Re: Structured (low voltage) wiring installation estimates

[Lewis Gardner <lgardner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Frank Stutzman wrote:
> Lewis Gardner <lgardner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>Frank Stutzman wrote:
>>
>>>The number of locations
>>>was probably only about 35.
>
>
>>In other words you did 35 drops in a weekend with a crew of four people.
>>It makes no time difference if one cable or ten cables go to a drop.
>>That is why I consider a "box location" a "drop". The OP's list looked
>>to me like he thought the same way. But even if he didn't with 29
>>speaker and 23 cat5 or cat6 drops he is over 50 drops. Still a full
>>weekend at 20+ hours.
>
>
> Ah.  So we've got a differance in definition.
>
> When I did my commercial installations, I was typically paid by the cable
> termination.  The term used for this was "a drop".
>
> In a commercial installation it is fairly common to have several hundred
> cables run between wiring closets (a MDF to an IDF, if you recognized
> those terms).  Using your definition, these hundred of cables would be a
> single drop.  Using mine it would be a hundred drops.
>
> No flame.  Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a
> proper definition of the term.


I didn't take it as a flame. I hope you didn't feel that I was
minimizing your work.

I don't think you will find a "proper" definition of most terms used in
HA. At least not like the organization imposed in telcom.

Pay per termination is used in some commercial work. However few people
will pay 100% for each termination for two or more cables terminated in
the same box unless forced by tariff or standing contract.

I would never call "hundreds of cables" a drop.

For estimation purposes I look at how many spools of cable I will have
on a job to determine the maximum number of cables in a drop. In no case
  that I can recall have I pulled more than 10 cables at a time. In
general I pull one drop at a time due to friction issues unless the
drops are the same distance from the closet. To do otherwise tends to
mess up the trunk lines.

.