Electrical Estimating and Takeoff Services

We quantify CSI Division 26 from your drawings and schedules — conduit and conductor by size and type, device and fixture counts, feeders, panels and switchgear — and deliver an itemized Excel workbook with a marked-up plan set. Flat-quoted from your plan set before we start.

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What We Take Off

An electrical takeoff is three takeoffs that have to agree with each other: the counts on the floor plans, the equipment on the one-line diagram, and the circuiting in the panel schedules. When they disagree — and on a live set they usually do — the estimate is only as good as the reconciliation, which is the part most takeoffs skip.

Racewayconduit LF by size and type, separating EMT, rigid, IMC, PVC, aluminum, flexible and liquid-tight, with concrete-encased and direct-buried runs identified separately

Conductorswire and cable by gauge, insulation type and length, including circuit conductors, neutrals, equipment grounds, isolated grounds and bonding jumpers, with pull lengths measured rather than scaled straight-line

Cable systemsMC, AC and MI cable, tray cable and armoured feeders by LF where the specification permits them in place of pipe-and-wire

Cable tray and support systemstray LF by width and type, ladder versus solid-bottom, fittings, and hangers and trapeze supports by count

Boxes and fittingsdevice, junction and pull boxes by size, plus connectors, couplings, straps, elbows, expansion fittings and bushings, quantified against the raceway they serve

Wiring devicesreceptacles by type and rating, switches, dimmers, occupancy sensors, GFCI and AFCI devices, floor boxes, poke-throughs and plates, counted by device rather than by outlet symbol

Lighting fixturescounts by type against the fixture schedule, with lamping, driver, voltage, mounting and emergency or battery-backup versions kept distinct

Lighting controlsrelay panels, dimming panels, control stations, sensors, photocells, time clocks and the control wiring or low-voltage interface between them

Distribution equipmentpanelboards, switchboards, switchgear, motor control centers, transformers, disconnects, safety switches, fused and non-fused, quantified against the one-line diagram

FeedersLF by size and configuration from the one-line and riser diagrams, with conduit, conductors, terminations and pull boxes carried together as an assembly

Grounding and bondingground rods, ground rings, water and steel bonds, ground bars, exothermic connections and counterpoise, with test wells counted separately

Motor and equipment connectionsstarters, VFDs, contactors, combination units, disconnects and final connections quantified against the mechanical and plumbing equipment schedules

Service and utility interfaceservice entrance, metering, CT cabinets, utility transformer pad and primary conduit, with the utility scope boundary stated explicitly

Generators, transfer and standbygenerator sets, ATS units, load banks, paralleling gear, fuel and exhaust interface, and the separately derived system grounding that goes with them

Site and exterior electricalpole bases, site lighting, bollards, duct bank and concrete encasement, handholes, pull boxes and trenching interface

Temporary power and lightingwhere the drawings or specification assign it to this contract, with the demand basis stated

Firestopping and sleevespenetration counts at rated assemblies, with sleeve sizes carried against the raceway schedule

How Electrical Quantities Are Measured

Every quantity below is reported in the unit the scope is actually bought and bid in — not converted into a single convenient unit that hides where the cost sits.

ConduitLF by size and typeMeasured as routed with bends and drops, not as straight-line plan distance. Type matters as much as size — EMT and rigid of the same diameter are different line items.

ConductorsLF by gaugePer conductor, including neutrals and grounds, with pull length plus terminations allowance. A three-phase circuit is not one wire quantity.

DevicesEA by typeCounted by device, not by symbol — a symbol on a plan can be a duplex, a quad or a special-purpose receptacle.

Lighting fixturesEA by typeAgainst the fixture schedule type mark, with emergency and battery-backup variants as separate types.

FeedersLF as assemblyConduit, conductors and terminations quantified together per feeder run from the one-line, because splitting them loses the correlation.

Distribution equipmentEABy rating, enclosure and configuration from the one-line diagram. Two panels with the same circuit count can be very different pieces of gear.

Cable trayLF plus fittings EAStraight lengths by width and type, with every fitting counted individually — fittings routinely exceed straight run in cost on a congested route.

Boxes and fittingsEADerived from the raceway and device counts rather than estimated as a percentage of pipe.

GroundingEA and LFRods, bonds and connections by count; ground conductor and ground ring by linear foot.

Equipment connectionsEAOne per motor or piece of equipment, sized from the mechanical and plumbing schedules rather than from the electrical plan alone.

Firestop penetrationsEABy sleeve size and rated assembly, counted where raceway crosses a rated wall, floor or shaft.

Who This Is For

General contractors carrying this trade directly, or checking a subcontractor's number before it goes into the bid.

Subcontractors pricing their own scope in this division.

Developers and owners validating a number they've already been given.

Material suppliers and distributors verifying a customer's order.

What You Receive

An itemized Excel takeoff, organized by division
A marked-up plan set — every quantity traces back to a location on the drawings
Labor, material and equipment split out separately
Waste and overage factors shown as visible line items
An assumptions and exclusions schedule

Marked-up electrical plan crop

What Moves the Number on Electrical

Raceway type permitted by the specification. The same circuit run in EMT, in MC cable, or in rigid conduit is three different installed costs. The specification and the local jurisdiction decide which is allowed where — plenum, wet location, exposed, underground and healthcare or hazardous areas each have their own rules, and the plans do not show any of it.

Installation condition, not just quantity. NECA's labor units publish Normal, Difficult and Very Difficult columns for exactly this reason. Work in an occupied building, above a hard ceiling, in a congested plenum, or at height installs slower than the same footage in open new construction. Applying one column to an entire project is a decision, and it should be a visible one.

Feeder and gear sizing from the one-line. Feeders and distribution equipment are usually a large share of the material cost and they are defined on the one-line and riser diagrams, not the floor plans. A takeoff built only from plan-view device counts can miss the most expensive items in the package entirely.

Fixture and control package. Fixture type, driver, lamping, trim and mounting all sit in the fixture schedule, and a lighting control system — relay panels, dimming, sensors, network interface — can rival the fixtures themselves. Substitutions here move the number more than almost anything else in Division 26.

Equipment connections that live on other trades' drawings. Every motor, rooftop unit, pump, VFD, water heater and kitchen appliance needs a circuit, a disconnect and a final connection, and they are scheduled on the mechanical, plumbing and equipment drawings. Reconciling those schedules against the electrical set is where missing scope surfaces.

Utility interface and scope boundary. Who provides and who installs the service, the metering, the primary conduit and the transformer pad varies by utility and by jurisdiction. This boundary is worth real money, so we state where we drew it rather than leaving it implied.

What We Need From You

A complete set is ideal, but rarely what exists. Send what you have — we will tell you at quote stage what can be quantified firm and what has to be an allowance.

Electrical floor plans — power, lighting and systems
One-line or riser diagram — the document that defines gear and feeders
Panel schedules, so circuiting can be reconciled against plan counts
Lighting fixture schedule with type marks, and the lighting control drawings or narrative
Mechanical, plumbing and equipment schedules, for connections and motor loads
Specification sections for Division 26, especially permitted raceway and wiring methods
Reflected ceiling plans, for fixture layout and above-ceiling access conditions
Site plan, where site lighting, duct bank or utility interface is in scope

How It Works

1 Send your plans — PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file.
2 Get your quote — a flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing.
3 Approve — nothing starts until you confirm.
4 We take it off — quantities from the drawings and schedules.
5 Delivery — workbook, marked-up set, assumptions schedule.

How Pricing and Turnaround Work

Every project is priced individually from your drawings. Send the plan set and you get a flat quote for the scope before any work starts — no hourly billing, no open-ended engagement.

Turnaround depends on the size of the package and how many trades are in scope — which is why you get a firm delivery date with your quote rather than a generic promise.

Tools and Standards

Takeoffs are produced in Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Trimble, STACK, organized against CSI MasterFormat divisions — this scope is specified under Division 26 — Electrical.

Quantities and assemblies are read against the published standards that govern this trade, because the standard is what decides whether two apparently identical items are actually the same line item:

NFPA 70 — National Electrical Code (NEC), to the edition adopted by the project's jurisdiction
NECA Manual of Labor Units — labor units with Normal, Difficult and Very Difficult conditions
NECA / NEIS installation standards (the NECA 1 family of standards of installation)
NEMA equipment enclosure and device ratings
UL listings for assemblies, fittings and fire-rated penetrations
IEEE 141 and 241 (Red and Gray Books) for distribution design intent
NFPA 70E — where arc-flash labelling and study scope sit inside the contract

Pricing is built on RSMeans cost data localized to your project's market, then reconciled against current supplier quotes and our own completed project costs. Every estimate states its pricing basis and the date it was priced.

Why Electrical Is Estimated Wrong

Conduit scaled straight-line instead of routed. Measuring point to point on plan ignores drops to devices, rises to structure, offsets around obstructions and the routing a real installation has to take. On a congested ceiling the routed length can substantially exceed the plan distance, and the shortfall carries conductor with it.

Feeders and gear taken from plan counts alone. The floor plans show devices; the one-line shows the switchgear, transformers, distribution panels and feeder sizes. An estimate assembled without the one-line can be complete on receptacles and missing the single largest material item on the job.

Panel schedules never reconciled against the plans. Circuits shown on schedules but not on plans, and devices on plans with no circuit assigned, are both common on issued sets. Neither is a rounding error — each one is either missing scope or a design question that should be asked before the bid, not after.

One conductor counted per circuit. A circuit is conductors, plural — phases, neutral and equipment ground, plus any isolated ground the spec requires. Taking wire off at one length per circuit understates the buy by a multiple, not a percentage.

Equipment connections omitted because they are on someone else's drawing. Mechanical and plumbing equipment appears on mechanical and plumbing schedules. If the electrical takeoff never reads those sheets, the disconnects, starters, VFDs and final connections for that equipment simply are not in the number.

Related Estimating Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you reconcile panel schedules against the plan counts?

Yes, and the discrepancies are part of the deliverable — every circuit scheduled but not drawn, every device drawn with no circuit assigned, and every load that does not match its breaker. These are the questions worth asking before you submit a number.

Is the takeoff pipe-and-wire, or by assembly?

Both views. Conduit and conductor are itemized by size and type so you can price them against your own supplier, and feeders are also rolled up as assemblies with terminations, because that is how they are installed and how a foreman checks them.

Do you quantify lighting controls?

Yes — relay and dimming panels, control stations, sensors and photocells by count, with the control wiring or low-voltage interface identified. Where the control system is a proprietary package, we quantify it for coordination and say so rather than presenting it as a supplier's quote.

How do you handle equipment connections for mechanical and plumbing?

By reading those trades' schedules directly. Every motor, unit and appliance gets its disconnect, starter or VFD and final connection, and anything on those schedules with no electrical shown is flagged as a coordination item.

Do you use NECA labor units?

NECA's Manual of Labor Units is the recognized reference for this trade and where we price labor we work from published units with the condition column stated. If your own labor rates and productivity are better than a published average, tell us and we will apply yours instead.

Can you take off fire alarm and low-voltage at the same time?

Yes, but they are quantified as separate packages under their own divisions, because they are usually bid, permitted and inspected separately. Keeping them apart means you can hand each one to the right subcontractor.

What if the specification does not say which raceway type is allowed?

We state the assumption per area — plenum, wet location, exposed, underground — in the assumptions schedule, because it is one of the largest single variables in Division 26 and it should never be buried inside a unit rate.

Do you include temporary power?

Only where the drawings or specification put it in this contract, and when we do, the demand basis and duration we assumed are stated. Temporary power priced on an unstated assumption is a common source of dispute.

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