electronic

[barbeer]

Anyone recently bid or do any lighting retrofit work? looking for ideas on labor costs.

[horsegoer]

What unit you looking for Barbeer?

[barbeer]

What unit you looking for Barbeer?


looking for ideas on labor costs.


A per fixture price, hourly..............? anything.

[ultramegabob]

there are a lot of variables in a job like that, what type of fixtures, are you swapping complete fixtures of just ballasts?, ceiling height, obstructions, will they let you work during normal business hours, etc...

[barbeer]

3 and 4 lamp fixtures........ballast and lamp only, all in open areas, within 6' ladder reach and able to work 9 to 5. A best case scenario IMHO.:smile:

[LarryFine]

3 and 4 lamp fixtures........ballast and lamp only, all in open areas, within 6' ladder reach and able to work 9 to 5. A best case scenario IMHO.:smile:How about $35 per 3-tube and $45 per 4-tube?

[barbeer]

Larry - at least that is something............I did however have a little lower # rattling around in my head from previous experience BUT they do tell me times they are a changin.:smile:

[peter d]

Larry - at least that is something............I did however have a little lower # rattling around in my head from previous experience BUT they do tell me times they are a changin.:smile:

On these jobs you need to plan for time to stage the new material and get rid of the old material. Most if not all states don't allow fluorescent tubes to be disposed of in the regular waste stream. Ballasts may need to be recycled as well.

[jmsbrush]

How about $35 per 3-tube and $45 per 4-tube?
Personaly I think that is on the low side. Ballast can range in price depending on what they are.
How old are the lights? Are they properly grounded?
Are they properly secured?
Is it a nice fixture that has alot of room in it for wire's?
How many have emergency ballast in them?
That's alot of up and down time on the ladder even though you can reach them from a six footer.
How many fixtures?

[billsnuff]

don't forget the nifty little discos cost.

[DanZ]

Just for laughs and grins, are they wire to current code standards? Is your price including parts?

[john_axelson]

Larry - at least that is something............I did however have a little lower # rattling around in my head from previous experience BUT they do tell me times they are a changin.:smile:

Lower than that, huh?

Maybe your material costs are different than here. $18.50 ballast, $1.50 per lamp, ($23 in material plus tax, plus markup on a 3 lamp fixture - that's $32.66 with our sales tax (6.5% and a 25% mark-up (which is low in my opinion)). So your labor on the 3 lamp fixture is only $2.34? I would rethink it myself! This didn't even include lamp and ballast disposal that is required here. It also doesn't include the ballast disconnects required by code here.

Double that $35 per 3-lamp in my opinion.

[celtic]

3 and 4 lamp fixtures........ballast and lamp only, all in open areas, within 6' ladder reach and able to work 9 to 5. A best case scenario IMHO.:smile:
$68/per fixture ....includes a Windex® wipe down of the lense and interior surface; tombstones, new lense, etc are extra.

Don't forget the disposal fees on the lamps ;)


Best case scenario allows for 26 fixtures/man/day

[barbeer]

Lower than that, huh?

Maybe your material costs are different than here. $18.50 ballast, $1.50 per lamp, ($23 in material plus tax, plus markup on a 3 lamp fixture - that's $32.66 with our sales tax (6.5% and a 25% mark-up (which is low in my opinion)). So your labor on the 3 lamp fixture is only $2.34? I would rethink it myself! This didn't even include lamp and ballast disposal that is required here. It also doesn't include the ballast disconnects required by code here.

Double that $35 per 3-lamp in my opinion.

John- my post was asking for labor only..........I think? The material and disposal will be handled by the owner, understanding sockets....etc are extra.

[CopperTone]

labor only - sylvania will sub out that kind if work and pay $11 per ballast and $1 per lamp. low ceiling heights, no disposal by EC, no providing of materials by EC.
So that is $14 each. I used to do piece work for a guy in schools and office buildings - this exact kind of work - we'd fly through and make a ton of dough. Set up a system, and you will make a ton.
If I were giving someone a price for this type of job I'd probably say $18 each - (replace ballast and lamps only -all material provided including wire nuts - disposal by owner) - that is if there were a whole building to do - meaning there are a like 500 or more to do. Less than 100 I might go higher.
And - I wouldn't clean the fixture either - thats extra.

We would do at least 40 each in a 8hr shift

[celtic]

labor only - sylvania will sub out that kind if work and pay $11 per ballast and $1 per lamp. low ceiling heights, no disposal by EC, no providing of materials by EC.
So that is $14 each.
11+1= 14
:confused:

We would do at least 40 each in a 8hr shift
That's almost 6 per hour.

Assuming there are 7 actual working hours in a day allowing for:
1 - 15 minute coffe break,
1 - 30 minute lunch period, and
1 - 15 minute potty/phone/chat/daydreaming event (including minimal clean up ie, tools in gang box, chain up ladders, etc)

....and 7 hours is pushing it.

The math is quite fuzzy...unless you are talking about more than one man as the "we" :D

[iwire]

11+1= 14

I imagine 1 ballast 3 lamps.

But 40 per man per day? Even figuring 8 working hours I get 12 minutes per fixture, seems very unlikely to me.

[CopperTone]

40 per man per 8 hour shift - yea I'm not making this stuff up. 10-12minutes each is all it takes - when you get paid per piece - you learn real fast how to work real fast. -8 ft ceilings - 6 ft ladder.
The reality of this kind of work like it or not - is who ever is bidding out the job usually will go for the lowest per piece price. So, if you like to work at a medium to slower pace - that kind of work isn't for you.
This is just whole building retro fits I'm talking here. Of course there is set up time and moving stock around time - I do remember there was a lowly apprentice that would set up the hallways with stock so the actual retrofitters can keep moving.

It has to be assembly line like - After a couple of months doing this you absolutely hate it though - extremely boring work.

[peter d]

After a couple of months doing this you absolutely hate it though - extremely boring work.

A couple months? My limit would be a couple weeks.

[celtic]

After a couple of months doing this you absolutely hate it though - extremely boring work.

Just sprinkle some of the sugar from in the tubes into your coffee :grin:


I was on a retro-fit job that lasted one whole summer (in a school ~ summer maint.type thing)...I hated that gig.

[iwire]

The company I used to work for did some Sylvania work, one job was retrofitting about 5600 two lamp 8' T12 HO fixtures to four lamp T-8 fixtures with electronic ballasts.

We lost a ton of money, it went on for months. Lucky for me I was only out there for a couple of weeks while the foreman was on vacation.

It has to be assembly line like - After a couple of months doing this you absolutely hate it though - extremely boring work.

You can have it all, I prefer to earn my living by my skills not my mindless labor. :grin:

[CopperTone]

I haven't done that type of work in quite awhile - it does suck.

[barbeer]

I myself haven't done it in a while either, hence the reason for the inquiry. I agree with 40+ a day, or in my case night, since we retroed in office buildings. I was thinking $20 ea. including wipe-down but not including disposal or material.

[j_erickson]

For 2 years I had a crew that did all retrofit work. For the scenario in the op we'd typically get 100 - 120 a day done with 3 guys. So I guess that averages 40/day per man. :D One on the ground feeding 2 guys actually doing the work.