outlets per sq foot Q

[romex jockey]

I'm wondering, for the sake of contracting, if there exists any sort of generic 'openings per sq ft' that is utilized?

thanx in advance

 

[electricmanscott]

Not in resi work. Some will say there is, but there is no magic trick other than a crystal ball.

 

[danickstr]

since it is based on walls, it is hard to have a formula, as walls can be all over or it could be one big empty room. once you see a house plan, it is not hard to say how many per room based on how many small walls you see. If you look at a group of typical plans you could come up with an average I guess for residential.

A 2000 sq ft home probably has 30-60. If you bid for 30 and need 60, you are in trouble. If you bid for 60 and they only need 30, you lose by being overpriced.

 

[480sparky]

I've wired a single room in a custom that's bigger than some entire spec houses.

 

[al hildenbrand]

I agree with the others, that the opening count is unknowable by "rule of thumb". The only way to handle it is to expect, in this day of minimal plans, to sit down with a, hopefully, scale drawing and an architects scale and tick off the minimum spacing, etc., and then tally it up.