Ballpark hours/Ballpark cost

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bjp_ne_elec

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Want to see where I'm at with my bid. The job essentially calls for running a HR in a dingy basement below a shop. The owners present service area blows breakers every other day. After looking at the loading of the service area, each work station should have a dedicated circuit.

So what I propose is running a 1" conduit from the panel in the front of the of the building (in the basement), to the back, and then popping up and hitting a series of receptacles. The conduit for most of the receptacles is run - but would have to run maybe two more, with a little 1/2" EMT and some boxes. How many hours to run the HR and pull say 8 new circuits the length - which, oh by the way, is 120'. I'm running the 1" to allow for expansion, and would most likely pull in 2-3 circits extra. Then when I go back, it's much shorter work to pop up a few more circuits.

Basement is all dirt and has pockets - that look like the might have ripped out some big old boilers.

How many hours, what would you charge? Like to hear both - as with the dollars, the rates might be slightly different. Running the conduit is a little bit challenging, as it's mostly 1/2 timbers, so I'll probably stick to the beams when I can find them.

Thanks
 
bjp_ne_elec said:
How many hours to run the HR and pull say 8 new circuits the length - which, oh by the way, is 120'.
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1" EMT, stepladder install, field bends, difficult conditions - .11 hours per foot
1" EMT coupling - .09 hour

About 14.9 hours to install the pipe only for the home run.

If the basement conditions are less than difficult, you might get all the work done in that 15 hours, since there's not much else to do other than pull in conductors and run a bit of bubble-gum on the topside.
 
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mdshunk said:
1" EMT, stepladder install, field bends, difficult conditions - .11 hours per foot
1" EMT coupling - .09 hour

About 14.9 hours to install the pipe only for the home run.

If the basement conditions are less than difficult, you might get all the work done in that 15 hours, since there's not much else to do other than pull in conductors and run a bit of bubble-gum on the topside.
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Is there a book or guide as to how long certain projects/applications should usually take or is this figure from past jobs/experience. I have an idea of how long alot of the projects/applications I do should take but I'd like to have something I could use to compare times when bidding on jobs, time it actually took and when I'm pretty much guessing at how long they should take. I do a lot of multi-famly/residential and light commercial work...Thanks, JB
 
jute said:
Is there a book or guide as to how long certain projects/applications should usually take or is this figure from past jobs/experience. I have an idea of how long alot of the projects/applications I do should take but I'd like to have something I could use to compare times when bidding on jobs, time it actually took and when I'm pretty much guessing at how long they should take. I do a lot of multi-famly/residential and light commercial work...Thanks, JB
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There are books, but those numbers are my history. The assembly I picked for 1" pipe happened to already have .2 of a one hole strap and .2 of a screw per foot of pipe in the assembly, but I didn't have .1 of a copling per foot in the assembly. That's why I listed the coupling seperate. Just start keeping track of stuff. A half-decent one to get you started would be the PAL book. If you "do the job in your mind's eye", and write down how long for each and every little step just as a guesstimate from experience, that'll get you pretty close too. I actually do that quite a bit. I imagine myself up on a 30' extension ladder trying to drill strap holes and level up 3" PVC pipe, for instance.
 
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mdshunk said:
I imagine myself up on a 30' extension ladder trying to drill strap holes and level up 3" PVC pipe, for instance.
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I hope you never imagine yourself falling off the ladder and being air-evac'ed to the hospital. :roll:
 
bjp_ne_elec said:
.... How many hours to run the HR and pull say 8 new circuits the length - which, oh by the way, is 120'. I'm running the 1" to allow for expansion, and would most likely pull in 2-3 circits extra. Then when I go back, it's much shorter work to pop up a few more circuits.
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Were are U @ with the derating. This MWBC's or "Lucy the Pipes Run" ?:rolleyes:
 
mdshunk said:
There are books, but those numbers are my history. The assembly I picked for 1" pipe happened to already have .2 of a one hole strap and .2 of a screw per foot of pipe in the assembly, but I didn't have .1 of a copling per foot in the assembly. That's why I listed the coupling seperate. Just start keeping track of stuff. A half-decent one to get you started would be the PAL book. If you "do the job in your mind's eye", and write down how long for each and every little step just as a guesstimate from experience, that'll get you pretty close too. I actually do that quite a bit. I imagine myself up on a 30' extension ladder trying to drill strap holes and level up 3" PVC pipe, for instance.
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Thanks mdshunk for the reply....I guestimate alot also, (on parts and time)but I'd like to find that book your recommending..Do you have a link or title/author of it Icouldn't find it on the internet. Thanks, JB:-?
 
It looks like DeWalt bought out PAL publications. The leftover stock of "Electrical Estimating PAL" is still around on Amazon. The exact same book with the DeWalt cover is called "Electrical Estimating Professional Reference", near as I can tell.

There's lots of these books out there, but some get pretty intense and expensive. The PAL book is a pretty good start, but you really need to keep track of your own numbers. Reflecting back at the end of each day and jotting notes on how long various things took is the way to do that. This way, you're not digging into production time to make notes. Building estimating assemblies, over time, is what will let you do estimates that formerly took hours in 5 minutes or so.
 
Sharpie said:
I found it at Half.com. That's an ebay site. It's in the $3-$6 range.
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Thanks for the link, Sharpie and I will be ordering it shortly. I started looking through some of my books and I've got two other "pal" books on the shelf...One is "Lighting and Maintenance Pal" and the other is Electrical Pal" both need seem to be good books my only problem is the type is so small and my eyes are too old:D
 
mdshunk said:
It looks like DeWalt bought out PAL publications. The leftover stock of "Electrical Estimating PAL" is still around on Amazon. The exact same book with the DeWalt cover is called "Electrical Estimating Professional Reference", near as I can tell.

There's lots of these books out there, but some get pretty intense and expensive. The PAL book is a pretty good start, but you really need to keep track of your own numbers. Reflecting back at the end of each day and jotting notes on how long various things took is the way to do that. This way, you're not digging into production time to make notes. Building estimating assemblies, over time, is what will let you do estimates that formerly took hours in 5 minutes or so.
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Thanks mdshunk, I have been keeping track somewhat but need to get more detailed on time and actual application, They always seem to make alot more sence when I write it down as compared to when I go back and review them at a later date :-?

:cool: I just noticed that somewhere along the line I've become a "Senior Member" I'm not sure if they award this after being a member for close to 5 years or my massive amount of post??? I definately read them a lot more than posting in them. I want to say thanks to all on this site, it's one of my most values tools and the help I've received over the years is very much appreciated... Thanks Again!! JB
 
Jute-how much junk is in your way?
Do you have clear sailing w/o having to move
a bunch of crap with each piece of pipe?
That can get time consuming and frutrating as well!
 
The way I figure jobs is this- I tally up all the materials-approximate +%15-20. I then figure mentally how long the job will takeX my hourly rate add them up and thats it. I dont care too much about what other people would charge for the job. I know how much I need to make for my time and thats how Ive figured pricing for most of my jobs. In 3 years I have only lost money on 3 jobs in the less than $5,000 range that I know of. I know I spend a lot more time than I should on most proposals, but I know if I go through plans with a fine tooth comb and itemize everything, my chances of missing something is greatly reduced. I see a lot of posts on this forum about what to charge for stuff and my advice for small contractors is- Figure out @ how long the job will take,what you need to charge per hour, add materials go with it.
 
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