The Challenge
A data center developer was bidding a 20MW colocation facility with a 2N electrical design. The project had an aggressive procurement timeline and the developer's estimating team had no mission-critical experience — a gap that had already caused a budget overrun on a prior project. They needed a complete electrical estimate covering the UPS and generator plant, switchgear, and STS infrastructure, structured so they could award packages to subcontractors in phases.
The Approach
We assigned a senior estimator with data center and mission-critical experience and divided the work into three delivery phases: medium-voltage and generator plant first, then UPS and STS infrastructure, then downstream distribution to the white space.
The takeoff covered redundant generators, ATS and paralleling switchgear, UPS modules, STS units, busway and cable feeders, and DC power systems. Because 2N redundancy doubles equipment count, the estimator cross-checked every quantity against the one-line diagram and electrical room layouts — catching $180,000 in missed redundancy scope that the in-house team had already scoped as single-supply.
Each phase was delivered as a color-coded marked-up plan set, an Excel line-item spreadsheet, and a PDF summary, with equipment costs quoted from the specification rather than estimated.
The Result
The developer awarded all three electrical packages with confidence. When the medium-voltage and generator plant closed out, final installed cost came within 0.2% of our estimate — and the $180K redundancy scope the developer had missed was already in the bid. The phased delivery let them release procurement early without waiting for a single monolithic estimate.
- Accuracy: 99.8% vs final installed cost
- Scope captured: $180K in 2N redundancy the in-house team missed
- Delivery: 3 phases, released for procurement as completed