Structured cabling labor pricing should recover more than technician wages. A sustainable rate has to cover loaded labor cost, non-billable time, overhead, tools, vehicles, callbacks, and profit.
Start with loaded labor cost
If a technician earns $32 per hour and labor burden is 30%, the loaded labor cost is $41.60 per paid hour before accounting for utilization and company overhead.
Account for billable utilization
Technicians are paid for travel, meetings, warehouse time, training, quoting, callbacks, and other non-billable activities. If only 75% of paid time is billable, the cost per billable hour is higher than the loaded hourly cost.
Add company overhead
- Vehicles and fuel
- Insurance
- Administrative labor
- Software
- Phones
- Tools and test equipment
- Warehouse or office expense
- Marketing
- Licensing and professional fees
Markup is not margin
If your cost is $50 and you add a 50% markup, the selling price is $75. That produces a gross margin of only 33.3%.
If you want a 40% gross margin on $50 of cost, the selling price is about $83.33.
Estimate labor by task
Instead of a single flat labor number, estimate cable pulling, termination, labeling, testing, documentation, pathway preparation, and mobilization separately when the project is complex.
The Structured Cabling Labor Calculator converts your labor assumptions into technician hours, crew days, labor cost, and target-margin selling price.
Compare labor price per drop
After you calculate total labor selling price, divide it by the number of drops. That gives you a per-drop labor benchmark without making “price per drop” the starting assumption.
Use the Professional Low-Voltage Estimator for a more complete job-cost model.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge the same labor rate for installation and troubleshooting?
Not necessarily. Troubleshooting, engineering, after-hours work, and emergency service can justify different rates.
Should travel be included in labor?
It can be shown separately or recovered within pricing, but it should not be ignored.
Should I price labor by the hour or by the project?
For estimating, calculate the underlying hours either way. You can still present the customer with a fixed project price.