Welcome to ELECTRI’s Research Engagement Hub!

 

ELECTRI is actively shaping the future of the electrical contracting industry by offering invaluable insights through surveys, interviews and contractor feedback.  Below are our current research projects that need your help.

  • 4×10 Work Schedules: We are conducting a brief survey for an ELECTRI project to gather initial insights on the implementation and impact of 4×10 work schedules in the electrical contracting industry. Your input will provide valuable perspectives to help guide our understanding of 4×10 work schedules. If you are a contractor/employer please out this survey, to get the field’s perspective, please send this survey to your field workforce.

 

  • Incentive Pay: We invite you to complete this survey to help us better understand the impact of incentive pay on electrical contractors. Participants will include construction professionals from electrical contracting companies and related industry partners. Your insights will contribute to developing strategies that can enhance the effectiveness of incentive pay in the industry. To fill out the survey, please click here.

 

  • Forecasting Absenteeism: We are requesting historical project data for the past 5-6 months or longer (ideally 2-3 years) to capture a range of project types and condition. Data from multiple projects and multiple locations would add a lot of value to the project. Generally, the more data the better. Below is a list of minimum data requested. If you think there is more useful information that we should include, please feel free to share more. Data Specifications (CSV or Excel format): 
    • Timesheets, Daily Logs (if available), Overtime Records, Employee Demographics, Project-specific data, etc.
    • To see the full detailed data request, please read this document.

    Please fill out this contact form if you are interested in learning more or participating. 

 

  • Managerial Strategies for Improving Project Level Cash Flows and Payment Terms:  We are seeking electrical contractors to share their expertise in this two-phase study. In phase one, participants will provide insights on best practices for cash flows, with minimal time commitment (15-20 minutes for an email survey and 10-15 minutes to rate responses about a month later). In phase two, contractors can opt to share project-level data (kept confidential) to help create a predictive earned value tool through ProNovos Analytics. To participate or learn more, fill out this contact form.

 

  • VDC Time Study: The University of Washington invites you to participate in a Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Time Study to benchmark VDC modeling and management. This research aims to enhance estimating and managing VDC services across the industry. Supported by MCAA, NECA, SMACNA, and their foundations, this study has three main goals:
    • Develop metrics to estimate VDC engineering for MEP trades,
    • Benchmark VDC practices and performance, and
    • Evaluate VDC efficiency and effectiveness.

Participants in our pilot phase have shared positive feedback, noting, “This method helps me see how I allocate my time and I’m eager to implement it with my team.”

Why Participate?
Direct Impact on Research: Your input will advance VDC practices across the industry.
Stay Ahead: Gain early insights into emerging VDC methodologies.

How to Join?
You can participate by using Clockify for time tracking or sharing existing company time data. Please start by filling out our participation form, indicating your preferred method, and we’ll provide next steps. For more details, visit our website at https://vdctime.be.uw.edu or email us at vdc-time-study@uw.edu.

 

Any questions or would like to learn more, contact Amanda Harbison at amanda@electri.org.

If you would like to join a research Task Force please sign up HERE.