For fire alarm, low voltage and electrical contractors
Fire alarm and low voltage estimating services
Every detector, horn, strobe, outlet, camera and intercom counted by type, with conduit, cable, boxes and faceplates, priced line by line.
- Devices counted by type
- Divisions 27 and 28
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
What fire alarm and low voltage estimating covers
Fire alarm and low voltage estimating is the takeoff and pricing of a building's signal systems: fire alarm devices and panels, telephone and data outlets, television, security, access control, cameras and intercom, with the conduit, cable, boxes and faceplates that serve them. Every device is counted by type from the plans, and conduit and cable are measured by size. MassBid Estimation prepares fire alarm and low voltage takeoffs and estimates for electrical, fire alarm and low voltage contractors and general contractors, typically in 24 to 48 hours.
- Scope
- Fire alarm, telephone and data, television, security, cameras, access control, intercom, conduit and cable
- CSI division
- 28 Electronic Safety and Security: 28 31 fire alarm. 27 Communications: 27 10 structured cabling
- You send
- Power and systems plans, fire alarm plans and riser, device legends, unit plans, specs and addenda
- You get
- Marked-up plans with every device dotted by type, and a priced workbook by system
- Turnaround
- 24 to 48 hours on most projects
- Checked by
- A separate QA team, twice on every job
- Coverage
- All 50 states, priced to the project's ZIP code
- Quote
- Free, usually back in about 20 minutes
Wednesday · 2:20 PM
Twenty-two device symbols in the legend, eighty-four apartments, and the unit plan shows one of them.
Signal devices are the smallest symbols on an electrical drawing and the most numerous. Smoke detectors, horns, strobes, data outlets and intercoms share the power plans with receptacles and switches, and on an apartment building most of them sit inside units drawn once.
Each device also needs a box, a faceplate, and a length of conduit or cable back to a panel. A count of devices alone is perhaps a third of the price.
Four ways a fire alarm or low voltage bid loses money
01 · The units
Unit devices counted once
A typical unit plan shows the devices for one apartment. The building has dozens of each unit type.
What changes
Devices are counted per unit type and multiplied by the unit count, then added to the corridor and common-area counts.
02 · The types
All detectors and notification devices priced alike
A combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector, a heat detector and a weatherproof horn are different products.
What changes
Each device type in the legend is its own line, with weatherproof versions separate.
03 · The pathway
Conduit, cable and boxes left out
Raceway and cable can cost as much as the devices, and conduit with pull string is often by the electrician for another trade's cable.
What changes
Conduit and cable are measured by size, boxes and faceplates are counted, and who furnishes each is noted.
04 · The scope line
Systems split between trades
Fire alarm, data, security and intercom may be bid by different contractors from the same sheets.
What changes
Each system is kept in its own section by CSI division so it can be included or removed whole.
Then and now
What has changed in fire alarm and low voltage estimating
These systems used to be a small allowance on the electrical bid. Four things have changed that.
More devices per building
Carbon monoxide detection, voice notification and in-unit sounders have multiplied the device count in housing.
Access control and cameras
Card readers, door contacts, intercom entry and cameras are now standard on apartment and commercial buildings.
Structured cabling
Data outlets, television and wireless access points need pathways and cable that have to be measured, not assumed.
Separate specialty bids
Owners often bid these systems apart from power and lighting, so the estimate has to stand on its own.
Real fire alarm and low voltage work
Sample fire alarm and low voltage takeoffs
Pages from one finished job: a four-story apartment building in Pennsylvania of about 48,000 square feet. Client names, addresses and title blocks are removed; the quantities are as delivered. Click any page to enlarge.
Devices by type
Fire alarm and low voltage device takeoff on a floor plan
Protects you fromSignal devices lost among the receptacles.
Common areas
First-floor device takeoff: fire alarm, security and data
Protects you fromThe busiest floor priced like the others.
Unit plans
Device takeoff on typical apartment unit plans
Protects you fromEighty units counted as one.
Priced estimate
Priced fire alarm estimate, device by device
Protects you fromA fire alarm allowance per square foot.
Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, so yours may be laid out differently. To see a past project in your own trade, ask for an example. Examples are finished work for other projects, not an estimate of yours; for pricing on your own job, send the drawings for a free quote.
A real fire alarm estimate
Fire alarm cost breakdown for a four-story apartment building
Group totals from one finished estimate: a four-story apartment building in Pennsylvania of about 48,000 square feet.
Fire alarm trade cost came to $172,970, or $3.60 per square foot. Notification devices were the largest group, and conduit, boxes and faceplates together cost more than all the detectors. Communications on the same building added $151,719, or $3.16 per square foot: telephone, data and TV outlets with conduit, 19 cameras, access control and a 48-station intercom.
Figures are from the delivered estimate, labor plus material before markups, rounded to the dollar, with related lines combined. They are specific to that project and are not a price guide.
Real jobs, not a price list. Each figure comes from one project, priced for its own ZIP code and that client's wages, overhead and profit. Prices change by region and over time. Yours will be priced for your location.
| Item | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Horns and strobes, interior and weatherproof | 331 EA | $46,375 |
| 3/4-inch EMT conduit | 3,636 LF | $37,064 |
| Boxes and faceplates | 566 EA | $33,197 |
| Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors | 173 EA | $28,285 |
| Fire alarm cable and wire | 10,168 LF | $17,395 |
| Motion detectors | 48 EA | $6,161 |
| Control panel, annunciator and pull stations | 16 EA | $4,492 |
| Fire alarm trade cost | $172,970 |
Building somewhere else? See figures from jobs in Texas, California, Florida and other service areas.
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
Fire alarm and security, from a finished job: a restaurant fit-out, 1,375 sq ft in Texas. Open it full screen, scroll through the page and zoom in on any line.
This is one real job, shown as an example. It was built to that client's own specification: their wage rates, labor style, type of pricing, and overhead and profit. Prices also change by region and over time, so yours will be priced for your location.
Want a current sample in your own trade or specialty, or have a question? Use the contact form, email [email protected] or call (832) 356-4237.
Who it is for
Estimating for fire alarm, low voltage and electrical contractors
Fire alarm contractors
Devices by type with conduit and cable, priced in your labor units and format.
MEP estimatingLow voltage and cabling contractors
Outlets, cameras, access control and intercom with their pathways, by system.
Commercial estimatingElectrical contractors
Signal systems separated from power and lighting on the same takeoff.
Electrical estimatingGeneral contractors
Independent Division 27 and 28 numbers to check quotes, or to carry when none comes in.
GC estimating
Systems we take off
- Fire alarm panels and annunciators
- Smoke and heat detectors
- Carbon monoxide detectors
- Horns, strobes and speakers
- Pull stations
- Telephone and data outlets
- Television outlets
- CCTV cameras
- Access control and card readers
- Intercom and entry systems
- Conduit, cable and pull string
- Boxes and faceplates
Pricing data
Where the prices come from
Quantities are priced from our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. The estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that market.
Material prices change from region to region and from month to month, so a price book or a national average is out of date before the bid goes in.
Priced by ZIP code
Current local material prices for the place the job is built, not a national average.
Updated by vendors
Local vendors update their prices in the database as they change.
Labor as you bid it
Union, open shop, or Davis-Bacon and prevailing wage rates with fringes.
How it works
From drawings to a finished estimate
Send the drawings
Power and systems plans, fire alarm plans and riser, the device legends, unit plans, the Division 27 and 28 specifications and addenda.
Free quote
We review the set and reply with a quote and a delivery date, usually within about 20 minutes.
Count, measure, price and two QA reviews
Devices are dotted by type and multiplied by unit counts; conduit and cable are measured by size. A separate QA team checks the counts against the legends, then the priced estimate.
Delivery and revisions
The package typically arrives within 24 to 48 hours. Addenda and revisions are free, with no limit and no time limit, and are handled on priority.
The work is done in-house by more than 20 estimators, typically with 7 to 10 years of industry experience.
What it costs
Fire alarm and low voltage estimating prices
- Single project
- From $199. Simple scopes typically run $100 to $250.
- Larger buildings
- Typically $200 to $500. Large or multi-building projects are quoted individually.
- Monthly plan
- From $1,499 for 10 to 15 projects, for contractors who bid every week.
Every job is quoted individually from the drawings, and the quote is free. See all pricing
After delivery
An editable Excel workbook and free revisions
- Formulas built in
An Excel workbook you can change yourself
The estimate arrives as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change a quantity, a rate or a markup and every total follows. Move overhead and profit from 25% to 30% and the whole bid recalculates on the spot.
- No waiting
Adjust your bid at the last minute
If something changes just before the deadline, you do not have to send the estimate back and wait. Open the workbook, change the number and submit. The control stays with you.
- Priority turnaround
Free revisions, with no limit
Addenda, scope changes and pricing updates are all free, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and typically come back within an hour to a few hours.
Questions
Fire alarm and low voltage estimating FAQ
It is the takeoff and pricing of a building's fire alarm system. The control panel, detectors, horns, strobes and pull stations are counted by type, conduit and cable are measured, boxes and faceplates are added, and labor and material prices are applied.
It is the takeoff and pricing of communications and security systems: telephone and data outlets, television, cameras, access control and intercom, with their conduit, cable, boxes and faceplates. It is usually CSI Division 27 and part of Division 28.
The control panel and annunciator, smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors by type, horns, strobes and pull stations including weatherproof ones, conduit and cable by size, and boxes and faceplates.
Devices are counted on each typical unit plan and multiplied by the number of units of that type, then added to the corridor and common-area counts. One apartment building came to 173 detectors and 331 horns and strobes.
Yes. Conduit and cable are measured by size from the plans and riser. On one building, 3,636 ft of conduit and 566 boxes with faceplates cost more than all the detectors.
No. We count and price what the drawings and specification show. Where the fire alarm is delegated design with no devices drawn, that is noted and an allowance is carried if requested.
It depends on the building and code requirements. On one four-story apartment building we estimated, fire alarm was $3.60 per square foot and communications $3.16, before markups.
Yes. This page shows a full sample from a finished job (fire alarm and security, for a restaurant fit-out, 1,375 sq ft in Texas), which you can open full screen and read page by page. It was built to that client's own specification, so the wage rates, pricing and overhead and profit are theirs. Ask us for a current sample in your own trade.
From our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. An estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that market, and vendors update their prices as they change. Labor is priced as union or open shop, or at Davis-Bacon rates with fringes on government work.
Yes. The estimate is delivered as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change any quantity, rate or markup and the whole estimate recalculates. If overhead and profit was set at 25% and you want 30%, change that one cell and every total updates, so you can adjust your number minutes before the bid is due without sending it back to us.
As many as you need. Every revision is free, including addenda, scope changes and pricing updates, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and are typically returned within an hour to a few hours, depending on the size of the change.
Fire detection and alarm is 28 31 00 in Division 28 Electronic Safety and Security, with access control at 28 10 and video surveillance at 28 20. Communications, including structured cabling at 27 10, is Division 27.
A single project starts at $199 and larger buildings typically run $200 to $500; the quote is free and usually back in about 20 minutes. Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, with your labor units and format if you send them.
Related services and service areas
Have a fire alarm or low voltage bid due? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Fire alarm and low voltage takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, built to your format, with free revisions with no limit. Based in Houston and estimating in all 50 states.