Electical Contractor

To avoid costly surprises, a complete estimate is just one part of the equation. Uncertainties must be covered with a cost factor, albeit at times information is scarce.

Much project estimate information can be readily gleaned from the plans and specifications, but some requirements are hidden in “boilerplate” wording of the contract documents. A typical area that is often left in limbo is the utilities that are to be connected to the project.

Taking literary license from real estate, to a contractor, the most critical issues are documentation, documentation, and yet more documentation. While there is a practical limit, efficient means of recording information are readily available and increasing daily.

Since claims are basically a legal question––if they are not resolved promptly, they end up in mediation, arbitration, or in court. A legal term for compressed project schedules is acceleration.

In the estimating process, quotations of specialized large-quantity lot, or project-specified materials will put the estimator in touch with the firm’s suppliers. Some contacts will also originate in the purchasing department.

During the electrical industry’s history, changes have occurred at warp speed. Many of these ideas can create havoc for an estimator or estimating system that has not changed with the times.

Unlike an electrical apprentice, who follows a finite curriculum and training termination, estimators have no such benchmarks. Instead, an estimator’s value is calculated from many points of interest, which places a burden on the estimator to continue training.

There’s a thin line between overhead and direct costs in project estimating. Further implications exist in those direct costs that relate directly to project coordination. Many factors cause price fluctuations on the same project depending on the expected efficiencies of administering the project.

When I first heard the expression “making the nut,” I wondered what it meant. Then, after watching a squirrel store nuts for winter consumption, I realized that this action depicted the operating costs also known as overhead.