Estimateing

[cadishead]

Square Foot Labor

Square Foot Labor

Do any of you Residential Electricians bid your jobs by the square foot?
I have done some bidding this way but it can be a little risky.
I would usually try to factor in about $.90 per sq.ft. rough-in labor plus materials plus 10%.Most recently I have been working time & materials,on some of the multi level homes.Because what I have ran into on these larger homes is changes on top of changes.

I worked for a contractor who did square foot his labor. However he used non union workers and it was all piece work. He paid them by the square foot. I only worked as a consultant for him and only for a short time. The added extras for labor were range/oven home runs, a dollar amount for the service and extra for anything out of the ordinary. The electricians seemed happy and made quite a bit of money (piece work of course) Naturally he marked up his labor and was very carefull with his takeoffs. If you use union labor I would advise you not to attempt to square foot it, you will most likely lose.
Hope this helps.

cadishead

 

[ceb58]

I price by the sq. ft all the time and make money! Now with that said I have kept good records on material cost and labor. I price it code min. then do per item for extras, cans, fans, extra three ways, whirlpool tubs, extra recps. ect. It comes down to competing for the job when you get your foot in the door then its up to you to SELL the upgrades. The first thing I do is on the walk through is take the lady with the plans to the master bath and start selling extra lighting and recp. then we go to the master bed room same thing extras,extras. then it off to the kitchen, extra lighting, under cabinet lighting, do you plan on having a disposal, what about a dish washer? Then we walk through the rest of the house would you like three way switches here? what about can lighting? when I finish her wish list then I get the man and go to the garage. Do you plan on having garage door openers? need extra recp. for work bench? walk around outside would you like extra outdoor recp. for vacumeing out car? What about flood lights. When its all said and done I walk away with 35-45% profit. The homes I do are in the 4-5 K sq. ft range for retired persons looking for a nice home on the golf course in a gated community

 

[Chamuit]

I price by the sq. ft all the time and make money! . . . snip . . . all said and done I walk away with 35-45% profit. The homes I do are in the 4-5 K sq. ft range for retired persons looking for a nice home on the golf course in a gated community

You're not strictly doing by the ft? then.

My last whole house I did was 5.49/ft?. I always do a take off and work a price from there.