averaging a take off
- Thread starter shaw0486
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alfiesauce
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If your doing residential you can't average it out unless the customers are actually keen enough to already have their light fixtures picked out.... If not good luck basing a bid on a range that goes from keyless lamp holder to the 4hour 400 crystals to hang off of a piece of metal chandalier.
(ok i use con est software) what i am asking is are you guy averaging your branch wiring,like are you taking off (3) circuits one close to the panel one mid way and one as far as possible adding total length in wiring and dividing it by total device in those 3 circuit.Then counting all your devices and giving each device that average length
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right what i have done is take of 3 circuits like you were saying for instince
(lighting) when i enter my fixtures i only enter the whip long enough to get to the next fixtue, but when i enter my switches ill take off 3 switch circuit. that take off will inclue the home run, the power feed to all the switches and the switch leg to the fixture.
i hope this help
(lighting) when i enter my fixtures i only enter the whip long enough to get to the next fixtue, but when i enter my switches ill take off 3 switch circuit. that take off will inclue the home run, the power feed to all the switches and the switch leg to the fixture.
i hope this help
I used to bid a ton of school work when it was "booming" in Indiana. Every bit of it was completely taken off by me or one of the other estimators at my company.
We tracked data like #12 per 3/4" EMT, 3/4 per fixture, 3/4 per receptacle, #12 per receptacle, #12 per switch, 4 squares per fixture, 4 squares per receptacle etc. In general MC and AC cable was never allowed on these jobs with a 3/4" conduit minimum size per the specs. We always took off branch lighting separate from branch power. I probably had 15 or so ratios being tracked.
After doing this for a few years I learned that you could get pretty darn close on 3/4 EMT and #12 THHN on these jobs just by counting the fixtures and devices. Scary close if you tracked per engineering company as well as the projects designed by the same A/E all tended to be very similar when it came to electrical design concepts and layouts.
I never actually used these figures to bid a job, I always did a complete take-off, but in a pinch I would have but I probably would have added a bit of a safety factor.
Branch takes the most time to take-off but is worth much less than the gear package, feeders, the fixture package etc. so even if you are off a few percent on branch it equates to a fraction of a percent on the job as a whole.
I also tried to use this data on other types of projects for comparison purposes like hospital, offices, retail etc. Sometimes it was fairly comparable sometimes not at all.
Oh - and by complete take-off I mean I drew in every j-box and every foot of pipe with wire tick marks then rolled it off while clicking my counter for connectors. Added 1 coupling for every 10 feet and one support for every 8 feet plus supports on all the boxes etc. Rolled off 3/4 w/ 3-#12's, with 4-#12's, w/ 5-#12's etc. Showed all my travelers and switchlegs and rolled them off. Complete take-off.
We tracked data like #12 per 3/4" EMT, 3/4 per fixture, 3/4 per receptacle, #12 per receptacle, #12 per switch, 4 squares per fixture, 4 squares per receptacle etc. In general MC and AC cable was never allowed on these jobs with a 3/4" conduit minimum size per the specs. We always took off branch lighting separate from branch power. I probably had 15 or so ratios being tracked.
After doing this for a few years I learned that you could get pretty darn close on 3/4 EMT and #12 THHN on these jobs just by counting the fixtures and devices. Scary close if you tracked per engineering company as well as the projects designed by the same A/E all tended to be very similar when it came to electrical design concepts and layouts.
I never actually used these figures to bid a job, I always did a complete take-off, but in a pinch I would have but I probably would have added a bit of a safety factor.
Branch takes the most time to take-off but is worth much less than the gear package, feeders, the fixture package etc. so even if you are off a few percent on branch it equates to a fraction of a percent on the job as a whole.
I also tried to use this data on other types of projects for comparison purposes like hospital, offices, retail etc. Sometimes it was fairly comparable sometimes not at all.
Oh - and by complete take-off I mean I drew in every j-box and every foot of pipe with wire tick marks then rolled it off while clicking my counter for connectors. Added 1 coupling for every 10 feet and one support for every 8 feet plus supports on all the boxes etc. Rolled off 3/4 w/ 3-#12's, with 4-#12's, w/ 5-#12's etc. Showed all my travelers and switchlegs and rolled them off. Complete take-off.
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