They’ve been trucking water to the site so far, but we need to get a direct water connection to allow construction to continue, so Kevin has been working with the local utility company. Today, he gave us an update. It’s pure Kevin:
In mid-December we conducted an on-site assessment with the water company – TENNACOLA. Just before Christmas we received an estimate from them. The estimate, which I attach to give you a chuckle (it elicited a decidedly different physical reaction on my part!), was for €13,511.25 + IVA. Obviously, complete BULLSHIT.
Kevin’s approach was to sit down with Tennacola and our contractor, Francisc, and work out what could be done by the contractor and what Tennacola absolutely had to do. (Either way, Tennacola will oversee the work and be sure it’s all up-to-snuff.)
The reduction is cost was dramatic: to less than a third of the previous number. Great work by Kevin.
| Activity | Original | Revised |
|---|---|---|
| Installazione grupo presa Electrical switch installation (?) |
€210 | €210 |
| Allaccio a corpo con scavo fino a 5m Connection to the system, excavation up to 5m |
640 | 0 |
| Allaccio a corpo con scavo maggiore a 5m Connection to the system, excavation over 5m |
14,405 | 0 |
| Posa in opera tubo maggiore 5ml dm 1′ Laying additional pipe |
1,055 | 1,055 |
| Riduzione 20% scavi su ghiaia 20% discount, excavation over gravel |
-3,099 | 0 |
| Pozzetto coperchio in ghisa Cast iron cover |
80 | 80 |
| Gruppo misura DM 1/2 Group measures (?) |
130 | 130 |
| Anticipo consumi. Deposit for consumption |
26 | 26 |
| Total Tennacola | €13,537 | €1.649 |
| Total Contractor | €0 | €2,800 |
| IVA Value-added tax |
1351 | 428 |
| Total Project | €14,888 | €4,729 |
The next utility up is the electric company, ENEL. Kevin says this will be a crap shoot as well, They don’t provide estimates in advance, only when they show up to do the work. So Kevin will take the same approach to try to peel off whatever Francisc can do at a lower cost.
Image source: http://www.pixabay.com – No attribution required