starting out on my own questions

[lugerlover]

After being laid off after 20 yrs I have decided to go out on my own.
Location is 70 mile north of NYC.
I was billed out at 100.00/150.00.

So here are the questions..

1. I have to do an estimate for a 12 cubes 24 office with a drop ceiling, 36 drop cat 3 and 96 cat 6 ..all new construction. I come up with approx. 40 hrs "yes that is the high end" to pull,terminate,and mount all cable equipment. I don't have a cable tester so i got a cabling company i have dealt with in past to test and certify for 1500.00 "said about 12 hours max".Now i really wasn't looking to start a cable company my forte is norstar programming so i really don't want to purchase a cable tester so my quote amount is about 5500 for labor for 2 guys"labor includes testing and certification" and roughly 6000.00 for material ...does this sound about right?

2.I am going to use Black box for a supplier..any problems there?

3.A labor rate @100 hr for 2 guys sound OK?

4.A Labor rate @ 65/75 hr for Mac/consulting work?

Any input would be appreciated

 

[kwing112000]

I am in the Boston area and we charge between $55 and $65 per guy on MAC work and usually most normal (Drop Cieling/Open Sheetrock walls) average out to around $100 a drop. As the job gets larger the cost goes down. You may be able to get an account at a Graybar or other supplier local to you and you may get better pricing from them. Plus you can get things on the fly if you need them. If the customer is not asking for certified test results then you be able to use a lower end tester and save some money there as well.

 

[pbxn]

One way to do it, vs quoting an hourly rate, is to take your estimated material price, multiple that by 2, subtract that high number from your material costs and there is your labor, in your case $6,000 for labor. Granted some customers like to see an hourly rate price as well, but to me doing it that way saves you some estimating grief.
You can also in future jobs look into companies that rent testers, that would save you the hassle of getting another vendor to certify your installs.

 

[buitenhek]

Sorry so messy. The software format (CablePro) is preset and needs to be adjusted to fit this screen layout.

If you want, you can send me the specifics and I will prepare a quotation gradis.

The following uses some presets (ie., 152 avg distance). I don't know what your actual material discounts are. Plus you did not elaborate on the Voice/Data breakdown: how many voice only, data only, voice/data. I assume a 110 blocks for voice and a CAT6 patch panel. Add $100-$300 for a rack/grounding/wire mgmnt etc.

Quantity Description Cost Each Sell Each Extended Sell
36V (1 Voice Only) $35.88 $57.71 $2,077.61
96D (1 Data Only) $44.50 $69.77 $6,698.36
Total Avg Faceplate $ Cost Each Sell Each Extended Sell
132 $42.15 $66.48 $8,775.97
Count Horizontal Material Extended Cost Extended Sell
5,472 CAT3 Voice Cable Length (in feet) $218.88 $306.43
14,592 CAT6 Data Cable Length (in feet) $1,313.28 $1,838.59
36 CAT3 Voice Jack Count (one side) $106.20 $148.68
96 CAT6 Data Jack Count (one side) $379.20 $530.88
103 Copper Cable Hanger Count $216.30 $302.82
132 Faceplate Cost $223.08 $312.31
118.583 Total Calculated Labor Hours $3,106.88 $5,336.25

Horizontal (Material & Labor)
Total Cost $5,563.82 Outlet Sell $8,775.96
Material Cost Portion $2,456.94 Outlet Profit $3,212.14
118.583 Labor Cost Portion $3,106.88 Outlet GPM 36.6%

Outlet Cost includes jacks, faceplate, cable, installation, termination (both ends), documentation and testing
Cost Each Sell Each Extended Sell
1 Horizontal Voice Cable 110-Block(s)
$95.00 $133.00 $133.00
1 Horizontal Data Cable Patch Panel(s) with CAT6 Jacks
$250.00 $350.00 $350.00
. Rack, Panel and Miscellaneous Total Cost
$345.00 $483.00 $483.00
. Profit Dollars $138.00 GPM 28.6%
Rack, Panel and Miscellaneous Cost (you must include all installation and documentation)
Material Cost $2,801.94 Material Sell $3,922.71
Labor Cost $3,106.88 Labor Sell $5,336.25
Total All Cost $5,908.82 Total All Sell $9,258.96

1/11/2007 Profit Dollars $3,350.14
Total GPM 36.2%
Total ROI 56.7%

Regards
Peter Buitenhek
ProfitDeveloper.com

 

[wires]

As typical of my heretic ways I count each outlet box as a drop for purposes of calculating labor. It really does not change the time per outlet to run one cable or six.

My labor calculation looks like this:

36 outlets, 132 cables

36 X .5 = 18 hrs make path, pull and secure cables

36 X .1 = 3.6 hrs terminate outlets

132 X .05 = 6.6 hrs terminate patch/punchdown

18 + 3.6 + 6.6 = 28.2 hrs

28.2 hrs / 8 = 3.5 days so 4 days X 2 hrs = 8 hrs misc

36.2 hours X 2 men = 72 hours total labor.

As you do more jobs you will figure out how to adjust the task numbers to fit your style and the differences between jobs. This calculation has too much misc time (1 day!) but since I can't see the site that is my guess.

Another way to look at it is that a good 2 man crew should be able to complete and test one outlet (1 to 6 cables per outlet) per hour (two man hours). This assumes at least 10 outlets and open construction. In my experience a fast job may be 50 minutes per outlet or a slow job around 75 minutes per outlet.

You need two people to pull and test. If the second person is not qualified to terminate leave them at home and do both ends yourself. This keeps your hours under control and assures quality.

What you charge for labor and materials depend on the market where you are working. Estimating time is the key to success.

 

[oldtimerbob]

Don't forget the time it may take to install the cable run(s) supports and to dress them according to your local codes.

 

[franklin97355]

And don't forget any license and permit fees required>

The answer is "42"