Construction projects in commercial sectors involve electrical installations. This gives rise to the need for commercial electrical estimating services to estimate the cost for project success. These estimations are critical for streamlining construction and contribute to the execution of the work. Electrical estimations are necessary for the planning and execution of construction projects.
Moreover, in the world of electrical contracting for commercial construction projects, you are always on the edge to submit bids and win jobs to stay in business. Your bids should cover all expenses for materials, labor, equipment, and administration and should be low enough to win the bid. Additionally, you should also save and earn profit from the job to run your contracting business. Therefore, you must know how to estimate an electrical installation job for commercial projects. This article will explore the process and information for obtaining estimations for your project. This will help you to achieve success and stay competitive in the industry.
What Is Commercial Electrical Estimating?
Commercial projects often involve many electrical systems and installations and need a proper cost estimate for the labor and materials to perform the job. Contractors can achieve more success by filing the right and correct bid through proper estimates. Experience, the right tools, proper training, and professional estimations are what you need for accurate estimates. Commercial electrical estimating is performed by expert estimators for contractors, low-voltage contractors, technicians, and engineers.
Range Of Electrical Estimations For Commercial Projects
New construction as well as amendments or remodelling projects often involve different estimates. You should know all kinds of electrical estimations as the expert estimators know. Otherwise, you would require commercial electrical estimating services to avoid costly errors. It will help you to reduce expenses by avoiding hiring a new team for estimations. You can rely on them for quick, expert, and accurate estimates. A typical electrical estimations project requires estimations for the following:
- Networking and Communication
- Solar System
- Access Control
- Audio & Video Systems
- Camera and Surveillance
- Low Voltage Commercial System
- Wiring and Outlets
- Temperature and HVAC systems
- Power Distribution Systems
- Smart Systems
- Other Electrical Systems
On the other hand, multiple clients and stakeholders require commercial electrical estimates. It includes restaurants, schools, colleges, hospitals, airports, military sites, banks, commercial construction, and commercial Entities.
What To Include In Commercial Electrical Estimating?
Commercial projects require attention to detail and experience to sort out what you need to add to your estimate. Electrical blueprints and drafts are resources to get information. Moreover, keeping an eye on installation techniques can help you to estimate comprehensively. Generally, a commercial electrical estimate includes:
- Takeoff (Excel Sheet)
- Components, Fixtures & Materials
- Equipment and Devices
- Labor Cost and Manhours
- Materials List & Cost
- Suppliers Information
- Bid Information
- Exclusions and Inclusions
- Overhead, Profit, and Contingency Expenses
Step-By-Step Process To Estimate Commercial Electrical Project
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Bid
The first thing to begin the process is that you should select a suitable and right job for commercial electrical estimating work. Your bid will be more accurate once you have knowledge and experience in the field. Moreover, you should avoid bidding in areas where you don’t have knowledge. Otherwise, you will end up eating the budget and lose the profit.
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Review The Specifications Of Jobs
Job specifications are crucial and you will require them to review and determine the work. Carefully review the documents to accurately price the requirements for work. Moreover, at this stage, you will require a proper understanding of the work and clarification from the stakeholders for your queries.
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Analyze The Documents
At this stage, you should analyze and properly review the documents. If you miss anything, it is going to hurt your profit and will be a costly error. You should also see the plumbing, HVAC, and elevations by visiting the site or from the documents.
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Perform Takeoff
Takeoff is an important part of the whole process. You need to determine measurements and materials in takeoff. Light fixtures, conduits, cables, panels, switchboards, and wires are some of the common electrical materials for takeoff. Next, form the items list and add quantities against each item in the list. Cross-check your list and then add the price for each item in the list. Also take care of additional costs such as transportation, administration, equipment, and contingency charges.
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Determine The Cost For Labor
Labor cost is a major cost for any commercial electrical project. You need to estimate the cost according to the number of workers, man hours, and type of workers required for the work. Mostly you will require electricians and technicians to perform workers. Make sure you count permits, union tax, and leaves for labor to avoid unnecessary delays and losing deadlines.
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Suppliers and Subcontractors
Next, get quotes from subcontractors and compare their pricing and check for their scope of work. Moreover, it is your duty to ensure the subcontractor pricing is sufficient for work. Furthermore, you need to contact the suppliers to get the latest prices and availability of the materials.
- Add Profit Margin & Overhead
Afterward, you need to add a profit margin. This is the amount you will earn from the project. An estimate for bid must include the profit margin. On the other head, you also need to add business operations charges, Moreover, add your transportation, staff, office, and marketing charges. Additionally, add contingency and unforeseen event expenses in your estimate.
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Create Your Electrical Estimate
Finally, it’s time to build the estimate using your process of commercial electrical estimating. Certainly, you will include the logo, company name, project name, and other relevant information for your estimate. Traditional methods are time-consuming and tedious. Therefore, you should try modern tools such as databases and software to build your estimate.
Conclusion
Commercial electrical estimating is a crucial part of construction projects. Contractors, stakeholders, and others require an accurate, quick, and reliable estimate to issue a budget and complete the project successfully. Moreover, contractors require proper commercial electrical estimating to smoothly complete the work and earn profit. There are many electrical systems and materials required to perform electrical installation in different commercial projects. Moreover, the process of estimating is given in the blog post for your reference so that you can apply it to cover all the elements for the successful completion of your project.
