Electrical Estimator Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

Electrical Estimator Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post focuses on discussing the job description of an electrical estimator to help you learn what they do.

It presents the key tasks, duties, and responsibilities that typically define the electrical estimator work description in most organizations.

This article also presents the major requirements recruiters commonly expect applicants for the electrical estimator role to meet to qualify to access it.

Please, continue reading to increase your knowledge of the electrical estimator career:

What Does an Electrical Estimator Do?

An electrical estimator is someone who is responsible for examining and determining costs for electrical projects and preparing bids.

He/she is responsible for determining costs and potential profitability for commercial, residential, and industrial electrical contracting jobs.

In other words, an electrical estimator can be defined as one who is professionally responsible for evaluating the cost or price of electrical installations for several industrial or residential projects.

He/she is the one who plans and estimates the project cost of electricity required by a building.

An electrical estimator may work as an electrician before he/she begins to work in this position, in order to help him/her gain familiarity with electrical codes and practices.

Electrical estimators usually work with larger electrical contracting companies, helping them to ensure that their works are efficient and profitable and their project bids are competitive.

He/she serves as a professional and specialized type of cost estimator who calculates the cost of several electrical projects, and these estimates are often used as bids for work, which can be leveraged against other bids depending on the scope of the job.

Furthermore, in the process of discharging his/her duties, an electrical estimator must estimate all the potential costs involved in an electrical project, including labor, materials, location, how long the job will last, and any special requirements that might come up.

Factors such as overhead, insurance, taxes, subcontractors, and even how the climate, weather, or time of the year may affect the work are also considered when determining the estimate.

The projections of the electrical estimator help his/her employer or clients to decide how much profit a job or project can make.

Other tasks that are found in the electrical estimator job description include reviewing building plans, assessing material costs, and determining contractor and labor needs; calculating job profitability, preparing and submitting bids, and maintaining cost databases.

In addition, individuals or candidates who are interested in working as an electrical estimator are required to demonstrate several skills in order to execute effectively and efficiently.

Becoming an electrical estimator requires an efficient time of training and great knowledge of electrical systems with excellent mathematics and computer skills.

In terms of academic qualifications, an electrical estimator is required to have acquired a Bachelor’s degree in construction science, architecture, engineering, or in other related fields.

Several employers also require several years of professional experience as a professional or licensed electrician. Experience can also be acquired through an internship program.

Electrical Estimator Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Electrical estimators perform various functions in ensuring accurate estimate of cost of electrical projects.

The typical tasks, duties, and responsibilities that make up the job description of most electrical estimators are shown below:

Identifying and building up cost estimates by analyzing the materials and labor needed to complete several projects
Examining and explaining the cost of wasted materials and possible delays in a project, and suggesting recommendations or coming up with solutions to fix these issues
Having and coming up with accurate or exact impressions, identifying and knowing the risks involved in the projects, creating production schedules, and so on
Efficiently preparing work and guidelines, and creating designs for distribution systems and new clients or customers
Liaising and communicating effectively with customers, and recommending appropriate locations, wire, transformer sizes, and so on
Reviewing residential, industrial, and commercial building plans in order to determine the electrical needs of a project
Reviewing supplier costs in order to determine how much each individual element costs, and negotiating with suppliers in order to bargain the best prices
Maintaining cost of databases and outlining common costs in order to save time on future estimates.

Electrical Estimator Job Description for Resume

If you have worked before as an electrical estimator or are presently holding that position with a company and are writing a resume for a new job, you will need to include the professional or job experience section to your resume.

Having the job experience section in your resume will enable you to let the recruiter know that you have been successful performing the duties and responsibilities of the electrical estimator role.

This is the part of the resume where you highlight the duties that you have performed successfully as a electrical estimator with your past employer, or that you are currently performing on your present job.

You can quickly and conveniently make a professional experience section for your resume by applying the electrical estimator duties and responsibilities provided in the job description example above.

Electrical Estimator Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge for Career Success

If you are seeking the job of an electrical estimator with a company, the recruiter will most likely want you to meet certain requirements before your application can be considered.

Your ability to meet the requirements will mean that you can perform the purpose, obligations, and objectives of the electrical estimator role, which helps the recruiter to find the right candidates for the job.

Shown below are major requirements most recruiters for the electrical estimator job may want you to satisfy if you are applying for the position:

Ability to analyze and assess multiple data points, including blueprints, material costs, and timelines to deliver an accurate estimate on time and within budget
High analytical and mathematical skills which require an electrical estimator to ensure that his/her calculations are accurate and correct to keep jobs profitable
Sound organization and time management skills, as an electrical estimator needs to ensure that he/she submits project bids on time, with the ability to maintain composure when multiple projects occur at once
Well-developed oral and written communication skills which enable an electrical estimator to work efficiently with contractors, architects, and other professionals that are involved in construction projects
Particular attention to detail, as an electrical estimator needs to be highly detail-oriented in order to note all the details of a blueprint
A Bachelor’s degree in Construction Science, Architecture, Engineering, or in other related fields, with several years of training and professional experience.

Conclusion

If you are a recruiter or HR manager needing to hire for the electrical estimator position for your company, you will need to publish a description of the job to properly inform interested individuals of what the job entails.

This will help you to attract only people who have the competence, knowledge, and experience to effectively perform the duties of the electrical estimator.

Individuals who are interested in the electrical estimator career will also find the content on this page helpful in learning about the duties they perform.

Did this article help increase your knowledge of what electrical estimators do? Please, leave a comment in the box below. You may also share your job description if you work as an electrical estimator.