An electrical BoQ template from the main panel to the last socket
Eight sections, thirty-four items, from the main LV panel and sub-mains to wiring devices, lighting, earthing and lightning protection, ELV containment, testing and commissioning, and the authority items that are easy to forget. In English and Arabic.
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Real .xlsx files in English and Arabic, with formulas in place.
What is an electrical BoQ?
An electrical bill of quantities lists every measured item of the electrical package: LV panels and sub-mains, cables and containment, wiring devices, lighting, earthing and lightning protection, ELV first fix, and testing and commissioning, each with its own unit and quantity. Authority connection and inspection fees sit on their own lines, priced at actual cost rather than folded into a rate. A bidder prices only the rate and amount columns, so every subcontractor who receives the file prices the same equipment to the same quantities, and their bids compare directly once they come back.
What's inside
Eight sections: preliminaries and authority coordination, LV panels, cables and containment, wiring devices, lighting, earthing and lightning protection, ELV provisions, testing and commissioning
Thirty-four items with the rating, size or type left in brackets for you to fill
Authority connection and inspection fees carried at actual cost, so no bidder guesses them into a rate
ELV as first-fix and containment only, so the systems can be tendered separately
As-built drawings and O&M manuals priced as their own line
Every bidder prices the same equipment
Ratings, cable sizes and fitting types are written into the description before the file goes out, so a bidder cannot substitute a smaller cable or a cheaper fitting without it showing against your specification.
Authority fees never hide inside a rate
Connection, meter and inspection costs are carried as their own lines at actual cost, so no subcontractor guesses them into a price and no fee turns up unexplained after the award.
ELV scoped as containment, not guessed
The BoQ carries first-fix cabling and containment only, so the systems themselves, CCTV, access control, fire alarm and data, go out to their own specialists as their own packages.
A sample of real rows
| Item | Description and specification | Unit | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB.1 | Main LV panel, Form 3b, with incomer and outgoing MCCBs, factory tested | no. | 1 |
| EC.1 | XLPE/SWA armoured LV cable [size], main panel to sub-main boards, in trench or duct | m | 180 |
| ED.1 | 13A switched socket outlet, single or twin, complete with wiring | no. | 146 |
| EE.1 | LED downlight [wattage, colour temperature], recessed | no. | 212 |
| EH.1 | Insulation resistance and continuity testing of all circuits, with certified results | sum | 1 |
- EB.1no. · 1
Main LV panel, Form 3b, with incomer and outgoing MCCBs, factory tested
- EC.1m · 180
XLPE/SWA armoured LV cable [size], main panel to sub-main boards, in trench or duct
- ED.1no. · 146
13A switched socket outlet, single or twin, complete with wiring
- EE.1no. · 212
LED downlight [wattage, colour temperature], recessed
- EH.1sum · 1
Insulation resistance and continuity testing of all circuits, with certified results
What the workbook does before a subcontractor prices it
Every rating, size and fitting type written into the line
The template leaves the rating, size or fitting type in brackets on purpose: main incomer size, cable cross-section, luminaire wattage and colour temperature, socket type. Filling the bracket before the file goes out turns a description a bidder could interpret three ways into one every bidder reads the same way. A subcontractor who prices a smaller cable or a cheaper downlight is now pricing against your specification, not the file's silence, and it shows the moment two bids land on the same line with two different assumptions written into their notes.
- Cable sizes, board ratings and fitting types named in the description, not left to the bidder
- A bidder who prices smaller or cheaper is priced against your specification, not a blank
- The same brackets travel into every trade package built from this workbook
- Import the filled file into VEXORS and the specification travels with every line
Connection and inspection fees carried at actual cost
Authority connection charges, meter installation and inspection fees change with the authority, the load applied for and the site itself, and no subcontractor bidding from a drawing set can price them with any confidence. This template carries them as their own preliminaries line, at actual cost, so nobody guesses a number into a rate and nobody pads one against the risk of guessing wrong. The buyer still names which authority items the project expects to meet; the subcontractor prices the coordination effort, not a fee it has no way to know.
- A separate line for connection and inspection fees, never folded into a materials rate
- Paid as incurred, so nobody prices in a margin against a number nobody can predict
- The buyer names the authority items the project expects to meet
- Coordination time itself sits in preliminaries, priced, not hidden in the same line
ELV scoped as first fix and containment, not the systems themselves
The ELV section on this BoQ covers containment and first-fix cabling only: the trunking, back boxes and draw wires that later carry someone else's cabling. CCTV, access control, fire alarm and structured data are usually specified, supplied and commissioned by their own systems integrators, on their own package, against their own specification. Keeping the boundary explicit on the BoQ means the electrical subcontractor prices infrastructure it actually installs, and the systems packages go out separately with the scope that belongs to them.
- Containment and first-fix cabling only; the ELV systems themselves stay off this BoQ
- CCTV, access control, fire alarm and data usually go out as their own packages
- A bidder pricing this file prices infrastructure, not systems it does not install
- Keeps the electrical subcontractor's scope distinct from the systems integrator's
Sent to every electrical subcontractor, bids that land comparable
Import the filled workbook into VEXORS and every row becomes a line your invited electrical subcontractors price, in the same structure you sent. A line left unpriced is counted and priced back in before bids are ranked, so a low total built on gaps does not win by omission. On any item with three or more prices, a rate far from the group is flagged with its ratio against the median, so a subcontractor pricing a fraction of the going rate for a cable or a fitting is caught before the award, not after it starts on site.
- Every subcontractor prices the exact rows you imported, not their own layout
- A line left unpriced is counted and priced back in before bids are ranked
- A rate far from the other bids on the same item is flagged, with its ratio shown
- The comparison exports to Excel whenever you need to share it
What happens to the file after you send it
Filling in the brackets
- Emailed as a file
- A blank bracket for the bidder to interpret; every subcontractor guesses its own rating or size.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Filled once by you; every subcontractor prices the exact same equipment.
Authority fees
- Emailed as a file
- Folded into a rate, or missing entirely until the invoice arrives.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Carried as their own line at actual cost, visible before you award.
Reaching your subcontractors
- Emailed as a file
- Emailed one by one, then chased for whichever version each one opened.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Sent to your invited list at once, opened and priced from a link.
What comes back
- Emailed as a file
- Five spreadsheets in five layouts, none matching your item numbers.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Bids in your BoQ's own lines, on the item numbers you wrote.
An unusual rate
- Emailed as a file
- Sitting in a column of numbers, found only if someone checks by hand.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Flagged against the other bids on the same item, with the ratio shown.
Lines nobody priced
- Emailed as a file
- Silently absent, so the lowest total simply skipped them.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Counted and priced back in before the bids are ranked.
A later revision
- Emailed as a file
- A new file emailed out, with no record of who priced which version.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Reaches every subcontractor at once; a bid on the old version is flagged.
As-builts and O&M manuals
- Emailed as a file
- A separate ask after handover, chased for months.
- Sent as a tender on VEXORS
- Priced as their own line from the start, already inside the number.
Who this template is for
Main contractors tendering the electrical package
Send the filled workbook to the electrical subcontractors on your bidder list alongside the villa, fit-out or labour packages you are running from the same BoQ engine, and get every trade back in a structure you can compare.
MEP contractors pricing their own electrical scope
Measure the panels, cabling, devices and testing directly against the sections here, then tender the parts you subcontract on the same lines, so your own suppliers' prices roll up cleanly into your bid.
Consultants and quantity surveyors preparing the tender
Start from a structure that already separates authority items and ELV containment from the priced work, then measure the project's actual quantities into it before it goes out.
How to use it
Fill the brackets
Ratings, sizes and fitting types go into the description, so every bidder prices the same equipment.
Keep the authority items at cost
Connection and inspection fees change by authority and by load; carrying them at actual cost keeps them out of the rates.
Send it as a tender
Import the file into VEXORS and send it to your electrical subcontractors; their prices come back on these lines.
Compare what comes back
Bids land levelled on your lines, with unusual rates flagged and authority items still separate, so the award decision is yours to make with the numbers in front of you.
Electrical BoQ template FAQ
Read next
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- The BoQ templateThe general bill of quantities template behind every trade version: sectioned items, unit and quantity columns you fix, and a summary with contingency and VAT apart from the rates.
- How to level construction bidsWhy the lowest bid as submitted is not always the lowest once the gaps in it are priced back in, and how levelling makes bids comparable.