Bid check
How do I verify an EV charger installation quote?
ChargeRight compares an EV charger install bid against published labor-hour references, state wage data, and retail material costs, so you can tell whether it's fair before you sign. The result is a plain-English "in range" or "way over" verdict.
Short answer: Verify an EV charger installation quote by checking its line-item labor hours, materials, and total price against independent references (published labor-hour data, BLS state wage data, and retail material costs) instead of judging it on price alone. Also confirm the bid includes a written NEC load calculation if it bundles a panel upgrade, since that's the most common place a quote gets padded.
What gets compared
Published labor-hour references
Public trade references (RSMeans 2024 summaries, estimating guides) for how long electrical tasks should take.
BLS state wage rates
Per-state journeyman and master electrician wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Retail material costs
Retail pricing for wire, conduit, breakers, and EVSE, averaged from Home Depot and Grainger.
Five red flags in EV install bids
- No itemized labor + materials - just one big line item
- Bundles a panel upgrade with no load calculation in writing
- Refuses to share the NEC load calculation
- Quotes a charger brand you must buy from them
- Wants the homeowner to pull the permit
Does the quote match the charger's amperage?
One more line to check before you sign: the breaker feeding the charger should be sized at 125% of its continuous amperage (NEC 625.41), rounded up to the next standard size. If the quote specs a breaker below the amps in this table, ask why.
| Charger set to (continuous) | Minimum breaker (×1.25) |
|---|---|
| 24 A | 30 A |
| 32 A | 40 A |
| 40 A | 50 A |
| 48 A | 60 A |
What the bid check does with your quote
The checker rebuilds an install bid from published labor hours, your state's wage data and retail material prices, then grades the quote against it. It is part of the $49.99 assessment report and opens from your report with your panel and recommended circuit already loaded. Below is one example job, priced by the same engine and graded.
Here is a worked example, start to finish
One example job in Louisville: a 40 A charger on a 50 A breaker, 50 ft of 6/3 NM-B, permit, inspection, test and cleanup, 30 miles of drive time. I rebuilt what it should cost from published labor hours, the state median electrician wage plus overhead, and parts at retail. Then I graded three quotes for the same work. The math is not hidden from you before you buy.
Same job, three quotes, three grades
The quote
$622
Grade A
Your quote is $30 (5%) above the reconstructed fair bid.
In range. Overhead is already inside the fair bid, so a quote a little above it is a business earning its profit.
The quote
$770
Grade B
Your quote is $178 (30%) above the reconstructed fair bid.
Above range. Ask for the biggest line on its own line item before you sign.
The quote
$1,066
Grade C
Your quote is $474 (80%) above the reconstructed fair bid.
Far above range. Get a second written quote for the same scope.
A is under 1.10x the fair bid. B is 1.10x through 1.50x the fair bid. C is above 1.50x the fair bid. This grades the price, not the electrician.
How I got to $592
- Hours of electrician work
- 12 lines on the job
- Per-task hours from published labor-hour references, times the quantity on each line.
- 8.84 hours
- Hourly rate
- Kentucky median electrician wage $27.43 x 1.35x burden
- Wage source: BLS OEWS May 2024 SOC 47-2111 state median. The burden covers benefits, truck, tools, and overhead, so overhead is already inside this number.
- $37.03 an hour
- Labor
- Sum of the labor column, line by line
- Each line is its hours times the hourly rate, rounded to the cent, then the lines are added.
- $327.37
- Materials at retail
- Install 2-pole 50A breaker $45.00 + Pull 6/3 NM-B cable 50 ft $220.00
- Retail shelf prices on purpose, as the upper bound. No contractor discount is assumed.
- $265.00
- Fair bid
- $327.37 labor + $265.00 materials
- There is no profit line in this number. Overhead is inside the hourly rate; materials are at retail.
- $592.37
I priced 8.84 hours at the Kentucky median electrician wage plus overhead, added the materials at retail, and got $592.
Where the contractor margin already sits
- Overhead is already inside the hourly rate. The Kentucky median electrician wage of $27.43 is multiplied by 1.35x for benefits, truck, tools, and overhead before a single hour is counted.
- Materials are priced at retail shelf prices on purpose, as the upper bound. No contractor discount is assumed.
- There is no profit line in the fair bid. Quotes under 1.10x still grade A.
- I do not publish an industry markup percentage. I have not found a public source I would stand behind, so I show you what the work costs before anyone adds anything.
What you get with the report
- Your own quote graded A, B or C against the state median electrician wage for your ZIP code.
- The bid rebuilt line by line, hours and materials, with the source on every line.
- The dollar gap, the fair band in dollars, and the gauge.
- Up to four things to say back to the contractor, and the whole section in your PDF.
How the fair bid is calculated
Labor
Per-task labor hours sourced from publicly available trade references: RSMeans 2024 summaries, Mike Holt Enterprises forum consensus, and US DoE / DoL electrical estimating guides. NECA's Manual of Labor Units is copyrighted and never used verbatim. All values trace back to a public source cited in each line item.
Wages
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 release, SOC 47-2111 (Electricians), state-level median hourly. Public domain.
Labor hours
Per-task hours come from the public trade references above, reflecting code-compliant, professionally-installed work, applied against your state's median electrician wage. This gives a single fair estimate for quality work, not a two-tier comparison.
Burden multiplier
Base hourly wage is multiplied by a state-specific burden factor (1.30 to 1.45x) to account for benefits, truck, tool, and overhead costs. Default 1.35x is the national industry-typical rate for residential electrical work.
ZIP to state
US Census Bureau ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) to state mapping, derived from published USPS prefix ranges. Public domain.
Materials
Per-unit material costs are retail averages from Home Depot and Grainger (April 2026). Contractor pricing may differ, but retail establishes an upper bound for a fair-bid sanity check.
Disclaimer
Estimates are derived from publicly available trade references. This tool is not an official NECA Manual of Labor Units calculation. Actual prices vary by contractor, region, material cost fluctuation, site conditions, and job complexity. Use this as a sanity check, not a binding quote. ChargeRight is a consumer transparency tool, not a licensed electrical contractor.
Full data tables with sources for every number behind the estimate.
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify an EV charger installation quote?
Compare the bid's line-item labor, materials, and total price against independent references such as published labor-hour data, BLS state wage rates, and retail material costs, instead of judging it on price alone. If the quote bundles a panel or 200 amp service upgrade, ask to see the NEC load calculation in writing before you sign - that's the single most common place an EV charger bid gets padded.
What's the cheapest way to find out if my EV charger quote is fair?
Comparing the numbers yourself costs nothing: check the bid's line items against published labor-hour references, BLS wage data, and retail material costs. ChargeRight's checker automates that comparison and is included with the $49.99 assessment report, opening with your panel and recommended circuit already loaded - still far cheaper than paying for a second in-person estimate just to sanity-check the first.
Is your panel EV-ready? Check that before you check the bid
A lot of overbids come from bundling a 200 amp service upgrade nobody calculated for. The assessment kills that.
Check my panel$49.99 - results in minutes