shower? I’d recommend thinking further about the placement of all the plumbing, especially if it means accessing through the apartment below. During a pandemic. Unless it’s an emergency, many neighbors may not be accommodating.

Another few questions- who did the design and technical drawings? Has permitting with the city begun- Boston permit process is not for the faint of heart. And since you’re in a large building, have you or your GC checked in the process within the building for work allowed? Every building has different rules based on condo/ co-op, etc.

Good luck! Bathroom renovations are small, really complicated projects that end up costing soooo much more in $ and time.

We’re looking at that but the shower now is almost unusable. It is so close to the toilet that we can’t even put a bath mat down as there’s no space. There is also a structural beam we’re working around that makes the shower very narrow. Not moving it would defeat the entire purpose. We are trying to determine if it can be closer to the wet wall but not exactly where it was planned.

Sarah, we have permits and the condo association has the plans and has been walked through the process with the GC. At this point, trying to determine our alternatives and figure out where to come up with an additional $20,000.

Sounds like a really sucky situation (can I use that word here?). Hopefully in six months you will look back at an expensive blip in the road

You are, your own client.. How would you handle it?

I have been involved in “overruns meetings”.

I just gave a potential customer a 20% price increase on a sink replacement. Why? Because I can. We're a month behind and the phone is ringing off the hook. People who pay more go to the front of the line. I'm running a business here, not a charity. Unapologetically. Your guy is doing the same thing.

Good for you. That’s business 101- supply and demand. Yours was a potential client who had the option to go to someone else. I, however, am a committed client who has signed a contract to do a $60,000 project which now could be an $80,000 project. The estimated plumbing went from $3500 to $20,000. This is a little more than a 20% increase on a sink replacement. Not looking for “charity” just clarity and potential options from other professionals. As a successful business owner myself, I get it. My reputation and the way I treat my current and potential clients is very important to me in both the good times and bad. Always surprises me to see how “small” the world actually is. Keep my opinions to myself as you never know!

$20k “overrun”, meet with the client, explain why there was a $20k overrun. Estimate was based on $3.5 k, actual cost will be $20k. As a contractor, I did not want to absorb the overrun.

It is, what it is. We stop work if we do not have approval To proceed on the new amount.

Re small world. The company I worked for had a reputation of superior performance, pushed the envelop/state of the art, with inflated or padded budgets. Some of our employees came from our customers, some of our employees left to work for vendors and customers.

We did ~$20m/yr, ~40 employees.

Is there a tub in the design? Give that space up for a shower? Otherwise, this is why I rarely rarely do any plumbing changes in multi family buildings. The complexities and unknowns requires substantial contingencies. $3500 really is a single family cost. With no complications for it. Not a multi family project cost, with complications. I’d have to question if your GC does very many multi family projects. Sometimes it requires shutting off the whole building’s water. No one loves that, and you become a pariah.

No tub. We were told they did work in large city buildings.... live and learn. My experiences both personally and professionally has been in suburbia. I would not be having this issue there. Expected to pay more, and I am. Just not 6 months in and $20,000.