I HAVE BEEN WRITING THIS COLUMN FOR QUITE AWHILE NOW, and recently realized I have never talked about the basics of electrical estimating. So, let's get to it.There are several ways to prepare an electrical estimate. Most of the smaller contractors I have spoken to use some form of unit pricing. While these methods work well for residential and small commercial estimates, they fall short when applied to larger commercial and industrial projects. This article will concentrate on methods I learned from beginner and advanced classes I have taken. The knowledge gained has served me well. The unit pricing method consists of gathering all the costs for an electrical installation into a single number. For example, you may charge $150 for a duplex receptacle. That price includes the material, labor and enough markup to cover all the other costs and profit. This method- good for residential- starts getting risky when applied to commercial bids and should never be applied to industrial work. The risks of using unit prices comes from the subjective areas of electrical estimating. For instance, the average length of a branch conduit can vary a lot between projects, which causes an inaccurate unit price. Keeping up with material prices can also be difficult, especially during times of hyperinflation for electrical materials.
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