Price Your First Electrical Bid

This use case takes one electrical bid from the invitation to the submitted proposal. Each step links to the page that tells you more. Do the steps in this order the first time; later, you can go back to any step until you submit.

The example is a small medical clinic, Riverside Clinic. You bid it to a general contractor, Summit Builders, and the bid is due Friday at 2:00 PM.

Before you start

• Your site was set up with the Estimator – Electrical setup recipe. You then have sample labor rates, the electrical catalog and assemblies, the crews and factors, and the Electrical – Commercial estimate template as the default. On another site, an administrator runs the Estimator sample catalog and Estimator electrical package recipes. See Set up a site and Electrical package.
• You have the Estimator role, or a role that may manage projects. See Roles.
• You have the drawings of the bid as a PDF file.

tip

The sample catalog has sample prices and labor units. Before you bid real work, your catalog administrator imports your prices and checks the labor units. See Price updates.

1. Add the project and the bid

1. Open Estimator > New bid.
2. On Project, type Riverside Clinic in Name, and check the Project number and the Time zone. Click Next.
3. On Bid, type Summit Builders in Bid to, and enter the Due date and time. Click Next.
4. On Bid/no-bid, rate the points of the checklist, pick Bid as the Bid decision, and click Add the project and bid.

The project page opens. You are the estimate lead. See The New Bid wizard.

2. Answer the job conditions

The job conditions set the labor rate and the labor factors of every estimate of the project.

1. On the project page, click Answer the job conditions in the Job conditions card.
2. Answer the questions of each step, such as the ceiling height and the building type. Click Next.
3. On Labor rate, pick the Rate table and the Crew, and enter the Overtime.
4. Click Save the job conditions.

See Job conditions.

3. Upload the drawings

1. On the project page, click Documents.
2. Pick Drawings as the Type, type a Title such as Electrical drawings, 100% CD, choose the file and click Upload.
3. Wait until the document shows its number of sheets.
4. Click Sheets, and check the sheet number, title, discipline and scale that the site read from each title block. Correct what is wrong.

See Documents and Sheets.

4. Take off the devices and fixtures

1. On the project page, click Takeoff items in the Takeoff card, and add one item for each thing you count or measure, for example:
   • Duplex receptacles, measured as Count;
   • 2x4 LED troffers, measured as Count;
   • Home runs, measured as Length.
2. Open Sheets, and click Takeoff on the row of the first power plan. The sheet opens in the viewer.
3. Check the scale. If the drawing was reduced, calibrate the sheet on a known length.
4. Pick Duplex receptacles, press C, and click each receptacle on the sheet.
5. Do the same for each item and each sheet. If you price by location, type the location of each sheet in Location of this sheet, such as Level 1.

See The drawing viewer and Takeoff items.

5. Add the estimate

1. On the project page, click Add estimate in the Estimates card.
2. Type Base bid in Name, and select Summit Builders in Bid.
3. Keep the Template Electrical – Commercial. It adds the breakdown, the recap settings and the direct job expense lines.
4. Click Save. The workspace of the estimate opens.

See Estimates and Estimate templates.

6. Price the takeoff

1. In the workspace, click Add from takeoff.
2. Select the rows to add. For each row, pick Assembly and type the code of the assembly, for example:
   • EL-A-DEV-REC20-MC (a 20 A duplex receptacle in the wall, with MC cable) for the receptacles;
   • EL-A-FIX-2X4 (a 2x4 LED troffer in a lay-in ceiling) for the troffers.
3. Click Add the lines.
4. Add the lines that the takeoff does not give, such as the panelboards. In the Code cell of the last row, type a code or a part of a description, pick a match, press Tab, type the Quantity and press Enter.
5. Select a line. The Line panel shows its components; click an item to see each step of its calculation: the quantity, the waste, the material, the labor hours and the labor factors.

When the takeoff changes, click Update from takeoff. See The estimate workspace.

7. Add the feeders

1. In the workspace, click Feeders, then Add feeder.
2. Enter the feeder as the feeder schedule shows it: the name, the length, the conductors and the conduit.
3. Click Save and make the lines. The feeder makes its conduit, fittings, conductors, ground and lugs as lines, and shows the conduit fill.

See Feeders.

8. Enter the quotes

Fixtures and the fire alarm system are often quoted.

1. In the workspace, click Quotes, then Add material quote.
2. Type Lighting package in Name, enter a Placeholder, and add the Scope items every quote must cover, such as Fixture types A to F and Emergency drivers. Click Save.
3. When the quotes arrive, enter each one. Enter a Plug for each scope item that a quote excludes or does not state.
4. Click Select under the quote with the lowest Leveled total.

Lines whose material the quote covers keep their labor. See Quotes and subcontracts.

9. Set the price

1. Click Recap, or the Selling price at the top of the workspace.
2. Check the material tax, the overhead, the profit, the contingency and the bond. Change what this bid needs.
3. Add the alternates of the bid form, such as Add: occupancy sensors in offices.
4. To bid a number that you already know, use Price to target.

See Recap and alternates.

10. Run the checks

1. Click Checks.
2. Fix each blocking issue, such as a line without a quantity or an item without a price. Click the button on the row to open what the issue is about.
3. Read the warnings, such as old prices, and fix them or accept them.
4. Click Check again.

See Checks.

11. Get the approval

1. Click Revisions.
2. Enter a Comment, such as Ready for review, and click Send for review. The revision locks.
3. Your estimating manager opens the Revisions page and clicks Approve, or sends the revision back with a reason.

If you must change the estimate after the review, add a revision. See Revisions and approvals.

12. Send the proposal

1. On the project page, click Proposals in the Proposals card, then Add proposal.
2. Pick the Base bid estimate, type a Title, and click Add proposal. The proposal takes the base bid and the alternates of the recap.
3. Check the scope of work, the inclusions, the exclusions and the clarifications.
4. Click PDF and send the file to Summit Builders.

See Proposals.

13. Record the bid

1. On the Revisions page, click Mark as submitted. The revision never changes again.
2. On the project page, change the status of the bid to Submitted, and enter Our bid.
3. When the results come, set the bid to Won or Lost, with the results.

See Bids.

What's next

• Print the bid recap and the material list from Reports in the workspace. See Estimating reports.
• Ask the Estimator Assistant about the estimate. See Estimator Assistant.
• Follow the training path for new estimators to learn each screen in more detail.