How to price electrical work has one honest answer: count the job, price the count, load the hours, recover the overhead, add the markup. How to price residential electrical work adds the specifics of a house, access through finished walls, the panel's capacity, the permit, and how to charge for electrical work is the same question asked by the electrician who has been guessing from the last invoice. The estimate template on this site takes the material total with waste, the hours at a loaded rate, subcontractors, overhead and markup, and prints the material, labor, overhead, profit and total lines.
Count the devices, the runs and the panel work
Every job is a list: devices and fixtures by the piece, runs by the foot of cable or conduit with a waste allowance, boxes and breakers by the type, the panel or sub-panel with its own hours, and the permit and inspection at cost. Price the list at the supplier's current sheet; the sheet's date is the estimate's date. A residential job adds the hours for fishing cable through finished walls and patching, which is where a guess loses the most.
Hours from labor units, priced at a loaded rate
Each device, run and panel carries the hours it takes the company's own electricians, recorded when jobs close and applied to the next count. The hourly rate on the estimate is not the wage: it carries payroll taxes, insurance, the van, the tools and the apprentice's unbillable time. A rate built from the wage alone is how an electrician works a full year and ends it with nothing.
Overhead first, then the markup, then one total
Divide last year's overhead by last year's direct cost and every job must recover that percentage before any profit; the markup goes on top and is the profit. Present the customer one total with the scope and the exclusions and keep the count and the hours with the estimate. Pro keeps each estimate against the customer and the property, so the hours worked can be written against the hours estimated and the labor units improve with every job.
Questions people ask about how to price electrical work
Should electrical work be priced per hour or per job?
Build the price from labor units internally and quote the customer a job price with the scope; an hourly quote invites the customer to argue the hours rather than accept the work.
How do I price residential electrical work in a finished house?
Count the devices and runs as usual and add the hours for fishing cable, opening and patching, and protecting the house, from the company's own record on similar houses; that access time is most of the difference from new construction.
What markup should an electrician use?
The one that covers the company's overhead percentage from the books and leaves the profit the owner wants; the template applies the percentage you enter and prints the margin alongside it.