Updated October 21, 2026
When electricians search how to price electrical work, they usually want to know which method to use. The answer depends on the job: service calls work best as flat rates, new work and remodels as per-device pricing, and panel upgrades or EV chargers as small projects with a materials takeoff.
Quick answer: Start with a labor rate built from your overhead and billable hours. Use a per-device (per-opening) price for outlets, switches and fixtures on new work, flat rates for common service repairs, and a takeoff plus labor hours for panel upgrades, sub-panels and EV chargers. Always price the permit and inspection visit as their own line.
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| Method | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Flat rate (task pricing) | Service calls: replace a breaker, add a GFCI, swap a fixture | Old wiring and surprises; build a diagnostic fee in |
| Per device or per opening | New construction, basements, additions, remodels | Long home runs, high ceilings and finished walls cost more per opening |
| Takeoff plus labor hours | Panel upgrades, service changes, EV chargers, sub-panels | Utility coordination and inspection wait time |
Total a year of overhead (vans, insurance, licensing and continuing education, tools, software, marketing, office help) and divide it by the hours your electricians actually bill. Add burdened wage per hour, then divide by one minus your profit target. Example with assumptions: $130,000 overhead over 2,600 billable hours is $50 per hour; add $48 burdened journeyman cost and you are at $98; divide by 0.8 for a 20% net and the billable rate is about $122.50.
Per-device pricing is quick to quote and easy for a builder or homeowner to understand. The trick is deriving it from labor time and material, then adjusting by job type.
| Device (basement finish, open studs) | Labor | Material | Price per device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receptacle, standard | 0.35 h × $122.50 = $42.88 | $9 box, device, wire share | $52 |
| Switch, single-pole | 0.30 h = $36.75 | $8 | $45 |
| Recessed light (LED wafer) | 0.45 h = $55.13 | $24 fixture at your margin | $79 |
| Dedicated 20A circuit (home run) | 1.5 h = $183.75 | $45 breaker and wire | $229 |
Assumed times and costs for illustration; time your own crew on similar work.
A basement with 18 receptacles, 6 switches, 12 recessed lights and 2 dedicated circuits prices out to $936 + $270 + $948 + $458 = $2,612, plus permit and the inspection trip. For finished walls (old work), multiply the labor portion by a factor you set from your own fishing times; many shops use something between 1.5 and 2.
These are small projects. Do a takeoff: panel or breakers, meter base if needed, grounding and bonding, wire by the foot, conduit and fittings. Add labor hours by phase (rough, utility disconnect and reconnect, trim, inspection). Then add the costs people forget: the permit, waiting on the utility, a second trip if the inspector cannot make your window, and patching if you open drywall.
For an EV charger, the distance from the panel and whether the panel has capacity drive everything. Ask for a photo of the panel label and the route before quoting, and state clearly that a load calculation may change the scope.
Do not give a firm price on troubleshooting an intermittent fault over the phone. Quote the diagnostic, then the repair. Knob-and-tube, aluminum branch wiring and anything that may need a service change should be priced only after someone has seen it.
Per-device numbers drift. Copper and fixture prices move, and crews get faster or slower on certain work. Once a quarter, pick three finished jobs priced per device, compare the estimated labor hours with the hours on the timesheets, and adjust the device times that are off. Do the same with material: check a recent supply-house invoice against the material allowance in each device price. Small corrections each quarter are far easier than discovering in December that basements have been losing money all year.
An electrician on a ladder in someone's kitchen cannot type up the next quote, so it goes out tonight or tomorrow, often after the customer already booked someone else. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager you talk to between jobs: "Quote the Greene basement at 18 receptacles, 6 switches, 12 cans," and it builds the quote from your prices and sends it, then follows up. It checks with you before anything that spends money. See what it does for electricians, or run the calculator to see the hours of quoting and invoicing it would turn into minutes of talking.
Per device (per opening) works well for new work and remodels because it is fast to quote and easy to compare. Derive each device price from your labor time and material, and adjust for old work. Use hourly or a diagnostic fee for troubleshooting.
Do a takeoff of the panel, breakers, grounding, wire and conduit, add labor hours for each phase, then add the permit, utility coordination and inspection trips. Price it after seeing the existing service.
The method is the calculator: overhead per billable hour plus burdened labor, divided by one minus your profit target, gives your rate; per-device prices are time times rate plus material. The tables in this guide show the math with stated assumptions.
Home service businesses answer only about half their calls (Invoca, July 2026), and owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin. Knowing what to do is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the quotes nobody chases and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for electricians that you run by voice from your phone:
Sources: Invoca, July 2026 (52% of home-service calls answered by a person, 60M+ calls); admin hours: Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026.
Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice from your phone. Leave your mobile number and the AI Office Manager calls you right away, the same way it would call back one of your customers. That call is the demo: it answers, books you a 15-minute time with the founder and follows up.
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