A remote second opinion from a North Carolina licensed electrician and plumber with 25 years in the trades. Send the bid, photos and your plan for the house. Get back what's vague, what's priced out of range, and what to ask before you commit.
Educational and advisory review. Not an inspection, not a bid, and not contracting work. Every report is reviewed and approved by Alan Shuping before it reaches you.
Select any line to see the note a client would get.
Tap every line that looks wrong or missing. Then see what a review would flag. Takes about a minute.
I'm Alan Shuping, a licensed North Carolina electrical and plumbing contractor with 25 years in both trades, plus years of experience managing facilities, property, and construction work.
I review remotely, so I don't walk properties or inspect work in person. What I do is read the scope the way a contractor and a project manager would, and tell you where the risk is.
My electrical and plumbing licenses are active in North Carolina. My HVAC and general contractor licenses are inactive, so I review those and other trades on general knowledge only.
On this house I personally did the demolition, structural repairs, framing, plumbing, electrical, cabinets, trim, doors, and painting. I hired out the drywall and the metal roof. I know what it takes to turn a scope of work into a finished house, and that's the lens I bring to your bid.
Avery Trades does not perform construction work. This is past experience, and it informs how I review.
BeforeAfter
Drag to compare. A house I renovated, with the drywall and metal roof hired out.
Send the bid plus pictures of the panel, the plumbing and any open walls. We read what they show and tell you what to ask your contractor.
Example photos of the kind of views that help. A video walkthrough works too.
You are about to sign a contract for work you can't price from the driveway. Pick your situation.
The inspection report listed a dozen things. The contractor's bid covers some of them, and you can't tell which. You don't want to find out in month three.
You are comparing bids on several properties at once, often before you own them. A missed panel upgrade or a repipe turns a good deal into a break-even one.
A rental lives or dies on its numbers. An under-scoped bid or a surprise electrical or plumbing item comes straight out of your cash flow, and it comes out every month the unit sits unfinished.
You don't get a wall of caveats. You get what to do next.
A safety hazard, active damage, or a gap that needs a licensed professional's evaluation first.
A real cost or a real risk. Worth asking to change the scope or the price.
Minor or maintenance-level. Plan for it so it never surprises you.
Slide to your rehab budget. These are simple percentages of that budget to show the stakes, not a prediction of what any bid will miss.
What-if arithmetic only. Compare it to the cost of a review.
We'll point you to one, and start your request for you.
Your best fit
Two single-project reviews, plus a retainer for people who buy and renovate more than once.
You have a contractor's bid and want a second set of eyes.
$250
Written report within 2 business days. Founding-client price: $125 for the first three Bid Checks, in exchange for an honest testimonial.
Send a bidYou have photos and video, but no bid yet. Find out what the work should include and cost.
$650
Written report within 3 business days. A review, not a bid.
Ask about a reviewFor flippers, rental investors and anyone running more than one project at a time.
From $1,500 / month
Scope and project count agreed up front. Advisory only: no supervising or directing the work.
Ask about the retainerEach review builds on the last, because your projects, contractors and numbers are already on file.
When a listing hits and the offer window is short, you already have someone who knows what you will and won't take on.
Over several bids, you spot which contractors under-scope and which line items keep showing up as gaps.
The bid or proposal, photos, video, plans, the property address or ZIP, and your goal: flip, rental, long-term hold or your own home.
Alan reviews the documents, sorts every finding into a bucket, and approves the report before it comes to you.
Use the report to negotiate scope and price with licensed contractors in your state. They have the final word on the work.
Grab the free electrical checklist to see how a walkthrough should be organized. When you want the full set, the Pre-Purchase Property Scope Kit is $29.
The Scope Kit is a self-serve guide for home buyers. It is separate from the review services above and does not replace a licensed inspection.
No. It's an opinion on the scope and cost of a bid, based on the documents, photos and video you send. It doesn't replace an inspection, and nobody visits the property.
No. Avery Trades doesn't bid, perform, supervise or arrange trade work, and it takes no referral fees from contractors. You hire licensed contractors in your own state.
Electrical and plumbing get the closest look, backed by Alan's licenses. HVAC, general contracting, roofing and other trades are reviewed on general knowledge only, and the report says so. Structural and engineering questions, and load calculations, are outside the service.
Yes, with a caveat. Avery Trades provides educational and advisory review services only. It does not offer or perform contracting services, and the reviewer's contractor licenses are held in North Carolina. Requirements in your location may differ, so confirm permits and code with your local building department.
No. Every number is an opinion shown as a range, adjusted for your location, and the report says what source and adjustment it used. A local quote from a licensed contractor is what firms a number up.
You accept the Service Terms before we start a review. In short: the service is consulting only, there is no contractor-client relationship, your local building authority overrides the report, and you are responsible for any work performed. The full text is in the Service Terms section on this page, and you accept it by checking the box when you send your request.
A retainer covers your active projects on an ongoing basis: bids, change orders, draw requests, contractor photos and video, and scheduled calls. It starts from $1,500 a month. The scope and the number of projects are agreed up front, and it is advisory only.
Version 1.1, effective 11-6-2026. You accept these terms when you send your request, before any review starts.
These Service Terms ("Terms") are an agreement between you ("Client," "you") and Avery Trades LLC ("Avery Trades," "we," "us"), a North Carolina limited liability company. Alan Shuping ("Reviewer") performs the reviews.
Acceptance. You accept these Terms when you check the acceptance box on the intake form, pay for a Service, or send Materials for review, whichever happens first. We do not start a review until you have accepted.
Words used in these Terms.
All Services are remote and based only on your Materials. We do not visit the Property, and a Service is not an inspection.
Bid Check. We review one contractor's bid or proposal line by line. The Report lists scope gaps, line items that look high, low, vague, or fair, permit and code concerns to raise, and questions for the contractor. Each finding is sorted as Urgent, Negotiate, or Can Wait.
Remote Scope & Cost Range Review. From your photos, video, and any plans, we give our opinion of the scope of work by trade and low, likely, and high cost ranges. It is a review, not a bid.
Remote Project Advisor Retainer. For a monthly fee, we review bids, change orders, draw requests, and the progress photos and video your contractor sends you, and answer questions on scheduled calls. The Retainer is advisory only. We do not supervise or direct the work, instruct or negotiate with your contractors for you, approve payments, or act as your agent or owner's representative. The number of projects and what is included are set in the written order for the Retainer.
No contracting services. Avery Trades does not offer, bid, perform, supervise, or arrange construction, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, or other trade work. We do not sell construction work, and we take no referral fees or commissions from contractors.
No other relationship. The Services do not create a contractor-client, inspector-client, attorney-client, engineer-client, agency, or fiduciary relationship. A Report is not an invitation to bid or an offer to do any work.
About the Reviewer's licenses. The Reviewer holds active North Carolina electrical and plumbing contractor licenses. His HVAC and general contractor licenses are inactive. We mention licenses only to explain his experience. The Services are consulting and are not offered as an exercise of any license. Licensing rules differ by state, and the Services include nothing that depends on a license in any state.
No instructions or designs. Findings are flags and questions to raise with licensed contractors. We do not give installation or repair instructions, wire or pipe sizing, circuit or system design, or structural or engineering calculations, and we may decline a request that asks for them.
Not an inspection. A Service is not a home inspection, engineering evaluation, code-compliance review, or legal advice.
Accurate Materials. You will send complete and accurate Materials and tell us anything that would change a review. You confirm you have the right to share them. Do not send information we do not need, such as financial account numbers or government ID numbers.
Who will do the work. You will tell us who will perform the work on the Property: a licensed contractor in the Property's state, you, or someone else. If you plan to do the work yourself, we keep the Report to review findings and questions, and the Services do not authorize or help you to do work that requires a license where the Property is. You are responsible for following the licensing, permit, and code rules that apply.
Hire the right people. You are responsible for choosing contractors who are properly licensed, insured, and permitted where required, and for checking their credentials.
Local authority controls. The local building department, code officials, and inspectors with authority where the Property is, and the licensed professionals you hire, have the final say. Their requirements, and any state or local code amendments, override anything in a Report.
Your decisions. Every decision about the Property, a contractor, a price, or a purchase is yours.
Opinions, not bids. A Report is an opinion of scope and cost for information only. It is not a contractor's bid or quote, a guarantee of price, or a promise that any work will meet code or pass inspection. Cost ranges come from the Reviewer's experience, general data, and public sources as of the Report date, and real costs depend on site conditions, materials, timing, and local labor markets.
Limits of a remote review. We see only what your Materials show. Hidden conditions, such as what is behind finished walls, below ground, or out of frame, cannot be judged. We may ask for more Materials, limit a review, or decline one if the Materials are not enough.
Trades outside the Reviewer's active licenses. HVAC, general contracting, structural, roofing, and other trades are reviewed on general knowledge only. Confirm those items with a contractor licensed in that trade where the Property is.
How findings are sorted. Urgent means a safety hazard, active damage, or a gap to resolve before signing. Negotiate means a real cost or risk worth raising with the contractor. Can Wait means minor or maintenance-level.
Who may rely. A Report is for you, for your own decision about the Property. You may share it with your agent, lender, attorney, and contractors working on your project, but not as an endorsement of them or of us. No one else may rely on it.
Review before delivery. The Reviewer reviews and approves each Report before it is delivered. Anything marked draft is not final.
Fees. Fees are the ones shown when you order or in a written order: Bid Check $250, Remote Scope & Cost Range Review $650, and Remote Project Advisor Retainer from $1,500 per month. Any special or founding-client price applies only if we offered it to you in writing. You pay any taxes.
Payment. Payment is due before we start work, by card through Stripe. We do not start a review until we receive payment.
Turnaround. We aim to deliver a Bid Check within 2 business days and a Remote Scope & Cost Range Review within 3 business days after we have complete Materials and payment. These are targets, not guarantees.
Follow-up. One round of clarifying questions about a delivered Report is included if you ask within 7 days. More work is billed at $150 per hour or as a new Service.
Refunds. A full refund if we decline or cannot start a review; no refund once a Report is delivered; a partial or full refund if we fail to deliver within 5 days of complete Materials and payment.
Retainer. The Retainer is billed monthly in advance and renews each month until canceled. Either of us may cancel with 30 days' written notice. The current month's fee is refundable and unused calls do not roll over. Changes to the projects or scope covered need our written agreement.
Confidentiality. We keep your Materials and Report confidential and use them only to provide the Services, except where the law requires disclosure. We do not contact your contractors unless you ask us to in writing.
Pricing data. We may record pricing information from a review, such as items, units, prices, and general location, without your name, the contractor's name, or the property address, to improve our future cost ranges.
Tools. We may use software tools, including AI-assisted tools, to help prepare drafts. The Reviewer reviews and approves every Report before delivery. We do not sell your Materials.
Testimonials. We use your name, comments, or results publicly only with your written permission.
Our content. We keep all rights in our templates, methods, and materials. You may use your Report for your own purposes under Section 5.
As is. To the fullest extent the law allows, the Services and Reports are provided "as is." We make no promise that a Report is complete or accurate, that any contractor's price is fair, or that any work will comply with code, pass inspection, or meet your goals.
Work on the Property is your risk. You assume the physical and financial risks of any work done on the Property by you or anyone else, including injury, property damage, code or permit problems, delays, and cost overruns. We are not responsible for any contractor's work, price, or performance.
Limit on damages. To the fullest extent the law allows, Avery Trades, its members, and the Reviewer are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost profits, lost deals, or lost opportunities.
Cap. To the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability for any claim connected to a Service is limited to the fees you paid for that Service. For the Retainer, it is limited to the fees you paid in the 3 months before the claim.
What these limits do not cover. These limits do not apply to fraud or willful misconduct, or where the law does not allow them. Where the law does not allow a limit, it applies to the extent permitted.
Indemnity. You agree to defend and reimburse us for third-party claims arising from your breach of these Terms, from Materials you did not have the right to share, or from work done on the Property by you or anyone you hire.
Term. These Terms apply from your acceptance until the Service is delivered, or for the Retainer until it is canceled under Section 6. Sections 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 continue afterward.
Governing law. North Carolina law governs these Terms, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.
Disputes. We will first try in good faith to resolve any dispute informally for 30 days after written notice. After that, claims must be brought in the state or federal courts for Avery County, North Carolina.
Changes. We may update these Terms for future Services. The version in effect when you accept applies to that Service. For the Retainer, we will give notice by email before changes take effect.
General. These Terms are the whole agreement for the Services. If part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. Our not enforcing a term is not a waiver. Electronic acceptance counts as your signature. Notices go by email to the address you gave at intake and to info@averytrades.net.
Contact. Avery Trades LLC, info@averytrades.net, 4030 Wake Forest Road Ste 349, Raleigh, NC 27609.
Choose a service, accept the Service Terms, and your email will open with the intake questions ready to fill in. Attach the bid, photos, video or plans. Founding-client pricing is $125 for the first three Bid Checks, in exchange for an honest testimonial.
Email opens in your mail app. If it doesn't, copy the request text and send it to info@averytrades.net.