Home/Electrical Cost Estimating
Electrical cost estimating you can defend.
Quantity takeoffs and labor units that hold up in a room full of people asking where the number came from. Independent estimating for owners, architects, and program managers across the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex.
Estimates at every phase
The question isn't whether you can estimate before the drawings are done — it's whether the estimate honestly represents what's known and what isn't. We produce numbers appropriate to the information available, and we say plainly which parts are firm and which are carrying contingency.
Conceptual and ROM budgets
Before drawings exist, working from program documents, square footage, building type, and system narratives. Useful for funding requests, feasibility studies, and early go/no-go decisions.
Schematic and design-development estimates
Takeoffs from what's drawn, with documented assumptions for what isn't. Updated at each milestone so the budget tracks the design instead of being discovered to be wrong at bid.
Construction-document estimates
Full quantity takeoff against the permit and bid set. This is the number you compare bids against.
Bid-day review and leveling
Proposals normalized to a common scope so the comparison reflects price rather than what each bidder quietly excluded. Exclusions and qualifications are where bid spreads usually come from, and they're rarely obvious on the cover sheet.
Change-order and claim analysis
Quantities, labor hours, and markups checked against the contract documents. We also identify scope being claimed as additional that was already in the base bid — which is a large share of disputed change orders.
What's in the deliverable
- Quantity takeoff broken out by system, not a lump sum
- Material pricing with sources and dates
- Labor hours from published labor units, adjusted for project conditions
- Equipment, general conditions, and subcontractor scopes
- A written basis of estimate: assumptions, exclusions, and the items carrying the most risk
- Value engineering options where they exist, with the trade-offs stated
The basis of estimate matters more than the bottom line. A number without stated assumptions can't be checked, can't be updated, and can't be defended six months later when someone asks why the budget moved. We write it down.
Why independent estimating
We don't install work and have no interest in who wins the job. When we price a scope, the number isn't shaded toward getting awarded or toward protecting a margin. For owners deciding whether a bid is reasonable, and for architects who need to tell a client the design is affordable before it's fully drawn, that independence is the point.
Estimating pairs naturally with facility design — we can price our own drawings or someone else's — and with project management during construction.
Common questions
What does an electrical cost estimate include?
A complete estimate includes a quantity takeoff by system, material pricing, labor hours derived from published labor units adjusted for project conditions, equipment and general conditions, subcontractor scopes, and a written basis of estimate stating what was assumed, what was excluded, and what carries the most risk.
At what design phase can you estimate?
Any phase. Conceptual estimates work from square footage, program, and system narratives before drawings exist. Schematic and design-development estimates use whatever is drawn plus assumptions for what isn't. Construction-document estimates are full quantity takeoffs. Accuracy improves as the design does.
Do you review contractor bids and change orders?
Yes. Bid leveling compares proposals against a common scope so differences reflect price rather than exclusions. Change-order review checks quantities, labor hours, and markups against the contract documents, and identifies scope that was already included in the base bid.
Are you independent of the contractors bidding the work?
Yes. We estimate on behalf of owners, architects, and program managers, with no installation work and no financial interest in which contractor is awarded the project.