A process-based estimating course for experienced electricians. Learn to take off jobs completely, write quote letters that build your reputation, and protect your company's interests by identifying and eliminating costly errors.
Gold Seal Accredited — 5 Credits
Electrical Trade
Online — 2 Days / 16–17 hrs
The Problem
A Bad Estimate Only Has Two Outcomes. Neither One Is Good.
If you go too high, you don't get the job — and that's the lucky result. If you go too low, you do win the bid, but you spend the rest of the project bleeding money on scope you missed and extras you can't justify, while your client wonders why the number keeps climbing.
Most estimating problems come down to process. When there's no repeatable system for completing a take off, things get missed. A good estimate is thorough enough to work for everyone: the client gets a number they can rely on, and your company gets a job it can actually profit from.
You Missed Something In The Drawings
The drawings weren't complete and you didn't ask any questions. You built your quote on what was shown. Three weeks in, you're asking for a big extra. Now you look shady, even though the drawings were wrong.
You Won The Job. You Lost Money.
You got it. Then you realized you didn't account for half the elements on the job. Your number was low because your take off was incomplete. The job cost more than you made.
Your Quote Letter Doesn't Protect You
What you put in the quote letter is what you're held to. Vague language, missing exclusions, and incomplete scope statements leave you exposed when the disputes start.
Every Take off Takes Too Long
You don't have a system. You start over every time. It's slow. It's inconsistent. And you're not confident it's complete when you hand it in.
from the field
The Counter Receptacle That Cost $1,000
On a residential development, an electrical contractor submitted a bid on incomplete drawings. The kitchen units were missing counter receptacles — code-required, not optional. The contractor submitting the bid saw it, and decided to say nothing.
They got the job. Two weeks before rough-in, they came back with an extra: a thousand dollars per unit, for one receptacle each.
Ouch.
The problem is their quote letter said the bid was built to the electrical drawings and current code. But the code is clear on counter receptacles. Yes, the drawings they received were incomplete — but spotting that and flagging it is part of the job. Coming back for the money instead just made the company look unprofessional. When they showed up asking for the extra, it didn't look like a legitimate cost recovery. It looked like a shakedown.
A thorough estimator would have flagged the discrepancy in the quote letter and included it in the price. That would have meant coming in 5% higher on the bid, but a professional would have called the developer before closing to explain why. Instead, the electrical contractor got the job, the developer got stuck paying a 20% extra they had no leverage to refuse, and the contractor walked away with the money — and a reputation that they were underhanded and predatory, or just incompetent.
Thoroughness isn't just about catching things. It shows who you are.
What This Course Is
A Process You Can Work From Every Time.
The emphasis here is on process, not on covering every scenario that might come up on a job. There are too many variables in electrical estimating for that, and any course that tries will just overwhelm you. What this course gives you instead is a framework solid enough to work from when projects don't go the typical way — because they often don't.
You'll work through two real projects from start to finish, and write a complete quote letter. By the end, you'll have done the work, not just learned about it.
Before You Register — What You Need
This course is built for electricians who already know the installation side. The estimating process is what's taught here — the code, the materials, and how a job goes together are assumed. Without that foundation, the course will be difficult to follow.
You'll also need: a 2024 Canadian Electrical Code book, a PDF viewer with measurement and markup capability, and Zoom access with a camera and microphone. Estimating software like Trimble Accubid is useful but not required. A second monitor is a nice-to-have.
Early in your career? Finish your trade first. This course will be here when you're ready.
THE COURSE
The Take off Process, Start To Finish.
A 2-day intensive course delivered live via Zoom. 16 to 17 hours total. The course walks through every step of the estimating workflow — from deciding whether to bid, through the take off, to writing and closing the quote letter. By the end, you've completed two real take offs and written one quote letter, under time pressure that mirrors the real thing.
step 1
Understand What You're Bidding
Before you touch the drawings, you need to know whether this project is even worth bidding. Not every job is a fit for every company, and submitting a quote you can't deliver on is worse than not submitting one at all. This section covers how to read and assess the project documentation, understand the scope of work, and determine whether your company can meet the closing requirements.
Purpose of a quote
Documentation and project requirements
Scope of work
Bonding and contract types
step 2
Work The Drawings
This is where most estimating problems start. Drawings are often incomplete, inconsistent, or unclear — and what you do with that is what separates a thorough estimator from one who gets burned mid-job. This section covers how to read and mark up the drawings, identify gaps in the information, apply addendums, and use the RFI process effectively, including understanding exactly how much time you have to use it.
Using and marking up drawings
Identifying limitations in provided information
RFI process and time awareness
step 3
Plan Your Take off Strategy
A good take off doesn't start with counting — it starts with a plan. Before you pick up a highlighter, you need an installation strategy that guides the work, a clear sense of priorities, and your RFQs out to wholesalers and suppliers so their pricing comes back before you need it. This section also covers managing your time across multiple active take offs at once, which is often the reality.
Installation strategy development
Setting take off priorities
Submitting RFQs to wholesalers and suppliers
Activity management and time awareness
step 4
Execute The Take off
This is the core of the work: a systematic, repeatable process for counting and measuring every item on the job that carries a cost. You'll work through the material take off, calculate labour requirements, review Bills of Material from suppliers, and pull everything together into a single complete estimate — with enough rigour that you're confident in the number before you submit it.
Material take off methodology
Labour calculations and requirements
Reviewing Bills of Material from suppliers
Reviewing quantities and costs
step 5
Write The Quote Letter
The quote letter is what the client actually sees, and it tells them a lot about your company before you've done a single hour of work. This section covers how to write one that's complete and defensible — the right inclusions, exclusions, and clarifications that protect you from disputes down the road, and closing requirements that show you understood the full scope of what you were committing to.
Inclusions, exclusions and clarifications
Flagging drawing discrepancies
Closing requirements
step 6
Review, Refine, Improve
Estimating is a craft, and you get better at it by reviewing what you did. This section covers how to check your numbers against the actual project value before you submit — and how to use post-bid feedback to understand how other contractors priced the same job. That information is more useful than most people realise, and the best estimators actively seek it out.
Reviewing costs against actual project value
Preventing costly mistakes
Strategy refinement through feedback
Course Completion Requirements
Who It's For
Experienced Electricians Ready To Move Into Estimating.
This course is for tradespeople who already know the work and are ready to build the estimating skills their career needs next.
Estimators Starting Out
You've been asked to estimate. Nobody sat down and walked you through the process. You're figuring it out job by job and hoping you're not missing anything. This gives you the system.
Journeypersons & Red Seals Moving Up
You know the install side cold. Now you want to grow into estimating or project management. This course is the next step. It teaches you what the install experience can't.
Experienced Estimators Building Consistency
You've been estimating for a while. But every take off is a bit different. You want a structured process you can rely on, not just the method that's worked so far.
Business Owners Who Estimate Their Own Jobs
You're the one putting the numbers together. Getting this wrong costs your company money. This course builds the process that protects your bottom line.
Why This Matters
Your Estimate Either Makes You Money Or Loses It.
There's no neutral outcome. Every quote either protects your company or costs it, and the difference usually comes down to whether the person who prepared it had a process or was working from habit and hope.
Thoroughness Protects You From Incompetence And Unaccounted Costs
When you catch what the drawings missed and flag it in your quote letter, you deal with it at bid time — not two weeks before rough-in when the developer is expecting you to absorb it.
Your Quote Letter Is Your Reputation
Experienced developers and GCs read quote letters carefully. A thorough one signals that you know what you're doing and can be trusted to deliver what you quoted. That impression forms before you've set foot on the site.
Reliable Numbers Win Profitable Jobs
A repeatable process produces consistent numbers — competitive without being a liability. Over time, that's how you build a company with a track record, not just a list of jobs you managed to get through.
Process Makes You Faster
The tempo in estimating is always high. When you're working from a system you trust, you move through the work faster and miss less — on every job, not just the easy ones.
How It's Delivered
Two Days. Online Via Zoom. Real Deadlines.
16 to 17 hours total. The course runs live over two days via Zoom. You'll need a computer with camera and microphone, a PDF viewer with measurement and markup capability, and your 2024 Canadian Electrical Code book. In-person delivery is available for companies with minimum group numbers — contact DCTM to discuss.
Live Online — Zoom
Two days, 16 to 17 hours. Delivered live with the instructor. You're working, not watching.
In-Person Option
Available for companies training a group. Minimum numbers apply. Contact DCTM for details.
Gold Seal
Accredited
5 Gold Seal credits on completion.
Real Take offs.
Real Deadlines.
A 2-unit warehouse and a house, taken off start to finish. One complete quote letter for the house. Done under time limits. That's the requirement — and the point.
Your Instructor
Dan Campbell
I'm Dan Campbell, Red Seal Electrician, Gold Seal Certified Project Manager, Estimator, 34 years in the trades. For several years now I've been training construction professionals across the country.
I built this course after watching capable tradespeople get burned by estimating problems that had nothing to do with their construction skills. What they were missing was a process to understand and integrate the project and estimating requirements. They struggled to create a thorough take-off and a defensible quote, because nobody ever taught them how. They learned on live jobs, under real pressure, and some of their company's paid for it.
This course is that process. Built on what actually protects a company in the field and adds to your reputation as a thorough, incisive estimator.