Division 26 | 27 | 28 Estimating
Electrical • Communications • Safety & Security
Let’s Be Honest… Every dollar lost on site started with a missed line in the bid.
Contractors lose time, effort, and money doing takeoffs on jobs that are either too big for their budget window or too small to justify the pursuit.
IntelCost filters that out early, so you only spend time on projects that actually make financial sense.
Get Your Pre-Bid Plans Review For Free So You can start bidding with confidence
What Most Estimators Miss — We Don’t
Underbidding is the most expensive mistake you can make.
A major life-safety system with real cost—air terminals, conductors, grounding, surge protection. It’s almost never shown in early plans, yet required in most U.S. buildings. IntelCost knows to carry it so you don’t get blindsided later.
A building-wide antenna network for indoor signal coverage. Expensive and usually missing from design-phase drawings, even though it’s needed in nearly all large buildings. IntelCost flags and prices it before it hits your budget.
Public-safety radio booster required by fire code in about 95% of buildings. Always costly, rarely shown early. IntelCost identifies this scope upfront so it’s included—not eating your profit later.
Electrician-Level Thinking.
Estimator-Level Precision.
We dig into specs, scope boundaries, and system intent before
estimating.
You get smarter bids, fewer surprises, and stronger margins.
We help you decide fast if a job is worth chasing
Let us help you Decide if its worth bidding
Before You Bid, We Find the Truth in Your Plans.:
✅ Know whether to bid or skip before committing to a full takeoff.
Detailed Estimate (When You’re Ready to Bid)
When you greenlight a project, we build the complete Division 26 | 27 | 28 estimate from the ground up.
Once you’re confident to bid, we build your complete estimate:
Each line item is verified from current drawings and priced using regional labor, wage type, and shift conditions.
Stop Lead-Time Surprises Before They Kill Your Schedule
Long-lead items can wreck a schedule. We surface them upfront so you can release gear early, secure alternates, and
coordinate POs without scrambling.
That’s how Intelcost® saves you from delays, change orders, and costly downtime.
Everything You Need in Your
Proposal to Stay Protected
Every IntelCost® estimate includes a professional proposal document with:
✅ Inclusions & Exclusions
✅ Clarifications & Assumptions
✅ Spec References & Scope Boundaries
That’s your defense against scope disputes, change orders, and legal exposure.
You’re covered before you even pull wire.
Real Labor Costs…
Not Spreadsheet Guesses
We calculate true labor for Union, Non-Union, Open Shop, Prevailing
Wage, and Private projects.
Then we adjust for region, crew type, weather, and shift timing.
Your numbers reflect the field, not a formula.
So Why Contractors Trust Intelcost®
IntelCost gives contractors the accuracy they
need to bid confidently and keep their profit
margins intact.
On a medical office project, the mechanical equipment schedule listed VFDs, humidifiers, boilers, pumps, and RTUs but the electrical drawings did not show:
• Power requirements for several units
• Disconnect locations
• Control wiring pathways
• VFD starter packages
• Interlocks and BAS integration
What we flagged:
IntelCost caught the missing equipment loads, starter packages, and control wiring, then matched mechanical schedule to electrical riser.
Result:
Contractor avoided underbidding the coordination and wiring by $35,000 .
A warehouse expansion showed long feeders (450 ft+) but the drawings sized conductors for ampacity only, ignoring voltage drop.
What Intelcost flagged:
• Feeder upsizing (3 runs went from 3/0 to 350 kcmil)
• Increased conduit size and supports
• Additional pulling tension calculations
• Larger gear termination lugs
• Extra labor hours due to cable weight
Result:
Contractor avoided $40,000 extra cost caused by field rework/breakers tripping due to unacceptable voltage drop.
A US Postal Service project in Florida required night shift and prevailing wage, but the drawings DID NOT mention night premiums only found in a spec note.
What IntelCost caught:
• 40 percent night-shift labor premium
• Logistics hours for shutdown windows
• Security escort requirements
• Off-hours energization testing
• Limited delivery windows
Result:
Electrical contractor avoided a $60,000 labor underbid, which would have destroyed profit.
On a warehouse renovation, the GC expected the electrical contractor to provide all temporary power and lighting for demolition and new construction phases. This requirement was buried in general notes, not on electrical sheets.
What we flagged:
• Temporary lighting layout
• Distribution panels, GFCI strings, temp feeders
• Generator allowance
• Fuel/maintenance responsibility
• Removal & cleanup
Result:
We added a complete temporary-power package. Contractor avoided absorbing $25,000 of unclaimed temp-power obligations.
INTELCOST® offers construction estimating services for a wide range of projects, including private, government, and military clients.
TESTIMONIAL
IntelCost has saved us multiple times by catching specification items and coordination issues we would have missed during bid week. Their quantities match field reality, and the pricing breakdowns help us make quick decisions. We’ve won three projects in the last quarter using their estimates. They’ve become part of our preconstruction workflow.
Electrical Contractor — Phoenix, Arizona
“What I like about IntelCost is the consistency. No drama, no excuses, just well-organized electrical takeoffs delivered on time. They flag the unclear details early, which lets us get RFIs out before the rush. It’s been a huge help on tight deadlines and complex renovations.”
Electrical Contractor — Dallas, Texas
We use IntelCost for our overflow estimating. Their work is accurate, easy to plug into our own templates, and they understand how field productivity actually works. They’ve helped us avoid underbidding on a couple of projects where drawings were vague. Good value for the level of detail they provide.
Electrical Contractor — Orlando, Florida
What sets IntelCost apart is they don’t just crank out quantities. Their pre-bid reviews help us figure out which projects are actually worth chasing. On a couple recent bids, they broke down the scope, pointed out hidden costs, and gave us a realistic budget before we burned time putting a full number together. IntelCost has basically become our filter for which bids to go after.”
Electrical Contractor — Columbus, Ohio
Here’s What we Do
Our technical review sets the foundation for accurate budgets and smarter bidding, so you know exactly what you’re pricing before you even start.
We flag them early with clear notes and quantified impacts, giving you full visibility before you commit resources or lock your number.
Our team builds a fast, data-driven budget using real market pricing and labor factors matched to your project’s region, crew type, and shift conditions.
With the risks exposed and numbers validated, you can make a confident go / no-go call. IntelCost® arms you with clarity, not estimates ensuring every decision protects your time, your margin, and your reputation.
We specialize in cost estimation, ensuring your projects are constructed on time and within budget with our accurate and reliable estimating services.
