After 7 years of electrical contracting I have switched to 100% commercial fire alarm. It was pretty easy to figure out the margins since I knew the costs... Not bad and better than electrical. Where I am a masters/electrical contractors licence is required for installs by the state e-board.
However, some local jurisdictions are starting to require NICET certification for installs. I sell the systems by bidding to electrical contractors and more often than not I am selling "Parts and Smarts". In other words I hire an engineer to draw and stamp the drawings. Then I provide the electrical contractor with the parts, final connections and panel programming. In my area at least I can be very competitive and still make better money with much less over head and fewer project/employee problems than I could as an electrical only contractor.
