How do I price out conduit runs???

[LowVolter]

Hey guys I am very new to having to run my own conduit. I have no clue how long it takes or if I am even close to quoting it right. My first job is thankfully very small but I need some help!

Where: Hospital 80% is outdoor on a roof. Access is moderate for getting everything up there. I have a cart, but we are talking a few trips and contractor parking is obviously the furthest 10 spaces in the lot.
What: Getting low voltage wiring out to an Air Handler Unit and Air Chilling Unit on the roof

I am using some of the existing conduit with low voltage wiring that is 3/4. I assume I should keep everything 3/4 then?

60ft outdoor with three bends mounting to strut.
One end will tie into liquid flex tube and into a control box
The other end need to penetrate a cement wall. I will have it go into a dual gang box.

From the dual gang box I will do 4ish bends to get it into another dual gang box 5 feet away. This run goes right where I need it.

Where I need it will be 10 feet with 4ish bends into a control box that needs to get mounted also.

My parts list is about $220. The only stupid thing is liquid flex comes in a roll of 100 and I need like 5 feet. Secondly this is a materials list of everything down to the cement patch stuff. Does this seem about right? Gray Bar pricing*

So a few questions, do I have to use EMT? Will schedule 40 or 80 work for low voltage wiring in a hospital in Florida? I am only really running 1/2 and 3/4, how much of that in an average day can you guys run? I have one full day quoted to run all this. Should I quote more?

Thank you!

 

[ActionDave]

Welcome to the forum.

I am not trying to stop you from running your own conduit, but I am curious why you have to. As an electrician I am tasked with running conduit for LoVo guys all the time.

 

[growler]

The only stupid thing is liquid flex comes in a roll of 100 and I need like 5 feet.

It doesn't spoil so you can eat it latter or I think you can get boxes of 25' at Home Depot.

3/4" is pretty handy to have on the van so it probably won't go to waste.

 

[kwired]

It doesn't spoil so you can eat it latter or I think you can get boxes of 25' at Home Depot.

3/4" is pretty handy to have on the van so it probably won't go to waste.

Some supply houses will cut you any length you want, especially for larger sizes. 1/2 and 3/4 does come on larger reels and they just rack one of those up on their same racks they stock the cut to length wire and cable on and use it for sales of cut lengths instead of opening the loose coil type packages to sell cut lengths out of.

 

[growler]

how much of that in an average day can you guys run? I have one full day quoted to run all this. Should I quote more?

Thank you!

It's hard to tell on a job like this because you will probably spend about as much time getting materials and tools on the roof as you will actually running conduit. The conduit runs should go pretty fast ( it's on the roof and not like anyone is ever going to worry about it ).

It sound really easy but don't let that jinks you. There is always the one hard part that you haven't counted on. There is always something that can go wrong.

A day sounds reasonable if you can work say 6 hours of that time and it doesn't rain or an electrical storm or whatever I can't imagine ( and don't take to long for lunch and it's not to hot ).

 

[growler]

Some supply houses will cut you any length you want, especially for larger sizes. 1/2 and 3/4 does come on larger reels and they just rack one of those up on their same racks they stock the cut to length wire and cable on and use it for sales of cut lengths instead of opening the loose coil type packages to sell cut lengths out of.

I hadn't thought of that. I normally buy 50' boxes and just keep in the van for A/C connections or anywhere else I may need it. The fitting are what's hard to keep enough of. I sometimes just glue on PVC connectors but that's pretty hacky for most jobs ( if you are just useing as a sheath).

 

[iwire]

The only stupid thing is liquid flex comes in a roll of 100 and I need like 5 feet.

I go to a supply house and get a cut of it. 5', 10' whatever.

 

[LowVolter]

Welcome to the forum.

I am not trying to stop you from running your own conduit, but I am curious why you have to. As an electrician I am tasked with running conduit for LoVo guys all the time.

My company wants to do this stuff in house now. Big jobs I would hope we send them out to bid!

 

[LowVolter]

It's hard to tell on a job like this because you will probably spend about as much time getting materials and tools on the roof as you will actually running conduit. The conduit runs should go pretty fast ( it's on the roof and not like anyone is ever going to worry about it ).

It sound really easy but don't let that jinks you. There is always the one hard part that you haven't counted on. There is always something that can go wrong.

A day sounds reasonable if you can work say 6 hours of that time and it doesn't rain or an electrical storm or whatever I can't imagine ( and don't take to long for lunch and it's not to hot ).

I foresee a trip to the depot at least once. Secondly is there some catalog with pricing and maybe pictures that I can download for this stuff? I have been manually entering into excel off my order sheet.

 

[rippledipple]

conduit runs

conduit runs

I go to a supply house and get a cut of it. 5', 10' whatever.

If your really worried about it i would just add a day of lab.That should cover everything,and double your mat.

 

[growler]

I foresee a trip to the depot at least once. Secondly is there some catalog with pricing and maybe pictures that I can download for this stuff? I have been manually entering into excel off my order sheet.

If your really worried about it i would just add a day of lab.That should cover everything,and double your mat.

A couple of trips to the depot can really slow you down so rippledipple is right that you may want to add a day just to be on the safe side and since this is one of your first projects.

On small projects there is nothing better than experience to know what you can do and how long it should take. The cost of material is knowing where to shop for what and what types of materials are the best value. Some things may be cheap but hard to work with so not really a saveings.

 

[petersonra]

This is no different than costing up anything else. You figure out what parts you need and how much labor, and add in whatever margin you want out of the job.

The problem usually is that it takes some experience to figure out all these things and experience is just another way of saying mistakes.

Pretty much I would expect your first year gets you a lot of "experience" as you learn.

I fear smaller projects partially because a small error or omission can be a big number for a small job. Just having to attend a meeting across town can add 3 or 4 hours to a job that might only have ten hours in it to begin with.

Keep in mind that on small jobs if you make mistakes that cause the price to go up you will price yourself out of the job, and if you make mistakes that cause the price to go down you will be more likely to get those jobs, so you can end up with mostly jobs that are either losers or low margin if you are not very, very careful with small projects. It is hard to make a profit at the end of the year doing small projects unless you are very good at pricing them.

 

[GoldDigger]

It doesn't spoil so you can eat it latter or I think you can get boxes of 25' at Home Depot.

3/4" is pretty handy to have on the van so it probably won't go to waste.

You can also, AFAIK, get a SHORT length of LFNC along with both end fittings as a package at HD.

 

[kwired]

You can also, AFAIK, get a SHORT length of LFNC along with both end fittings as a package at HD.

Or HVAC supply house, it will have conductors in it also, probably 10 AWG, possibly also available with 8 AWG.