2006 National Electrical Estimator

RandyMc

Has anyone used this, 2006 National Electrical Estimator book with software? It has man hours for everything, all you need to do is make material list and input in to program. Tried to use it on residential job but found was to time consuming when I can just guesstimate and get close. But this may be good to use on commercial job for better estimate. Just wondered if anyone has used and what they thought?
Thanks for any input.

mdshunk

Yep, I've been using it since the late 90's. It formulated the basis of my own Frankenstein estimating system that I use now, but I still refer to it quite frequently for labor units. For actual material pricing, I quit using it. I refer to www.electricalreference.com for material pricing and specs.

Yes, National is best for commercial work where you've done a takeoff. If you managed to somehow formulate a residential estimate from it, nobody would ever want to pay that bill. I'm not even sure it's got all the tasks for resi work.

macmikeman

Md, that is a terrific link you provided. Thank you much

RandyMc

I have been looking over the site and can't figure out what these prices are for. There is a list price and col 3 price, but no explaination for either. Are these prices installed? With mark-up, some prices seem way high. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

mdshunk

There used to be column 1, 2, and 3 prices in most manufactures catalogs. Column 3 is pretty much the manufacturers suggested retail price. "Column 3 pricing" is kinda the defacto published price, to which you need to plug in your discount factor multiplier. For instance, you might only pay .40 of Square D's column 3 price.

There are other pricing schedules. You have the traditional column 1, column 2, or column 3 price codes. Plus, L = List Price, T1 = Trade Price Column 1, T2 = Trade Price Column 2, T3 = Trade Price Column 3, and C = Published Distributor Cost.