Estimating telecom 1

[randall5]

I am new to estimating for telecom and I was wondering what reference materials you guys use for labor units. There are published books for electrical labor units, but I have yet to find similar materials for tel/data work. We have begun to compile our own statistics, but I was wondering if something existed in the market already. Any insight will be appreciated.

Randy

 

[toolman18]

Randall5, I dont know of any reference materials dictating how or how much to charge customers in the comm. field. Any companies I know fix thier own rates. Time and material seems to be the easiest way to charge, but most customers want a quote or some ballpark figure. A job sight should be surveyed carefully for any time consuming problems that might arise. I usually add a few extra hours to each bid for that reason, hopeing I dont get underbid. Alot of companies mark up equipement from between 25% up to 100% and even tag on S&H. Fair and reasonable makes for a happy customer.

 

[johnilu]

Seems like the base rate for calculating costs is approx. $50.00 per hour for labor. All depends on the skill level of the task, and equipment necessary, etc. Some specialized skills may come with more cost, but for basic jobs the cost has worked for me. Materials cost may is then factored.

 

[hawks]

The big boys (veizon, bell south, and so on) charge around $110 and up for labor.

 

[randall5]

Guys, perhaps I should clarify the question. I am not new to the telecom field. I am an experienced technician with almost 10 years of service. I have been involved in all aspects of the biz. from service, installs, structured cabling, purchasing, etc. We are becoming more involved with construction projects and the bidding for these jobs. With any large scale project, when pricing things out, there are labor and material costs associated. NECA, the National Electrical Contractors Association has collected, processed and published jobsite figures for over 100 years related to labor factors for everything from wiring a duplex receptacle to installing a light fixture. My question is: Is there anything similar for datacom? Is there a reference guide saying that the labor factor of a Cat5e jack is .15 hours while a Cat 6 jack is .2 hours? When estimating a large job, it is helpful to have labor factors associated with the materials for total cost breakdown. Hope that helps.

Randy

 

[mikeydidit]

It will vary of course. I have set charges for

1. Cable pull $$
2. Jack kit $$ (installed)
3. Feet of cable used $.?? Per foot
4. Installing fire sleeve (cost + of sleeve, and 1 hour labor)
4. Running more than 1 floor (additional Hour of labor)
5. Hour of labor $?? per hour


This has been mentioned here before and you might be able to do a search and find it. In that thread it seemed that everyone that replied had a different way to do it. Some charged on a T&M basis, others had set prices and allowed for additional hours of labor in their estimates. The one thing that did stand out from all was to be sure to go out and look at every job thoroughly. This may give you somewhere to start anyways. Hope this helps.


Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[hawks]

Check this site out maybe it will help.

http://www.ccmi.com/networkdesign.html

 

[Tracerz99]

Randall,

What I did when I was in your situation is created a estimating template. It references Part Numbers and automatically populates the Description, cost, sell price, tax etc. I set mine so I can either define labor by each task or I can lump all together. Typically for a standard 3-5-5 outlet we include the cable outlet material fire-stopping, ceiling supports and misc. material. Depending on the distance and difficulty I try and get by with 3.5 hours per outlet. However in a competitive market it's more like 2.5 hours per outlet. Hope this helps.