Electrical contractor software built around projects
Electrical work on builds and renos runs on accurate bids, permit-driven schedules, and tight cost control. BuildersBridge gives electricians AI estimates, job costing, and a client portal so projects are quoted right and tracked to completion.
The challenge
Electrical contractors bid fixed-price work against drawings, then live or die on how well actual labour and material match the estimate. Permit and inspection milestones add scheduling pressure that a spreadsheet can't hold.
How BuildersBridge helps electrical contractors
- AI estimates for panel, rough-in, and finish scopes
- Job costing so fixed-price bids hold their margin
- Phase scheduling around permit and inspection milestones
- Client portal for approvals, change orders, and progress
How an electrical bid is usually built
Electrical estimating is device-count work before it is anything else. The structure below is typical for a residential rough-in; the quantities and rates are illustrative and exist to show the shape, not to suggest what to charge.
- Service and panel — supply, main breaker, grounding, permit
- Device count — receptacles, switches, dimmers, each with a rough-in and a trim stage
- Lighting — fixtures supplied by owner or by you, which changes the line entirely
- Home runs and circuits — by the metre, by cable type and gauge
- Low voltage — data, doorbell, security rough-in if it is in scope
- Panel schedule and inspection attendance
- Trim-out — a separate visit after drywall and paint
Owner-supplied fixtures are where bids go wrong
A fixture the homeowner buys is not a fixture you priced. It arrives late, it arrives wrong, or it arrives without the parts, and the labour to deal with that lands on you. The bid needs to say which fixtures are supplied by whom and what happens when a supplied item does not fit.
That is an exclusion, and an exclusion is only worth anything if it is written down before the job starts. It belongs on the bid, not in a conversation.
Two visits, one job
Electrical work on a build is split by other trades: rough-in before insulation and drywall, trim-out after paint. Between those two visits somebody else controls the schedule, and your crew is somewhere else.
Scheduling that shows both visits against the same job, with the gap visible, is the difference between a trim-out that happens on time and one that happens when the GC calls twice.
Worked example: a basement electrical bid with an allowance and a change
A fictional Ontario basement, priced from a typed scope. The lines and rates are illustrative and show how the bid is structured, not what to charge or how to wire it; that stays with a licensed electrician and the local code.
| Line | Type | Qty | Unit cost | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basement rough-in: circuits, boxes, cable | Labour | 28 h | $95.00 | $2,660.00 |
| Rough-in material | Material | 1 lot | $1,650.00 | $1,650.00 |
| Trim-out: devices and fixture install | Labour | 12 h | $95.00 | $1,140.00 |
| Devices and plates | Material | 1 lot | $380.00 | $380.00 |
| Light fixtures (allowance) | Other | 1 allowance | $1,200.00 | $1,200.00 |
| Permit and inspection | Other | 1 ea | $320.00 | $320.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cost | $7,350.00 |
| Pre-tax price at 20% markup | $8,820.00 |
| HST 13% (Ontario) | $1,146.60 |
| Change order: four added pot lights, approved | $1,240.00 |
| Revised contract, pre-tax | $10,060.00 |
The fixture allowance is a line the client can see, so a fixture that costs more than $1,200 is a priced change rather than an argument. The added pot lights go to the client as a change order, and once approved the revised contract is what you bill against. Quantities are typed or counted by you: BuildersBridge does not read drawings.
What it does today, and what it does not
- Not yet builtBlueprint reading and automatic takeoff are on the roadmap, not in the product. Device counts and runs come from you.
- Works todayLine-item bids with allowances, markup and provincial or state tax; change orders the client approves in the portal.
- You do thisCode compliance, load calculations and wiring decisions stay with your licensed electrician; the software prices the work, it does not design it.
- Plan limitLabour hours from timesheets reach job cost on the Pro and Enterprise plans, where time tracking is included. On Team and Growth, labour cost comes in through bills or is tracked outside the app.
Frequently asked questions
- What is electrical contractor software?
- It's software that helps electrical contractors manage leads, estimate projects, schedule work around inspections, track job costs, and invoice — for construction and renovation projects rather than one-off service calls.
- Does it help control job costs?
- Yes. Labour, material, and subcontractor costs roll up against each job's budget, so you catch an over-running fixed-price bid before it's finished.
- Can clients approve change orders?
- Yes. Change orders are sent to the client's portal for approval and, once approved, are added to the revised contract you bill against. The cost budget stays yours to adjust, so raise it when the change adds work.
- Does it do electrical takeoff from drawings?
- No. Blueprint reading and automatic takeoff are on the public roadmap, not in the product. Device counts, runs and quantities are typed or counted by you, and Bridge AI can draft the lines from a written scope for you to check.
Built for your trade, priced for your shop
Flat pricing, AI included, 14-day free trial — no sales call required. No charge until your trial ends.