Electrical Scheduling

[timm333]

Just want to know which are the commonly used software in USA for the estimating and scheduling of electrical construction. Thanks

 

[Joe Villani]

For the jobs using CPM Primavera is the goto program

 

[timm333]

Thanks, how about estimating; for example which software to use to estimate the pricing of MCC and distribution panels at the earlier stage of the project ?

 

[petersonra]

Thanks, how about estimating; for example which software to use to estimate the pricing of MCC and distribution panels at the earlier stage of the project ?

This is probably not what you want to hear, BUT...

There can be a huge variation in cost between brands for most of these type of products. Some manufacturers want to be in certain markets real bad so they lower the price to encourage sales in those markets, and have much higher prices in other markets.

If you are not well plugged in to these variations, you could well be priced out of an order if you rely on some 3rd party pricing service that assumes all the brands are about the same price.

By the way, all the brands are about the same price unless you ask for a lower price. I have seen prices drop as much as 50% just by mentioning an end user name, or a market a manufacturer wants to be in.

One other thing - if you buy MCCs off the shelf the cost is dramatically lower than if you buy them "engineered", and you can get them much faster. If you can find a way to buy what the manufacturer wants to sell, you can save a bundle.

 

[timm333]

Thanks. Buying an off the shelf MCC would not be easy as the size of breaker-buckets would vary depending upon the size of the breakers. Would it be possible to buy the frame and the breakers separately?

 

[timm333]

How about making an excel sheet with the prices of each MCC component (breakers, overloads, meters, etc) for different manufacturers. Possibly I can get the price of each component from the websites of different vendor ?

 

[Phil Corso]

TimM...

Take a look at RSMeans !

Regards, Phil Corso

 

[petersonra]

Thanks. Buying an off the shelf MCC would not be easy as the size of breaker-buckets would vary depending upon the size of the breakers. Would it be possible to buy the frame and the breakers separately?

I'm not suggesting that. What I'm suggesting is that you buy the standard options that the MCC manufacturer wants to sell. For instance, Allen Bradley has software where you can enter what each bucket has to be by size, voltage and everything else you want. You send in your request and in a day or two you get a quote back. As long as you use their pre-engineered options, you get the best deal. You also can get delivery in a few days.