How to Compare Commercial Electrical Quotes: Are You Really Comparing Like for Like?

We come across this regularly when pricing commercial electrical projects. Two quotations can look like they're for exactly the same job, but once you get into the detail, there can be significant differences in the materials, programme, specification and level of service each contractor has allowed for.

That doesn't necessarily mean one contractor is right and another is wrong. It means you need to understand what you're actually buying before you compare the price.

This is the first place we'd look. If a detailed specification has been provided, check that each contractor has actually priced to meet it. Where there isn't a formal specification, make sure each contractor has understood your requirements in the same way.

Something as simple as installing additional sockets in a warehouse can be interpreted differently depending on the proposed containment, locations, working environment, access requirements and whether the work needs to take place during or outside normal operating hours. Those differences affect the price.

A good quotation should give you confidence that the contractor has understood what you're trying to achieve and allowed for it accordingly. If something isn't clear, ask — it's much better to resolve a difference in interpretation before placing an order than after work has started.

This can make a surprisingly large difference to the price of an electrical project. Take an LED lighting upgrade as an example: one contractor might allow £50 per fitting for a product they've installed thousands of times, from a manufacturer they know, with warranties they trust. Another fitting capable of doing a similar job might cost £20.

Across one fitting, the difference isn't particularly significant. Across 200 or 300 fittings, it becomes thousands of pounds. That doesn't automatically make the cheaper product a bad choice — if the client wants us to explore a lower-cost alternative, we can. But we'd rather be clear about what we're recommending and why we've allowed for it.

When comparing quotations, don't just check that both say "LED lighting upgrade". Ask:

The same principle applies to distribution equipment, containment, accessories and many of the other materials that make up a commercial electrical installation. Compare what is being supplied, not just what the bottom line says.

Price isn't the only number worth comparing. Look at how long each contractor has allowed to complete the work. One contractor might propose completing the project in a week, while another has allowed three weeks. Why?

There could be a perfectly good reason. The contractor completing it more quickly may be allocating a larger team. Alternatively, the longer programme might be designed around your operating hours to minimise disruption. This becomes particularly important in occupied commercial and industrial environments.

A quotation that's £2,000 cheaper but creates two additional weeks of disruption might not be the better commercial option. The programme should work for your business, not just the contractor.

A quotation isn't only a price for labour and materials — you're also appointing the business responsible for delivering the work. Depending on the project and your own procurement requirements, you may want to check things such as:

For some organisations, these will be formal procurement requirements. For others, they're simply part of establishing whether they're comfortable putting a contractor into their building and trusting them to deliver the work properly. The important thing is deciding what matters to your organisation and checking it consistently across everyone you're considering.

This one is harder to see on a quotation, but it matters. Who are you actually dealing with once you've said yes? Who confirms the dates? Who coordinates access? Who answers questions from your facilities team? What happens if something changes? How are variations communicated? And if you need additional support, is there someone available to deal with it?

We put a lot of emphasis on the communication between our office, engineers and customers, because a technically good installation can still be a frustrating project if nobody knows what's happening. The quotation needs to translate into what actually happens on site.

If you've discussed specific requirements before the project, those need to be properly communicated to the team delivering it. You shouldn't have to start the whole conversation again when the engineers arrive.

Sometimes the answer is simply that one contractor is cheaper. Businesses have different overheads, labour rates and buying arrangements, and there will always be someone willing to carry out a job for less. But quite often, the difference isn't solely margin. It can come from:

That's why we'd always recommend reviewing the quotation against your original requirements before making a decision based solely on price.

Lighting projects are a good example because we see significant differences in material costs. When we specify a fitting, we'll generally look at products and manufacturers we're comfortable standing behind — that comes from experience. If we've installed thousands of a particular type of fitting and have confidence in the manufacturer, its performance and the warranty behind it, that carries weight when we're deciding what to recommend.

Another contractor might specify a considerably cheaper fitting. They may both be described as LED replacements and they may both provide the required light output, but that doesn't necessarily make them equivalent products. On a large lighting project, the difference in unit cost can make one quotation look significantly cheaper.

The question for the client isn't necessarily "why is this contractor more expensive?" It's "what am I getting for the difference?" Once you know that, you can make an informed decision about whether the additional cost represents value to your business. And sometimes, after comparing everything properly, the cheaper option genuinely will be the right choice.

When we prepare a quotation at RS Electrical, the aim is to understand what the client needs before we price the work. That includes the installation itself, but also how the work needs to be delivered.

If the building needs to remain operational, we need to understand that. If there are programme constraints, we need to understand those. If particular manufacturers, specifications or standards are required, we need to allow for them. And if there's something in our quotation that isn't clear, we'd rather a client ask us about it.

Ultimately, we want the quotation to reflect the job we're actually going to deliver, so when our team arrives on site, what happens matches what we've discussed.