Speaking strictly WRT Holmes on Homes:
It's VERY apparent that he targets jobs started by unlicensed contractors -- of which Ontario, Canada, seems to have no limit.
Canada is reaching the end of its own super construction boom -- years and years after America.
And during this boom, all of the screwy construction gambits we so know and love south of the 49th parallel have found their place in the Great White North.
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More than a few of his shows revolve around GC's taking on work they can't possibly get a handle on -- just so that they can get a fresh chump to hand them a fat deposit -- and then advance funds out of all proportion to the job completion.
Holmes even once flew to LA to take over a fiasco in Los Angeles.
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And normally the story is always that the HO was trying to get it done on the cheap -- typically working without a building permit/ inspections -- with the results being a pie-in-the-face.
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As for his 'bidding' logic: his SHOW is picking up ALL of his expenses: he's in show business!
You see the same crazed tempo all over the DIY channel. Of course, it stands in studied contrast to how a REAL DIY project unfolds: slowly, haltingly... until it/ they run out of gas.
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Reality bites: You just can't expect HOs to NOT free-ride any design advice. It's the ONE THING that they can't get right themselves. It's the core reason for your economic being: your knowledge base.
The NEC is written as gobble-di-gook for a reason. It's so that only people knowledgeable in the art can make any sense of it. ( You see that whenever attorneys write up anything. )
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A workable solution is to have a General Standards of Work which you can self-publish with a laser printer/ inkjet. In it you detail the quality of materials ( specification grade ? ) methods, ( EMT/ MC/ Romex ) etc. that constitute your operational art.
Specifically state that there will ALWAYS be someone able to quote underneath you. However, any such APPARENT cost savings come at their own price: surprises and extras... hack production values that REDUCE the value of your home comes the day you have to sell -- and their inspector arrives. ( At which point, you discover what has to be removed/ entirely rebuilt/ upgraded -- to meet the market's expectation. )
[ I spent two man-weeks ripping out 'expert' 'self-help' DIY wire-hacking at my sister's home, year ago. She managed to knock down the asking price $90,000 -- in a hot real estate market -- because of the visible code violations/ hack work -- aka cabling crime.]
Because of this dynamic, I photograph shody work and use it to illustrate to prospects just how crappy work can get -- yet pass inspection.
Another factor: wire sizing. NEC permits entirely uneconomic, undersized conductors. It's drafted to stop fires/ injuries. It does not, in any way, attempt to size conductors for best economic performance.
So it permits #12 when the math says #10 is economic. The cost of electric power is so high relative to the cost of up-sizing home runs only an idiot/ HO would scrimp on copper. All of the expense is in the labor -- all of the performance is in the conductor.
( Upsizing usually pays all of its expense back in less than eighteen months. Where else can you earn 66% per annum on a AAA credit risk? )
If anyone were to detail their bids in the manner of Holmes DIYers will take that as proof that they're idiots to hire on a 'free design team.' The idea that the design is zero cost is, of course, promoted by the big box retailers and the national manufacturers. For them, it's an annoyance that ANY labor is required to install their products.
