Large Wire Footages

A

Alwayslearningelec

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Estimator
For large feeder sizes how does the field/PM go about coming up with the footages when buying? Not the estimate I'm sure lol. True tape, company shop drawings?
 
We've done both methods, true tape or ordering off of the estimate. IMO the true tape method is the only one you should use unless your foreman is highly motivated to sell scrap copper. We've had jobs where there were 80'-100' extra feet of 750 aluminum left on the reel when ordering from the estimate.
 
I have counted the sections of conduit before ordering the wire. That works well for me, and I have the time to do it.
 
I have ran a smaller conductor through the conduit. Then pull it back out to measure it. I then use that measurement to order the larger conductors.
 
infinity said:
We've done both methods, true tape or ordering off of the estimate. IMO the true tape method is the only one you should use unless your foreman is highly motivated to sell scrap copper. We've had jobs where there were 80'-100' extra feet of 750 aluminum left on the reel when ordering from the estimate.
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At least it was extra an not less. Don't you risk being short if ordering off the estimate, then your screwed. 80'-100' extra is not bad if the run is 600'+. Also if there are no conduit routings shown and it's a long run you should def not order from estimate.
 
Alwayslearningelec said:
At least it was extra an not less. Don't you risk being short if ordering off the estimate
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Yes if you order from the estimate you never know what you're going to get which is why I was saying not to order off of the estimate. You need to pull in something to get the rope in the pipe so it might as well be a true tape. Problem is with some foreman cannot be trusted to be honest. They'll add on their vig, you know 50'+ extra feet on every run to buy a house in the Poconos with the scrap money.

On one project we had an apprentice who was pulling in the true tape. The foreman didn't trust him with the numbers so he told him to just get the true tape from end to end. The apprentice would pull of an extra 40'-50' of true tape and stuff it up into the pipe so when the foreman read the numbers he would over order. The apprentice would then take the scrap. On big projects scrap copper is often a big problem that the boss ends up paying for.
 
infinity said:
Yes if you order from the estimate you never know what you're going to get which is why I was saying not to order off of the estimate. You need to pull in something to get the rope in the pipe so it might as well be a true tape. Problem is with some foreman cannot be trusted to be honest. They'll add on their vig, you know 50'+ extra feet on every run to buy a house in the Poconos with the scrap money.

On one project we had an apprentice who was pulling in the true tape. The foreman didn't trust him with the numbers so he told him to just get the true tape from end to end. The apprentice would pull of an extra 40'-50' of true tape and stuff it up into the pipe so when the foreman read the numbers he would over order. The apprentice would then take the scrap. On big projects scrap copper is often a big problem that the boss ends up paying for.
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Thanks you. Wow. I wonder if anyone puts labor into their estimate for true taping. I never did or was told to.
 
Alwayslearningelec said:
Thanks you. Wow. I wonder if anyone puts labor into their estimate for true taping. I never did or was told to.
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Do you put dragging out the conduits to get the rope in as lart of the estimate? If so you just pull in the true tape with the drag so there is really no additional labor cost.
 
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Another thing to think about on large pulls is to add 18" - 24" to your tru-tape or mule tape measurements for each 90 in your run. Remember that the measuring tape will always be hugging the inside of your 90's but the larger conductors could be to the outside curve of your 90's.
 
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