Why Digital Estimating?

Estimating is the foundation of any successful electrical contracting business. It is often overlooked, though, due to its rapid turnaround nature and the lack of a direct revenue stream for contractors. However, proper investment in estimating is the key to business development, expansion, and long-term success.

Understanding how to bid electrical work effectively is critical to staying competitive in today’s fast-paced construction environment. Estimating isn't just a backend task—it's the driving force behind contractor bidding success and project profitability.

Traditional methods of estimating have relied on pencil, markers, and paper. In this “pen and paper” method, project drawings are printed in one or more sets and marked up manually as items are counted. This process is very labour-intensive and prone to human error. It's easy to lose count when interrupted or misplace summary sheets during the bid process.

Once a paper-based takeoff is completed, the real work begins—assembling material pricing for each item and applying labour units. This is typically done using a hand calculator or an Excel template to extend those values. Material pricing must be gathered from a supply house, and labour units researched and applied from a recognized labour manual. In today’s construction climate, where timelines are tight and competition is fierce, manual estimating methods are becoming less viable. The good news is that learning how to bid electrical work digitally opens up opportunities for automation and increased efficiency.

Digital estimating offers significant advantages over paper-based methods. Most bid documents are now delivered in PDF format. While some municipalities and government agencies may still provide paper packages, PDFs are the standard across much of the industry. Using a digital format eliminates printing costs, which can range from $50 to over $1,000 depending on the project size. It also eliminates delays and makes storing documents far easier and more secure than relying on bulky, easily misplaced paper copies.

One important point when going digital is to ensure your screen size matches, as closely as possible, the size of the printed drawing. Many first-time digital users try to work off small laptops, but this isn’t practical. A 48” 4K monitor can now be purchased for under $1,000—often less than the cost of printed drawings for a large job. Investing in the right hardware is a key part of building an effective contractor bidding workflow.

While working in PDF format is a great first step, it still requires manual quantifying of materials. Software like Bluebeam allows users to mark up, count, and export drawing data to Excel—often the entry point for many contractors into digital estimating. However, Bluebeam lacks a built-in electrical item database, meaning estimators must manually create a material list for each job. While more efficient than pen and paper, this process still leaves room for error and doesn’t fully automate how to bid electrical work.

Bluebeam paired with Excel can improve takeoff speed for small to medium jobs, but Excel’s flexibility can be a liability. One incorrect formula, or a mislinked cell, can throw off your entire estimate. And without built-in error-checking or costing automation, these mistakes can be hard to catch—and costly.

For a more accurate and faster bidding process, a dedicated electrical estimating software is essential. Learning how to bid electrical work effectively starts with using the right tools—tools that eliminate guesswork and reduce manual errors. PataBid Quantify offers contractors a sustainable, all-in-one estimating solution to bid electrical work quickly, reliably, and affordably.

The key advantage of a well-designed estimating platform is that it automates many of the manual steps in the estimating process. While these tasks may seem simple in theory, they are often prone to costly mistakes when performed using pen and paper methods. A robust mechanical/electrical estimating software like Quantify performs these calculations instantly as the estimate is being built, increasing both accuracy and efficiency.

Using a platform with built-in graphical takeoff capabilities ensures that every step of your estimate is directly connected to the bid documents. Every item you mark up on the drawing appears automatically in your estimate—eliminating the need to track quantities manually across multiple tick sheets. If you’re interrupted during a takeoff, Quantify safeguards your progress, so no detail is missed or forgotten in the final estimate.

For contractors mastering how to bid electrical work, centralizing your estimating workflow is critical. A digital electrical estimating software like PataBid Quantify not only streamlines takeoff and pricing but also stores and protects all your estimating data in one place. This ensures no data is ever lost—giving your business the ability to reference past bids, analyze performance, and build a strategic growth plan based on historical insights.

PataBid understands the long-term value of estimating data, which is why every Quantify license includes unlimited data storage at no additional cost—empowering contractors to estimate smarter and scale with confidence.

As an electrical contractor grows, so does the need to expand their estimating capabilities. A digital estimating platform is the ideal solution, as it enables multiple employees to collaborate on estimates in real time. This not only maximizes your team’s efficiency but also ensures consistency across every bid. Owners and stakeholders can easily review drawings and proposals when using a centralized mechanical/electrical estimating software or modern contractor bidding software.

PataBid Quantify supports this collaborative workflow through pooled licensing, meaning contractors aren’t forced to purchase multiple licenses unnecessarily. Buy one license and create unlimited user profiles under a single account. Pooled licensing is a perfect fit for owner/operators who have a dedicated estimator but still want the ability to review or contribute to estimates as needed.

While pen and paper remain common starting points for contractors learning how to bid electrical work, relying on manual methods becomes increasingly risky as your business grows and projects become more complex. Digital estimating platforms like Quantify eliminate that risk through smart automation—ensuring every bid is fast, accurate, and aligned with your project scope.

If you’re looking for a scalable, cost-effective contractor bidding software that supports collaboration and drives growth, PataBid Quantify is built for you.

Connect with us today to set up a demo and see if Quantify is the right fit for your contracting business.