Electrical work in multi-unit commercial buildings can be a challenge for electrical contractors. These builds usually involve hundreds of identical or near-identical units. Estimators who price each unit one at a time may waste hours of valuable time and increase the risk of errors. But savvy electrical contractors use typicals and breakouts to work smarter, not harder.
In this blog we’ll define some key terminology and walk you through how to apply typicals and breakouts for time savings in your electrical estimating for multi-unit buildings.
If you’re breaking into commercial electrical work, or even if you have been bidding on commercial electrical jobs for a while, you may want to improve your ability to bid on multi-unit jobs. Commercial multi-unit projects are defined by scale and repetition. For example: a 12-story hotel may have as many as 200 guest rooms that are nearly identical. If you built your estimate for a hotel one room at a time, it would be extremely time consuming, and the number of rooms would increase your risk for errors. The key to a faster, more accurate estimate is identifying the elements that repeat and the elements that are unique and build around that structure.
A “typical” is a standard unit in a multi-unit building that represents a group of identical or very similar units. In our hotel example, a typical might be a standard guest room. This standard guest room has the same outlets, lighting, HVAC connections, and fixtures. And this typical repeats on floor after floor. Once you estimate the typical, just multiply it by the number of matching units. Using typicals in your electrical estimating can cut your total bidding time dramatically when you’re estimating multi-unit buildings.
However, not every unit is truly identical. This is where you will use breakouts.
Breakouts allow you to assign each hotel room type to their own breakout. Any unit or area that is different can each be assigned its own breakout. This allows you to create separate estimates for each breakout. It also allows you to apply a multiplier to the breakouts that are typical (more than one). Other breakout examples would be a room on the penthouse floor, the hotel lobby, kitchen, and mechanical rooms.
When estimating multi-unit buildings, the best practice is to carefully review the plans and identify every room or areas that falls outside of the typical before you start estimating. This practice should be a part of your overall practice of checking your estimate for missed scope.
An alternate is a separate price, which you can add or deduct for a change in scope that must be reviewed and okayed by the owner or the GC. In our hotel example, your bid may cover standard lighting throughout the bid, and you may also submit alternate prices for LED upgrades in the common areas of the build. The purpose of providing alternate options is to let owners compare options without requiring a full re-estimate.
An alternate can include adding additional work as well as subtracting work depending on what the owner or GC wants to see.
The best practice for electrical estimators is to clearly separate alternates from the base scope, so you don’t present a bid with an inflated number.
Here’s our five step plan for using typicals to speed up your bidding.
Pro tip: Label your bid clearly so the GC or owner can see the breakdown at a glance. This builds trust and makes scope changes easier to identify later.
Always read the specifications as they often call out rooms that are to be estimated separately. If you have any questions about the plans, speak with the GC before you bid, not after. Getting clarity on the plans is absolutely necessary. Don’t assume symmetry. Even if floors two through ten look the same, they may have some differences. Check for mechanical floors or transfer levels. Clearly document your breakout list so the project manager has it in hand when the job starts.
High quality electrical estimating software [DD1] allows you to create a solid estimating workflow for multi-unit buildings. Software will also help you with breakouts as you can easily adjust multipliers for breakouts without taking off every unit of a typical. Additionally, you can price your alternates in a separate section of your bid, so it’s clear and organized for the owner or GC.
Using electrical estimating software like Electrical Bid Manager helps you create bids faster with fewer errors. Software also helps organize a cleaner proposal that’s easy for the GC to review.
Electrical estimating for multi-unit buildings doesn't have to be overwhelming. After you understand how to use typicals, breakouts, and alternates, the process becomes much more manageable even on large commercial projects like hotels or apartment complexes.
The system is straightforward: estimate one typical unit well, multiply it across matching units, and handle every exception as its own breakout. Keep your alternates clean and separate. Label everything clearly. The result is a faster, more accurate bid that's easier for the GC to review and easier for your team to build from.
If you want to speed up the process even further, electrical estimating software like Electrical Bid Manager lets you build a typical unit once and duplicate it in seconds, price breakouts without starting over, and keep alternates neatly separated from your base bid. Download a free demo and see how it works for your next multi-unit project.