No transformer location

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jmsbrush

jmsbrush

Senior Member
Location
Central Florida
I have a set of plans I'm bidding on, and there is no location on the plans where the POCO's Transformer is.

The service is 2000A. If it was a 100' away you're looking at over $34,000 in wire and conduit.

How do you make a an accurate estimate if there is no transformer location?
 
buckofdurham said:
You need to call the poco engineer and have him meet you on site.
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One of my buds told me that, It's kinda a pain in the butt because I have to wear all the hats. Sometime's you have to wait a couple of days on those guys.
 
Our local POCO is bad about not having their aid to construction drawings available. We always have to qualify out the service, primary conduit and transformer pads . These are added back as a change order when the POCO provides drawings. 5" conduit 54" deep with steel ells gets expensive real quick.
 
I would qualify the bid with a statement saying that you assume that the utility transformer is XX' from the building and the primary conduits and cables are excluded.

This way something is included in the bid and when the final plans are done you can submit a change proposal for the extra distance for the secondaries.
 
Seldom do I get info from the POCO on where they will put the transformer, so I can't show it on the drawings. Often, the actual service location will change from where I show it on the drawings.

Just show an allowance for x feet between the transformer and the service.

RC
 
tkb said:
I would qualify the bid with a statement saying that you assume that the utility transformer is XX' from the building and the primary conduits and cables are excluded.
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Consider that the plans are put out for bids before the serving electric utility is contacted to see if service can even be provided where the customer wants it to be installed. There are also many times where the serving electric utility is contacted but the engineering department is left in the dark . . . same results.

The quote above is the best way to handle the bid. If you contact the serving electric utility at this point, find you have to go 75 feet to the transformer, you have to install the concrete pad, and you include the extra cost into the bid, you may lose the bid to someone who bid the job as outlined above. They get the bid and the change order, you lost the job and the time to make the bid. On smaller jobs, you may not even get the voltage your customer wanted. :)
 
I agree. Qualify your bid that you are quoting a 2000A secondary feeder 5' outside the perimeter of the building from a point at column lines X/X.
Exclude all formed concrete (pole bases, equip pads, Poco pad)
 
tkb said:
I would qualify the bid with a statement saying that you assume that the utility transformer is XX' from the building and the primary conduits and cables are excluded.

This way something is included in the bid and when the final plans are done you can submit a change proposal for the extra distance for the secondaries.
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Do you mean the secondary? I thought when the Transformer is set, the Poco runs the wires to the primary side of the transformer and We run the the secondary wires which go to the service. Am I missing something?
So on my proposal, just state this does not include the secondary wire and conduit from the Utility transformer due to there is no location and will be billed as a change order when that information is given?
 
jmsbrush said:
Do you mean the secondary? I thought when the Transformer is set, the Poco runs the wires to the primary side of the transformer and We run the the secondary wires which go to the service. Am I missing something?
So on my proposal, just state this does not include the secondary wire and conduit from the Utility transformer due to there is no location and will be billed as a change order when that information is given?
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Be careful, it is your money at risk when making a bid! The serving electric utility makes their own rules and they are blessed by the public service commission in their area. We do run the primary conductors and furnish the primary conduit to the job site. Do you care to guess who gets to put the conduit into the ground? We also determine where the transformer is going to be set. We do provide and set the transformer pad and transformer but you get to prepare the place where we set the pad (compacted sand). If the service is 1200 amperes or less, we supply the service lateral to outside metering cabinets which we also provide.

Unless you absolutely know what your serving electric utility's policies are, don't assume. :smile:
 
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