How to quote electrical jobs without underpricing labor
In short
Build every electrical quote from a survey-based take-off, a labor rate that recovers overheads and current supplier prices, with exclusions and certification or network fees listed separately. Then apply your margin to the selling price, not the cost.
- Price from a site survey and take-off, never from a phone call and a remembered day rate.
- Set your labor rate from real overheads divided by realistic billable hours.
- Use current supplier prices and include waste, collection time, testing and paperwork.
- List exclusions, certification and DNO or network fees as separate lines.
- Calculate margin on selling price, since markup of the same percentage returns less profit.
A step-by-step method for pricing electrical work from site survey to sent quote, covering take-offs, a labor rate that recovers overheads, current material prices, exclusions, certification costs and the margin you keep.
Pricing an electrical job comes down to six steps: survey the site, build a take-off, cost your labor at a rate that recovers overheads, price materials from current supplier lists, list exclusions and third-party fees separately, then add a deliberate margin and send. The costs electricians most often leave out are overheads, travel and supplier collection time, testing and certification paperwork, waste on materials, and utility network fees such as a UK distribution network operator (DNO) application.
Underpricing rarely happens because the electrician cannot add up. It happens because the quote was built from a phone call, a remembered day rate and last year's material prices. The margin on the quote then bears little relation to the margin left at the end of the job. This guide shows how to build a quote where the margin you price is the margin you keep. For the wider job structure, see what to include in a quote.
Why electrical quotes lose money
Three errors account for most of the shortfall. The first is a labor rate that equals take-home pay with nothing added for the van, insurance, tools, scheme membership, software and accountancy. Total Skills UK puts typical sole-trader electrician overheads at 8,000 to 15,000 pounds a year, which is a large amount to leave out of an hourly rate. The second is stale material pricing, where cable and consumer units are priced from memory rather than a current supplier list. The third is untracked time: travel, collecting materials, testing and paperwork all take hours that never appear as a quote line.
The six steps
Survey the site before you price anything
Visit the property and record what you actually see: the age and condition of the existing installation, cable routes, access, floor and wall construction, the position and rating of the consumer unit or distribution board, and anything that could add time. Photograph the board and the routes. Quoting from a phone call is the fastest way to underprice a job. Where a survey is impossible, quote for the stated scope only and say so in writing.
Build a take-off from the survey
List every point, circuit, accessory, fitting, metre of cable and containment run as a line. Convert each into a quantity and a time allowance. Add a waste allowance to cable and containment, since offcuts and mistakes are real costs. A take-off tied to survey notes is what separates a quote you can defend from a guess, and it becomes your baseline for comparing actual hours later.
Cost your labor rate from your real overheads
Add your annual overheads to the pre-tax earnings you need, then divide by realistic billable hours, not hours worked. Subtract leave, surveys, admin and travel before dividing. Total Skills UK suggests dividing overheads over roughly 220 to 230 billable days for a sole trader. The result is your cost rate. Never copy a rate from a price guide, because published rates describe what customers may be charged, not what your business needs to recover.
Price materials from current supplier lists
Use your wholesaler's current trade price, in the actual selling unit, with the price date noted. Price the take-off quantities including waste, and count collection or delivery time once. Check lead times on anything specialist, such as luminaires or control gear. If a price is more than a few weeks old, confirm it. Copper cable and breaker prices move, and a stale line on a large job can erase your whole margin.
List exclusions and third-party costs separately
State what is not included: making good after chasing, decoration, asbestos removal, upgrades to earthing or bonding found to be deficient, and customer-supplied fittings. Show certification and testing as their own line. In the UK, show any DNO application or network connection charge separately, because the amount is set by the network operator and not by you. Our guide to DNO connection applications covers how that process works.
Add the margin on selling price and send the quote
Add up labor, materials, travel, testing, overhead allocation and a small risk allowance, then apply your margin deliberately. Divide cost by one minus the margin: a 25 percent margin on 375 in costs is 500, whereas a 25 percent markup is only 468.75. Include a validity period, payment terms and a deposit for larger jobs. Send within a day of the survey, since a fast, clear quote tends to win over a slightly cheaper slow one.
Margin versus markup
Markup is profit divided by cost, and margin is profit divided by selling price. They are different numbers, and mixing them up quietly shaves several points off every job. In the Tradehand worked example, the same 375 in costs sells at 500 with a 25 percent margin but only 468.75 with a 25 percent markup. Choose one method and use it on every quote.
Overheads counted twice or not at all
Keep job-specific costs such as materials and subcontract work out of your overhead rate. Otherwise you double count them in one place and miss them in another. Write down your allocation basis once and reuse it.
Showing options with tiered pricing
Many customers respond better to a choice. A basic, standard and premium option, such as RCBO protection throughout, surge protection or additional circuits, lets them select scope instead of negotiating your rate. Build each option from the same take-off so the margin is consistent. Zigaflow's tiered quotes feature handles this in one document, and the quotes feature keeps the cost lines and margin visible while you build.
Keeping the margin after the customer says yes
An accepted quote should become a job with the take-off attached. Converting it into a job keeps the priced scope next to timesheets and costs, so you can compare estimated and actual hours. Raising purchase orders from the take-off fixes the quantities and supplier prices you quoted against. If a customer asks for a third socket, price it as a separate variation and get approval before the work. Actual overruns do not become an extra invoice line, so record them and adjust the next quote.
Consistent presentation also matters. Standard document templates keep exclusions, validity and certification wording identical on every quote, so nothing gets dropped under time pressure. Electrical businesses working on lighting and commercial installation can see how this fits in the lighting and electrical industry page.
Quote review checklist
Before you send, check each of these:
- Is every line traceable to a survey note or photograph?
- Does the labor rate recover overheads and your pre-tax target?
- Are material prices current, with waste included?
- Are travel, collection, testing and paperwork time priced?
- Are exclusions, certification and any DNO fees listed separately?
- Is the margin calculated on selling price?
Review actual against estimate
After every job, compare actual hours and material costs with the take-off. Two or three reviews will show which tasks you consistently underestimate, usually testing, access and collection time.
Sources
- How to Quote Electrical Jobs: Pricing Guide for ElectriciansTotal Skills UK · accessed 2026-10-18
- Electrician job pricing: build a quote from your real costsTradehand · accessed 2026-10-18