Re: Single Family Home Electrical Pricing
I've been estimating residential electric for about 12 years. Conservatively, I have done take-offs and proposals for over 14,000 different jobs (our company will wire over 10,000 houses this year).
I say all this to give the reader an idea of my bona fides, my qualifications.
There is only one accurate way to bid residential electric, it is fairly straightforward, but absolutely requires experience in the field, knowledge of the codes and local ordinances, and a familiarity with the market within which the house is being built. Additionally, estimating requires the knowledge of knowing what to count and look for, what questions to ask, what problems to anticipate . . .
Each job is made up of three components:
1) Material
2) Labor
3) Overhead (office staff, vehicle support, insurance etc.)
Add the three together, and those are the hard costs. Mark it up whatever the local market will bear (again, experience and knowledge of the local scene are essential), and you have your price.
The variables involved in this process, however, are so many, (and sometimes so subtle), that counting openings or figuring a per foot price only works if all the variables are accounted for in the formulas. You might get a job this way, and you might even turn a profit . . . but you will never sustain a business over the long term.
If you live in a ?booming market?, the rapid turnover of monies will even disguise the fact that you are running in the red. Come a building slow down, and the receivables will catch up to you.
I realize that this is not the reassuring answer you wished for, but the best advice is . . . consult an expert.
