How much contingency should an electrical estimate include?

There's no single right number. Size material contingency to the job's length and how much copper, conduit and switchgear it uses, since those prices move the most. Copper wire and cable prices rose 30.8% from September 2025 to September 2026, according to the BLS Producer Price Index. On the labor side, picking the right NECA column for site conditions does the same job for hours.