Bidfident for electrical contractors
Estimating software for electricians
Pricing electrical work in Bidfident starts with the units you already count: metres of conduit and wire, and each receptacle, fixture and panel. Every line carries your electrician's hours per unit and the material with its waste. The scissor lift is charged only for the hours it runs, fire alarm quotes sit side by side, and the foreman follows the job's weeks.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.
Sound familiar?
Wire waste added as a guess
In a spreadsheet the extra for offcuts and pulls is often a lump added at the bottom, or forgotten. In Bidfident each line of conduit or wire carries its own waste percentage, so the material is right line by line.
The lift priced for every crew hour
Fixtures go up off a scissor lift, but the lift isn't in use for every hour of the install. In Bidfident the lift on a line can have its own hours per unit, so it's charged for the time it's used.
Fire alarm quotes in three emails
The fire alarm sub sends a quote, then a revised one, and the old number stays in the spreadsheet. In Bidfident each subtrade's bids sit side by side, the lowest is flagged, and you carry the one you pick.
How Bidfident fits your work
Metres of conduit, devices each
Price conduit and wire by the metre, and receptacles, troffers and panels each. Every line takes a quantity, the electrician's hours per unit, a material price with a waste percentage, and equipment by the hour. Copy and paste, fill down and undo work like Excel.
A higher rate for the panel work
Setting and terminating a panel may need your most senior electrician. Give that line its own rate and it's marked in purple, while the rest of the job stays on the electrician's library rate.
The scissor lift for the hours it runs
Give the lift on the fixture line its own hours per unit, say half an hour for each troffer, and it's charged for that time, not for every hour the crew spends on the line.
Fire alarm bids side by side
Enter each fire alarm or low-voltage bid, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick. Waiting on quotes? Carry a plug amount until they arrive.
Your devices and fixtures, found as you type
Keep receptacles, fixtures, wire and conduit in the company library with their prices and hours per unit. Type a description and the line picker finds them, or an assembly that fills a whole line at once.
Supervision that follows the schedule
A part-time foreman by the week follows the job duration, so a 10-week job that grows to 12 picks up two more weeks. Temporary power and lighting can go in as a lump sum.
Worked example: electrical for a two-storey office fit-up
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 36 lines of your own work, 4 subtrades and 6 overhead items over a 10-week job. The 5 lines this page talks about are listed one by one, and the rest are added up in one row. It's the same job you can open as an example project in Bidfident, so every figure below matches it.
To open this job in Bidfident: sign in and set up your company in Canada, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Trade contractors" and "Electrical" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Panelboard, 225 A, 2 ea
| $10,388.00 |
3/4 in. EMT conduit, surface run, 420 m
| $10,429.65 |
No. 12 copper wire, pulled, 1,300 m
| $3,480.75 |
Duplex receptacles, 64 ea
| $3,750.40 |
LED troffers, 2 x 4 ft, 48 ea
| $13,766.40 |
31 more lines of your own work
| $161,211.17 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Fire alarm
| $16,950.00 |
Access control and security
| $13,880.00 |
Core drilling and concrete scanning
| $3,150.00 |
Utility service upgrade, allowance
| $4,500.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Site supervision, part-time foreman
| $14,500.00 |
Project manager, part time
| $6,000.00 |
Temporary power and lighting
| $2,400.00 |
Small tools and consumables
| $1,850.00 |
Safety orientation and PPE
| $850.00 |
Electrical permit and inspection fees
| $2,860.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $203,026.37 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $15,390.00 |
| Subtrades | $38,480.00 |
Overhead
| $28,460.00 |
Direct cost
| $269,966.37 |
Contingency
| $8,098.99 |
Fee
| $27,806.54 |
| Subtotal before bonding | $305,871.90 |
Bonding
| $3,058.72 |
Insurance
| $1,529.36 |
Bid total
| $310,459.98 |
GST, for reference
| $15,523.00 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price conduit by the metre and devices each?
Yes. Units are free text, so m, lf, ea and LS all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can the panel work carry a different rate from the rest of the job?
Yes. Give that line its own rate. It's marked in purple so anyone checking the estimate can see it.
Can I keep journeyman and apprentice rates apart?
Yes. Set a rate per trade in the library, such as Journeyman and Apprentice, and give each line the trade that does the work. Type a new trade in the Trade cell to add it with its rate.
Can I see the wiring and devices floor by floor?
Yes. Tag each conduit, wire and device line with an area or location, such as level 1 and level 2, and group the sheet by it with a subtotal for each.
Does it count devices from the drawings?
No. Bidfident doesn't read quantities from drawings or plans. Type your counts in, or paste them into the sheet from a spreadsheet.
If the electricians' rate goes up, does a bid I've sent change?
No. A submitted bid keeps the labour and equipment rates it was priced with, so a new electrician or scissor lift rate in your library doesn't move a price you've already sent.
Does Bidfident work with Claude or ChatGPT?
Not yet, but it's coming. You'll be able to connect Bidfident to your own Claude or ChatGPT account and ask about your estimates in plain English. The answers will come from Bidfident's own figures, so they match the estimate. It will use the account you already have: Claude first, ChatGPT to follow.
Price your next electrical bid in Bidfident
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.