Labor factor for installing 1/2 emt in wood frame stud walls / new construction. also Previaling rate project.

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ronball

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Champaign Il.
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Electric Contractor
My numbers don't seem to be coming up with some of the asembly charts I have. Would appreciate any prior knowledge.
This is about a 6000 sf. Town hall building.
Thx Ron
 
I have run EMT in metal framed buildings where the installed studs have pre-cut holes for running pipe and also can be twisted in order to facilitate installation. I've never tried doing that with wood studs except for single pieces here and there. I don't know the exact numbers, I can only guess based on experience:

If your EMT runs will all be vertical from the device boxes into ceiling space and then horizontal to interconnect, that will be very labor intensive.
If your EMT runs will be horizontal though the studs, that will be super labor intensive. I'm not even sure why anyone would want to. I would bid it at no less that 10 times normal EMT installation labor and be prepared to buy five times as many couplings.

MC cable or FMC would be much, much, much less expensive. I'm not a fan of Smurf tube, but that is another valid choice.
 
will an electrician be able to drill holes in the studs? I have heard some places the union rules require such work be done by members of the carpenters union.
 
petersonra said:
will an electrician be able to drill holes in the studs? I have heard some places the union rules require such work be done by members of the carpenters union.
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I am not aware of anywhere where the IBEW would the the carpenters do our work. I can't find a ruling on this in the publication of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. This department has at ability to resolve such jurisdictional disputes between the various unions.
 
petersonra said:
will an electrician be able to drill holes in the studs? I have heard some places the union rules require such work be done by members of the carpenters union.
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Not in my local. But the time to drill all those holes was definitely part of what I factored in above.
 
Maybe I am reading the Architects response wrong. He said to bid it all in EMT
as asked for on the plans. This is down state in Ill. out of Chicago area. Do you think
I am reading to much in this.?
Thx
Ron
 
If EMT is not required by law, then I would ask the architect why they want it bid in EMT and explain that it will be significantly more expensive than other methods. If they insist it must be all EMT, then you have a level playing field with other bidders. If you don't ask and other bidders assume it can be done in MC for example, their bid will be lower than yours.
 
ronball said:
Maybe I am reading the Architects response wrong. He said to bid it all in EMT
as asked for on the plans. This is down state in Ill. out of Chicago area. Do you think
I am reading to much in this.?
Thx
Ron
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It is just a design requirement that they may or may not be willing to waive. If you have not done this before, you will either get the job and lose your butt, or you won't get the job because your price is too high. For a contractor that does this type of work all the time, the cost is about 15% higher than MC. For a contractor that does not normally do that type of work the cost will be at least 50% higher than MC.
 
EMT is not a significant cost upgrade over other methods. It just depends on where in the country your standing. In Chicago, that is the normal and we use standard NECA labor units. Romex would cost more here because no one uses it just the same as EMT would cost more elsewhere because you don't use it.
 
anthonysolino said:
a labor unit all comes down productivity dude. you got to have some kind of bench mark to set the unit to. unions have wage agreements.
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Labor units (which are published) are applied to material to arrive at total labor hours. Has nothing to do with the labor rate applied to them
 
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