How to Write an Electrical Estimate

Match the estimate to the job

Electrical work comes in three shapes, and each needs a different estimate:

• Troubleshooting. You can't price a repair you haven't found. Get written approval for diagnostic time with a cap, as how to price electrical jobs explains, then estimate the repair once you've found the fault.
• Device and circuit work. Added receptacles, new fixtures, a dedicated appliance circuit. One page is enough if it lists each circuit and device and the assumptions that could change the price.
• Service, panel and big-load projects. Service upgrades, panel replacements, EV chargers, generator hookups and remodel wiring. These need everything below: a load basis, a circuit schedule, permit and utility responsibilities, exclusions, priced conditions and an expiration date.

Walk the job before you write a number

The expensive surprises on electrical work sit in the panel, the service and the walls, so the estimate is only as good as your site notes. Capture:

• The panel label. Manufacturer, model, bus rating, main breaker size, open spaces and the breaker types the label allows. Photograph it.
• The service. Overhead or underground, the meter socket's condition, and on an overhead service, the mast and where the drop attaches.
• Visible grounding and bonding. The grounding electrode conductor and what it connects to.
• The wiring you'll tie into. Two-wire circuits with no equipment ground, cloth-insulated cable, aluminum branch wiring or knob and tube. Photograph each one.
• The route and the finishes. The distance from the panel, whether the path runs through an open attic, a finished ceiling, an exterior wall or a trench, and which drywall, plaster, tile or paneling you'd have to open.
• The utility. Its name and the meter number, for any disconnect or service request.
• The customer's equipment. The make and model of any charger, fixture or appliance they're buying, so you can size the circuit from its installation instructions.

Every item on that list can change your price if you find it after the customer signs.

State the load calculation behind service and EV work

Any estimate that adds a large load or changes the service should show how you know the service can carry it. That covers EV chargers, heat pumps, electric ranges and water heaters, hot tubs, and feeders to a detached garage or an accessory dwelling.

The basis is the load calculation method in the edition of the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) your jurisdiction enforces, along with any local amendments. Run the calculation with the new load included, keep the worksheet in the job file, and put a short summary on the estimate:

• The calculation method and the date you ran it.
• The existing service rating.
• The calculated load with the new equipment added.
• The result: the service can carry it, it can't, or it can with a condition such as load management.

If you based the existing load on the utility's demand history or a recorded load study instead of a calculation, say which and attach it. Confirm first that your inspector accepts that approach under the code edition they enforce.

The summary shows that a service upgrade comes from math, not a sales pitch, which matters when another bid skipped the upgrade. And if your building department wants load calculations with the permit, it sees the same numbers the customer saw.

Put the options on the page

When the service can't carry the new load as designed, show every honest way forward. For an EV charger that usually means a lower charger setting where the charger's instructions allow one, load management equipment your inspector accepts, or a service upgrade. Put them in one table with the same scope, exclusions and conditions, so only the real differences show.

Example: A hypothetical EV charger estimate on a house with a 100-amp service, where the attached load calculation shows the charger won't fit at full output. Prices are round placeholders, not market rates:

	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Approach	Charger circuit, charger set lower	Charger circuit plus load management device	200-amp service upgrade plus charger circuit
Charging speed	Reduced	Full when the house allows	Full
Utility involvement	None	None	Disconnect, reconnect, possible service request
Power outage	Short	Short	Most of a day
Price	$1,400	$2,200	$6,500

The $4,300 step from Option 2 to Option 3 buys full-speed charging at all times plus spare capacity for future loads, and the customer can decide whether that's worth it.

If a rebate or credit program comes up, list it under the price as something the customer may qualify for, never as a discount already taken.

Write the scope circuit by circuit

The circuit schedule is the heart of an electrical estimate: it makes bids comparable and settles "I thought that was included" later. For each circuit, write:

Three columns deserve extra care:

• New or extended. Extending an existing circuit looks cheaper than a new home run, but it depends on what's already on that circuit, its condition, and the protection the enforced code requires when a circuit is extended. If you've assumed an extension, say so, and that the price changes if the circuit can't take it.
• Breaker. Naming the type shows whether two bids include the same protection. If the panel is full, add a line for how you'll make room: tandem breakers where the panel's label allows them, a subpanel, or a new panel.
• Walls. Fishing wire through finished walls takes longer than open framing, and it's where patching starts. Say which you assumed per room.

If the customer hasn't chosen fixtures, carry a per-fixture allowance and say the difference will be billed or credited. For customer-supplied fixtures and chargers, say your warranty covers your labor and the product's is the manufacturer's, and what happens if one arrives damaged or unsuited to the location, such as an indoor fixture meant for a covered porch. The exclusions below belong to the same scope of work.

Permits and inspections

Give the permit its own line, say who pulls it, and list the inspections the job needs. Which electrical work requires a building permit, who may pull it and what the inspector checks are set by your state, your local building department or both. If you're unsure who can pull a permit for a given job, ask your state's electrical licensing board.

On the estimate, state:

• The permit fee, included or passed through at cost, and that you apply for the permit and schedule each inspection.
• The inspections you expect, for example a rough-in before walls close and a final, and who gives the inspector access.
• That you fix your own work at no charge if it fails, while anything the inspector calls out on existing wiring outside your scope is priced and approved before you touch it.
• Who pays a re-inspection fee when an inspection is missed or blocked for reasons outside your control.

On remodels with a rough-in inspection, tell the customer and the general contractor in writing that walls stay open until your rough-in passes. Drywall hung over uninspected wiring is a cost somebody pays; the estimate makes sure it isn't you.

If your jurisdiction adopts a newer NEC edition before you apply for the permit, ask which edition the job will be inspected under, and reprice anything it adds.

Spell out the utility's part of a service change

A service change needs the utility. The conductors ahead of the main breaker can only be de-energized on the utility's side, the utility usually owns the meter, and it sets rules for the equipment you connect to its system. The estimate should separate your work from the utility's and say who schedules each step.

Before you quote one, read the utility's service requirements, including its rules for the meter socket, mast and clearances, and learn how it handles each step below: the notice it needs, what it charges, and whether a larger service needs its review or changes to its transformer, drop or lateral.

Tell the customer when the power will be off and for how long, and ask what depends on it: refrigerators and freezers, medical equipment, a sump pump, a home office, a security system, a garage door. Write the planned window into the estimate with a line that the utility's schedule can move it.

Name your exclusions

Electrical work makes holes. Say in writing what you leave behind and what you don't do:

• Patching and painting. Say whether you leave openings clean for the customer's drywall contractor, rough patch them or finish them. Exclude texture matching and paint unless priced.
• Plaster, tile and paneling. These crack or won't match once cut; exclude repairs or price them separately.
• Trench restoration. Lawn, landscaping, pavers and concrete.
• Other trades' work. Say where your scope ends: you provide the circuit and disconnect and the HVAC installer connects the unit, or the reverse. Exclude gas piping for a standby generator unless you list it and your license covers it.
• Low-voltage work. Data, security and smart-device setup.
• Hazardous materials. If you suspect any, such as insulation or plaster you can't identify, work there stops and it's handled separately.

One kind of sealing stays in your scope. Where your work passes through a fire-rated wall, floor or ceiling, ask your inspector how they want the penetration sealed and include it. That's part of the installation, not cosmetic patching.

Price the conditions you might find

Opening an old panel or a finished wall is where electrical jobs change. Say on the estimate what happens when you find something: you stop, show the customer photos, price the fix and get written approval first. Better still, price the common finds in advance, so the customer approves those prices when they sign.

Finds worth pricing ahead on service, panel and remodel work:

• Grounding and bonding that won't pass inspection when you replace a service or panel. Ask your inspector what they expect to see when service equipment is replaced, and make the answer a standard line.
• Circuits that need AFCI or GFCI protection added because your work extends or modifies them, or because you're replacing receptacles. Which triggers apply depends on the code edition your jurisdiction enforces, so ask your inspector.
• Two-wire circuits with no equipment ground where the customer wants three-prong receptacles.
• Damaged, overheated or brittle conductors in boxes or in the panel.
• Aluminum branch wiring at the points you connect to.
• A meter socket or mast the utility won't reconnect to.

Example: A conditions schedule on a hypothetical panel replacement, with round placeholder prices:

If we find	What we'll do	Price
Grounding electrode system the inspector won't pass	Install what the inspector requires	$500
A circuit that needs AFCI or GFCI protection under the enforced code	Install the required breaker	$100 per circuit
Damaged conductors at the panel	Splice or extend in a new box	$150 per circuit
Meter socket the utility rejects	Replace the meter socket	$700

If the crew finds two circuits that need new protection, the customer has already approved $200 for that, and the job keeps moving.

Anything not on the schedule goes through a written change order before the work.

Put an expiration date on the price

Electrical estimates carry materials whose prices move: copper wire and cable, service equipment, panels, breakers and generators. Date every estimate, give it a validity window, and say on the page what happens to the price after that:

• Price wire and gear from a dated supplier quote, and note its date on the estimate.
• Don't hold your price longer than your supplier holds theirs on panels, generators and transfer equipment.
• For jobs that start months out, such as remodels waiting on other trades, add a clause that reprices listed materials from the supplier's invoice if you buy after the expiration date. Contract rules vary by state, so have a lawyer review the wording once and reuse it.
• If the specified panel or breakers aren't available, say you'll substitute equivalent equipment with the customer's approval and handle any price difference as a change order.
• Order big gear once the deposit is in; contractor deposits covers how much to ask for and the state limits to check.

Example: Hypothetical wording: "Prices are valid for 30 days and are based on our supplier's quote of October 6. If you accept after that, wire and service equipment will be repriced from the supplier's invoice, and we'll show you the difference before we order." Say the wire was priced at $1,200 and costs $1,380 when the customer accepts in week six. The wire line goes up $180, backed by the supplier's invoice, instead of coming out of your margin.

An expiration date also gives you a reason to check in before it lapses; how to follow up on quotes covers the timing.

The signature page

The last page turns the estimate into a contract:

• The option chosen and its price, referencing the circuit schedule, exclusions and conditions schedule.
• The deposit and payment schedule. Larger jobs can bill at milestones such as rough-in passed and final passed; how to invoice electrical jobs covers progress billing.
• The expiration date, the repricing clause, and a line that dates depend on the utility and the inspector.
• Your license number, if your state requires it on bids or contracts.
• Any cancellation notice required for contracts signed in the customer's home, and signatures from both sides.

Before you send it

• Service changes and large new loads have a stated load basis.
• Every circuit lists its breaker type, wiring method, route and devices.
• Permit, inspections and the utility's steps say who does what.
• Exclusions and priced conditions are on the page.
• The price expires no later than your supplier quotes.