What should electrical general conditions include?
Every job cost that isn't installed work: supervision, vehicles, small tools and consumables, temporary facilities, lifts and hoisting, permits and inspections, testing, closeout documents, cleanup, and travel. Price them from the schedule, because most of them cost money for every week you're on site, and read Division 1 for the ones the specs add.
Supervision: the non-working foreman's time, project management, and the time to coordinate with other trades.
Vehicles and fuel for the time on site.
Small tools and consumables, often as a percentage of labor.
Temporary facilities: a site trailer or storage container, if you need them.
Lifts and hoisting: scissor lifts, boom lifts and any crane time, for the weeks you'll need them.
Permits and inspection fees, unless the documents say someone else pays.
Testing and commissioning time, and any third-party testing the specs require.
Closeout: record drawings, O&M manuals, training sessions and spare materials.
Cleanup and waste removal, if your trade carries its own.
Travel, parking and accommodation, if the job is out of town.
Price them from the schedule
Most general conditions are time-based: a foreman, a truck or a lift costs money every week you're on site, whether you're installing or waiting. Take the duration from the bid documents or the GC's schedule, and say in your clarifications what duration your price assumes.
Questions estimators ask
Should general conditions be a percentage of the job?
A percentage is a quick check, but it hides the items that change with the schedule. Price them line by line from the duration, then compare with your usual percentage.
What happens if the job runs long?
Time-based general conditions grow with it. That's why your proposal should state the duration you priced, so extra time caused by others can be claimed.
How does Bidprobe help?
The review reads the Division 0 and 1 requirements with the rest of the package, and flags the ones that cost money, such as wage requirements, each tied to the page it came from.
Find the Division 1 costs before you price.
One free bid check on every new account, no card required. Most checks come back in 5 to 15 minutes.