Pricing for trench work

[markythesparky]

Hi guys. We have been asked to price for some floodlighting and this will involve a substantial amount of trench work through a field and then six larger holes for columns. How would you guys price this and the other ground work involved in the sand blinding for the cables and concreting for the columns?

 

[telectrix]

I'd get a quote from a groundworker. he'll more than likely use a mini digger. then just add his price on the job.

 

[plugsandsparks]

I use a professional digger driver and hire the equipment. I know the hire cost and i know the day rate for the driver, i know the cost of duct and a tonne of sand etc etc. Once you know how long it will take (talk to the driver) , then its just math after that.

 

[telectrix]

you get 2 paddys on the job. 1 starts at one end and the other at the other end and they meet in the middle..

customer: "what happens if the don't meet in the middle?"
Paddy: " then you get 2 trenches for the price of 1".

 

[Dustydazzler]

Trench work is easy if you have the correct heavy equipment , if you don;t then its ball breaking work.

As above For Any big chases I used a ground crew who will come over in with all their road working gear on a Saturday for bangers and mash and smash out metres and metres of trench in a few hours. I think the last big trench they did for me for a pool house was about 8 - 9 metres in very very hard clay ground and they charged me about £1100 to dig the trench and come back and fill the trench with sand (they supplied) and then tmost of he mud. They took the left over mud away as well.

I haven't seen them in ages as have had no trench work but I assume rates might have gone up post pandemic

So as Tel says get a quote from a ground crew add 10% and use this as the costing to add to your overall quote for the job

 

[telectrix]

yeah, as above, we are electricians, not moles.

 

[Zerax]

Classic example of where you need to outsource... stick to your core skill, being an electrician. Outsource the groundworks to another company who's core skill is groundworks. Simples...

 

[Eric12]

Classic example of where you need to outsource... stick to your core skill, being an electrician. Outsource the groundworks to another company who's core skill is groundworks. Simples...

Wimps get digging do you the world of good and break from the norm !

 

[SparkySy]

I will sometimes do my own groundwork, I like a bit of digger driving for a change from electrical installation. I always sub scan the area thoroughly first I don't like expensive supprises! For costing I only ever estimate the time and plant hire roughly as you never know how hard or obstructed the route will be until you break ground, and things always seems to take longer than you think. Then I add on sand cable tape ect.
Also make sure if you do this you have the correct insurance in place just in case it does all go pear shaped!

 

[markythesparky]

you get 2 paddys on the job. 1 starts at one end and the other at the other end and they meet in the middle..

customer: "what happens if the don't meet in the middle?"
Paddy: " then you get 2 trenches for the price of 1".

 

[Dustydazzler]

I will sometimes do my own groundwork, I like a bit of digger driving for a change from electrical installation. I always sub scan the area thoroughly first I don't like expensive supprises! For costing I only ever estimate the time and plant hire roughly as you never know how hard or obstructed the route will be until you break ground, and things always seems to take longer than you think. Then I add on sand cable tape ect.
Also make sure if you do this you have the correct insurance in place just in case it does all go pear shaped!

THIS^

The job I mention above lay a big cable for a pool house , I noticed that a bunch of trees had been cut down to make way for the building work and there were 6 or 7 tree stumps very close to where I needed my trench.
When the ground crew started digging there were literally dozens and dozens of 4 inch thich tree routes to cut through.
Doing this all by hand would have taken days and days.
With a one guy driving a big digger and 2 guys barrowing the mud into big bags they had it smashed out in about 4 hours , cleaned up and gone so I could then lay my cable that afternoon.

 

[pc1966]

Some more advice from recent experience: speak to the person in the digger about the route/work before they get a chance to start!

We got a local builder to do some trenches for a fibre comms duct, should have been really easy as route around the edge of a field (clay soil, a couple of known services to avoid). But by time we got there he had spent around 3 hours from the crack of dawn digging about 150m of it along the side of the road through the old & crumbly tarmac and hard core instead

Was a fixed price job and completed OK to landlord's satisfaction but we really did wonder WHY they didn't do it the easy way we had originally discussed...

 

[pc1966]

Also to add, the sand needed can add up to a lot of cost! We got sand bulk delivered from a local quarry (just tipped on the ground near where we needed it) at about half the cost per ton compared to the 1T bags from various local building merchants.

 

[JD6400]

You mentioned that you have six columns to install .
Try and use ground workers with a digger auger , or hire one.
We brought one for doing the ménages , we have 6" and 12" flights , but tend to use the 12" one for telegraph pole's , it saves an enormous amount of concrete and installation time as opposed to a bloody great hole a meter or two deep.

 

[JD6400]

Also as PC says buy your sand in bulk , it is normally far cheaper to order more than you need in bulk than to buy the exact amount in bags.
Also ask about the quality of it , we use lower quality stuff that is sold for cattle bedding .
They have all sorts of grades from the highest quality building and horse arena sand down to infill.