An electrical bid template with labor units built in.
Electrical bids live and die on labor hours. This workbook carries labor units on every takeoff line, applies a labor factor for job conditions, and rolls material, labor, subs and markup into a bid price and crew weeks. The Word proposal form lists the basis, scope by system and exclusions.
- Labor units per line
- Labor factor
- Bid summary & crew weeks
- Word proposal form
Get the template. Free, no sign-up.
Example values are placeholders. Replace them with your own rates, units and company details.
| System | Item | Qty | Unit | Mat. $/unit | Labor hrs/unit | Sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighting | 2x4 LED troffer (example) | 64 | EA | $95.00 | 1.100 | E-101 |
| Branch | 3/4" EMT (example) | 1,800 | LF | $1.10 | 0.045 | E-201 |
Files open in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, Word or Google Docs.
Takeoff, summary and the proposal.
Takeoff sheet
System, item, quantity, unit, material cost, labor hours per unit and sheet reference.
Bid summary
Tax, labor factor, burdened rate, equipment, subs, permits, overhead and profit, plus crew weeks.
Proposal form
Basis of proposal, scope by system, exclusions, clarifications, pricing and signatures.
Electrical bid review checklist.
- Fixture schedule vs. plan counts. Every type on the schedule appears on the plans, and the other way round.
- Panel schedules vs. one-line. Feeder sizes and breaker ratings agree.
- Homeruns and branch circuits. Count them, or carry an allowance and say so.
- Fire alarm and low voltage. Included, excluded or by others, in writing.
- Gear lead times. Called out as a clarification.
A template organizes the numbers. RenderDraw fills them from the drawings.
RenderDraw proposes fixture, device, panel and feeder quantities from electrical drawings, keeps the source sheet on every row, and your estimator approves them before your labor units are applied.
- Source on every row. Each proposed quantity keeps the sheet and location it came from.
- Estimator approval before pricing. Your estimator accepts, corrects or rejects proposals; nothing is priced until it is approved.
- Addenda through the same review. Changed sheets go back through takeoff and estimator review.
- Your assemblies, your rates. Approved rows hand off to your assemblies, labor units and pricing inputs.
Electrical bid template, answered.
What should an electrical bid include?
Takeoff quantities by system with material costs and labor units, a labor factor for job conditions, a burdened labor rate, equipment, subcontracts, permits, overhead and profit, plus a proposal listing basis, scope, exclusions and pricing.
Where do electrical labor units come from?
Many contractors start from published labor unit manuals and then adjust them with their own job-cost history. The template's units are placeholders.
What is an electrical proposal form?
The document you send the GC or owner: basis of proposal, scope by system, exclusions, clarifications, pricing and signatures. The Word file is a starting point.
How do I calculate crew weeks?
Adjusted labor hours divided by (crew size × 40). The summary sheet does it for you.
Does this replace estimating software?
For small and mid-size bids a spreadsheet works. On larger jobs the hard part is the counts, which is where takeoff tools help.
Send one plan set. Judge the result yourself.
A focused, no-obligation evaluation on your own drawings. Your sample files remain private while we assess the request.
- Upload one representative plan set (a legible PDF set is the most reliable starting point), plus an addendum if you have one.
- RenderDraw reviews the set and the scope you want tested.
- We follow up with what was extracted, what was flagged for review, and the most useful next step.