Accurate labor estimating remains a key factor in electrical project pricing, scheduling and resource planning. A new two-year edition of a long-standing labor reference is now available to electrical contractors through the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).
The 2025-2027 Manual of Labor Units is designed to provide electrical contractors with reference data for estimating the labor required for common electrical and communications installation work.
The manual has been used as an estimating resource since 1923. Its labor units are based on accumulated industry experience and are intended to support the development of project labor estimates.
For electrical contractors, labor assumptions can affect bid pricing, workforce planning and project schedules. A standardized reference can provide a consistent basis for developing those estimates across different projects and installation activities.
NECA member companies receive access to the new edition through a complimentary two-year subscription. The subscription provides access to both the online labor-units database and an electronic copy of the manual.
Access instructions were sent Sept. 17 to the primary contact or designated representative for each eligible member company. Existing users with a Trimble account can access the resource through their current credentials, while new users receive instructions to establish a Trimble Identity account.
Additional seats for the subscription and PDF copies can also be purchased through the NECA Store. Physical copies of the manual are expected to become available separately.
Labor estimating is closely tied to electrical contractors' bidding and project planning processes. The updated reference gives NECA members access to revised labor-unit information covering typical electrical and communications installation activities for the 2025-2027 period.
The availability of both database and electronic-manual formats also gives estimating teams options for incorporating the reference into their existing estimating workflows.
Source: NECA.
