Trades and field services
The load calc took twenty minutes. Explaining it took the evening.
A service upgrade proposal has to survive two readers: a homeowner who wants to know why 200 amps costs what it costs, and an inspector who will check that what you described matches what you installed. Most estimating tools give you the first half and leave you writing the second. The Proposal Maker drafts the narrative from the panel upgrades you have already sold, so the explanation reads like yours.
Where this fits
You already run ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber. This is not that.
The gap
Field service platforms are built to get a priced estimate out of a van, fast, and they do that well. What they do not do is explain the job. Their proposal templates carry your line items and a logo, but the existing-conditions write-up, the reason the service needs upgrading, and the exclusions that protect you on a concealed-conditions job are still yours to type.
What this does not do
This does not perform load calculations, hold a pricebook, dispatch crews, or track inventory. Your existing platform keeps doing all of that. This turns what you already know about the job into the document the customer reads.
Scope
What a electrical contractor's proposal actually has to itemise
- Service upgrade: existing and proposed ampacity, meter base, mast, grounding electrode system
- Panel replacement and circuit transfer, with a labelled circuit directory as a deliverable
- EV charger installation: circuit size, run length, load calculation result, and load management if required
- Whole-house rewire, room by room, including device counts and cut-in versus open-wall access
- Standby generator and automatic transfer switch, with the branch circuits the switch will carry
- Lighting retrofit: fixture counts, controls, and any utility rebate paperwork you will file
- Utility coordination: disconnect scheduling, temporary power, and expected outage window
Pricing
How electrical contractors price the work
Fixed price by scope
One number for a defined package of work, with the device and circuit counts listed so a change in count is visibly a change order.
Per device or per circuit
Rewires and new construction priced by receptacle, switch, fixture and home run, with the schedule reproduced in the document.
Time and materials with a cap
Troubleshooting and unknown-condition work at an hourly rate against a not-to-exceed, so the customer sees a ceiling rather than an open meter.
Allowance for concealed conditions
A stated allowance for what you cannot see behind finished walls, with the mechanism for exceeding it written into the proposal rather than raised later.
The document
What comes out the other end
- 01Existing conditions: what is in the panel now, its age, and what you found
- 02Load calculation summary, stated as a result rather than a spreadsheet
- 03Scope of work by circuit, area or system
- 04Exclusions: drywall repair, painting, low-voltage, appliance connection, trenching
- 05Utility and inspection sequence, including who schedules what and expected downtime
- 06Materials and equipment schedule with manufacturer and series
- 07Warranty on workmanship, separate from manufacturer equipment warranty
- 08Payment schedule tied to milestones such as rough-in and final inspection
Compliance
The details that belong on the document, not in a follow-up email
- Contractor licence number and, where the jurisdiction requires it, the master electrician of record named on the proposal
- NEC edition and any local amendments cited where they drive the scope — AFCI and GFCI requirements are the usual cost drivers a customer questions
- Permit and inspection responsibility stated, including who pays for reinspection if the first one fails
- Utility interconnection and disconnect scheduling identified as a dependency outside your control
- Certificate of insurance and workers' compensation for commercial and property-manager work
General guidance, not legal advice. Requirements vary by state and jurisdiction — confirm yours with counsel or your licensing board.
Straight answers
The three things you are probably thinking
“I already have estimating software that spits out a quote.”
Keep it. This is not an estimator. It writes the pages around the number — existing conditions, scope, exclusions, inspection sequence — which is the part that takes the evening.
“I do not want AI inventing code references.”
It drafts from your own proposals, so the code language it uses is the code language you already use. You review every section before it sends, and nothing goes out that you have not read.
“Most of my work is small service calls.”
Then most of your work does not need this. It earns its place on the panel upgrades, rewires and generator installs that a customer sits on and compares.
FAQ
Electrical proposals: common questions
Does it do the load calculation?
No. You do the calc; it writes up the result in language a homeowner understands. Anything that determines conductor sizing or breaker selection stays with the licensed electrician.
Can it handle commercial bid work as well as residential?
Yes, and the two read very differently. Because it drafts from your own library, a tenant-improvement bid comes out in your commercial voice if that is what you have uploaded.
How does it know what I normally exclude?
It reads it out of your past proposals during setup and puts it in your firm profile. Drywall repair, painting and trenching turn up on almost every electrical exclusion list, and once it has seen yours it carries them forward.
Can two estimators in the same company use it?
Yes. The proposal library is shared at the firm level, so both estimators draft against the same past work and the output stays consistent between them.
What formats can I send?
A tracked share link, a PDF, or a Word document you can edit further. All three carry your letterhead and licence details.
Related
Other trades we have written this up for
See what it writes from your last electrical proposal.
Upload three or four you were happy to send. The next one drafts in the same voice.