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Q. I am doing some research and am looking for information on pricing for a cable installation. For instance do you have a flat rate per drop installing Cat 5 or fiber or do you charge per feet? Also what is the going rate for this type of installation including wall plates and cable. Any information you can give me on this would be very helpful in my research!

A. It is normal to price a job on a per drop basis but this is subject to the numerous other factors involved. These include the difficulty of the installation (ie. is there a false floor or ceiling or will it all have to be trunked out!), and the type of cable and connectors that have been specified (some systems are more expensive than others).

I think the overriding factor is usually down to the amount of man/hours involved, once a price has been worked out for this and the material costs and profit have been added, the total can then be divided by the number of outlets to give a price per drop.

The same goes for a fibre installation although the cost of materials is higher than copper.