Security & low voltage
Security Job Cost Calculator
Costs a security job, where cable and connectors are the material line people forget.
Result
Travel time is counted because it is paid and it occupies the day, whether or not the customer sees it on the invoice. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Direct cost from burdened labour hours, equipment, and the consumables that go with cabling. The equipment list is easy to get right because it is a bill of materials. The consumables are less so: cable by the foot, connectors, boxes, conduit and trunking where surface runs are needed, fasteners, firestopping where penetrations go through rated assemblies, and labels. Individually small, collectively a real line on a job with many runs.
What moves the number
- Cable footage, which on a large building exceeds expectations.
- Connectors, boxes and terminations, one set per device.
- Firestopping materials where runs pass through rated assemblies.
- Trunking or conduit where concealed routes are not available.
Where this one goes wrong
Firestopping is both a material cost and a compliance requirement. Cable passing through a fire-rated wall or floor has to have the penetration properly sealed with a listed system, and leaving an open hole defeats the rating of the assembly, which is exactly what an inspection looks for in a commercial building. It is cheap to do and consequential to skip. On cable, estimate footage from the actual routes rather than straight-line distances, since real runs go up, along and down and the difference across a building is substantial.
Before you quote
- Estimate cable from actual routes, not straight-line distances.
- Include listed firestopping for penetrations through rated assemblies.
- Count terminations and boxes per device rather than as a lump.
Questions
About this calculator
What material costs get missed on security jobs?
Cable footage and the consumables with it: connectors, boxes, terminations, fasteners, trunking where concealment is not possible, and firestopping. Individually small, and on a job with many runs they add to a real line that a bill of materials listing only devices misses.
Does cable through a wall need firestopping?
Through a fire-rated wall or floor, yes, with a listed firestop system. An unsealed penetration defeats the assembly's rating, which is what an inspection checks in a commercial building. It is inexpensive to do properly and a genuine deficiency to leave open.
How do I estimate cable footage?
From the actual route rather than the straight-line distance, because real runs go up to a ceiling, along to a riser and down to the device. Across a building that difference is substantial, and underestimating it is a common reason a job runs short of material mid-install.
The formula
cost = (job hours + travel) x crew x wage x (1 + burden%) + materials + overhead per hour
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How to use this calculator
- Labour hours (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 8 h.
- People on the job. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 3.
- Hourly wage ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $26.
- Labour burden (%). Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training. On top of the wage.
- Materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $900.
- Travel hours (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 0.75 h.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to true job cost, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Labour hours | 8 h |
| People on the job | 3 |
| Hourly wage | $26 |
| Labour burden | 28% |
| Materials | $900 |
| Travel hours | 0.75 h |
| Overhead per working hour | $22 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| True job cost main result | $2,351 |
| Labour including burden | $873.60 |
| Overhead absorbed | $577.50 |
| Cost per labour hour | $89.57 |
The job costs $2,351: $873.60 of burdened labour, $900 of materials and $577.50 of overhead. Anything you charge below that loses money.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly wage, this is what happens to true job cost. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly wage ($) | True job cost |
|---|---|
| $13 | $1,914 |
| $19.5 | $2,133 |
| $26 example above | $2,351 |
| $39 | $2,788 |
| $52 | $3,225 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour hours (h)
- Measured in h, starting at 8 h.
- People on the job
- A number, between 0 and 30, starting at 3.
- Hourly wage ($)
- A money amount, starting at $26.
- Labour burden (%)
- Payroll tax, insurance, holiday, training. On top of the wage.
- Materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $900.
- Travel hours (h)
- Measured in h, starting at 0.75 h.
- Overhead per working hour ($)
- Annual overhead divided by billable hours.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| True job cost | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour including burden | A money figure. |
| Overhead absorbed | A money figure. |
| Cost per labour hour | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.