mike holt has an estimating program that i purchased when i first started. it covers commercial and residential and gives sample plans. his method uses labor units and material unit costs. it is somewhat involved but once you grasp the concept it takes only a few hours to do a 2000 sq ft home. i am speaking of the text book lesson, he carries a computer pgm. but thats a bit costly for my one man band. i was able to make up my own small program using excel. it's worth looking in to. you will have to adjust the $$$ amounts (per/hr rate, overhead) for your particular area. once the cost is figured then devide by the sq ft and see how close you are. i have had to lower my cost just to get jobs in this area because the builder has a pre-set cost for the electrical and it is usually so low you can't make any money but you stay busy. the going cost around here if figuring by sq ft method is $2 to $2.30. hopes this helps. good luck! ken m
p.s. holt also provides a video of the pgm.
