ElectricalBossPro Blog — Estimates & Quotes

The Site Walkthrough: Gathering What You Need for an Accurate Electrician Estimate

Bigger electrical quotes usually start with a walkthrough. Somebody drives over, looks at the panel, walks the house and talks with the homeowner. What that person writes down decides how good the estimate is, and how many surprises the install crew finds later. A walkthrough is not the time for technical shortcuts. It is the time to capture everything once, in a place where the estimate and the job can both use it.

New Houses Need What Repeat Houses Already Have

Repeat customers, covered in Quoting Repeat Customers With the House's Equipment and History in Front of You, come with history already on the house. A new customer's house starts blank. The walkthrough is how you fill it in, and the better you fill it in the first time, the easier every later quote becomes.

Measurements

Start with the numbers that drive pricing. In ElectricalBossPro, each property can keep its square feet, fixtures and circuits. On a walkthrough:

• Confirm the square footage, especially for rewire quotes priced per square foot.
• Count fixtures in the areas the job covers, for lighting priced per fixture.
• Note the circuits involved, for circuit work priced per circuit.

Put the numbers on the property. If the homeowner told you a figure on the request form and it turns out different, correct it. How those numbers price your services is covered in Square Feet, Fixtures and Circuits: Using Property Measurements to Price Electrical Estimates.

Equipment

Next, record the equipment you see. The main panel is the big one: brand, model number, rating in amps, single or three phase, the year if you can tell, and where it is. Add subpanels, the meter base, any generator and transfer switch, an existing EV charger, a surge protector, a pool or spa panel, a solar inverter or battery storage if the house has them.

You do not need every field on every item. Brand, model, rating and location go a long way. A tech on a later job can add the serial number. What matters is that the equipment is written down on the house instead of in a notebook.

Access Notes

Then write what the install crew will need to know to get to the work. Where is the panel, and what is in front of it? “Panel is behind the shelving in the garage” saves the crew ten minutes of moving boxes. Is there a gate? A dog? A tenant who needs a call ahead? Is the attic easy to get into or through a closet ceiling?

Access notes saved on the property show up on the tech's job card every time that address is on the schedule.

What the Homeowner Wants

The walkthrough is also a conversation. Ask what the homeowner is trying to solve and what else is on their list. A homeowner asking for a panel upgrade may also be thinking about a charger next year. A homeowner wanting recessed lighting in the living room might want it in the kitchen too. Writing those down lets you offer clear options as separate lines on the estimate, and lets the office follow up later about the things they decided to wait on.

Keep any advice you give in the walkthrough general and leave technical explanations to the electrician doing the work, if that is not you.

Photos and Notes for the Install Crew

The person who walks the house is not always the person who does the job. Notes written on the estimate travel with it, and when the estimate is approved and becomes the job, the install crew reads them on the job card. Write the things that would otherwise surprise them: finished ceilings, plaster walls, a tight crawlspace, a homeowner who works from home and needs the power back by noon.

On install day, the tech takes before-and-after photos in the tech app, which stay with the job.

From Walkthrough to Estimate

With measurements, equipment and notes captured, the estimate goes quickly. Start from a template if you quote this kind of job often, pick lines from your service list, let the measurements price the per-unit services, fill in the new equipment going in, and send it for online approval. Often you can send it the same evening.

Even if the homeowner does not approve, the walkthrough was not wasted. The house is now on file, with measurements and equipment, and the next call from that customer starts with real information.

Capture Once, Use Everywhere

A good walkthrough fills in the property record that every estimate, job and inspection at the address will use. For more on quoting in ElectricalBossPro, visit the ElectricalBossPro electrical estimate software page.