I hope this wasn’t asked recently, if so, maybe one of you can guide me to the answer (I can see it now: “Yeah, go to hell and turn left”).
My brother is thinking of having someone he knows in the State where he lives out East do the electrical work on a new house he wants to build out West. He was wondering if there is a standard fee for wiring a house, or a cost per square foot or something? (My concerns were whether his friend is licensed and if so, is license transferable to the other State.)
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I know here they charge $2000 to just change the meter box
Cost and how it's priced all depends on what kind of wiring/lighting he is building into the design. It's similar to how completed homes are priced. Fancy, high effiency, higher than average quality, unique layout or type of construction all translate into more money.
Rough wiring typical of a "normal" house is easiest to price. Reading minds about fixtures that haven't been selected yet is the hardest.
There's nothing wrong with bringing an electrican in from outside, but he would have to meet the requirements of the state he'll be working in to get a licence. Then he'll have to deal with the state/city/county tax and reporting requirements, not to mention insurance. His local accountant won't be familar with another state's tax laws so he'll need a second accountant.
By the time he screws around with all that in addition with paying living allowances and travel it gets expensive and won't make financial sense.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
It's simply not possible to apply your cost experience to the house across the street, let alone across the country.
Codes, practices, and overhead vary wildly between locations. NO contractor can give a quote without examining a set of prints, visiting the site, discussing the job in detail with you .... and even then, all bets are off with material pricing being all over the map these days.
Never underestimate licensing hurdles. For your buddy to come here, and work legally, will cost him several thousand dollars. Considering the likely differences in the way he does thing, to what is 'typical' here, he can expect to do most tasks twice.
So ... what you're probably asking is how to find an appropriate electrical contractor. For a one-off house, you probably don't want the guy who does tract housing. Nor do you want the guys with the full-page ads in the phone book, the flashy trucks, and spiffy uniforms.
Probably the best approach is to visit the local electrical supply houses ... speak to their folks, see if they can point you to contractors that might be interested. The parts house might even let you post a notice for a few days. Then, visit those contractors, and talk it over with them.
You also might approach the local building officials for recommendations.
It won't be easy, because most of the guys you want will be trying to avoid doing a house. Homes tend to be a lot of work, a lot of aggravation, and little return. The guy's not going to want to spend hours putting together a quote, only to have you come back with something like you expected "$X per opening" or "$Y per square foot."
Your choice of general contractor also can help you here .... good GC's usually have decent subs. As for finding a decent GC ... again, a chat with the local building department might help. If nothing else, you might be able to find recent examples of the guy's work ... and then chat with his customers.