Model 01 · Supply and install
Municipal road retrofit
Win a district road-lighting package, quote per pole, ship in the installation sequence and hand over with a night audit.
This is the largest ticket and the slowest cash. It is also the model that builds a reference you can show for the next five years. The work is won on schedule and documentation, not on the lowest lumen price.
Who this suits
Contractors and trading companies with a municipal contact and an installation crew.
How the model runs, step by step
- 01
Read the road
Width, traffic class, pole spacing, mounting height, and whether a grid connection exists on any section. A road with power on the first kilometre and none after it needs two specifications, not one compromise.
- 02
Build the bill of quantities
Luminaire, pole, bracket, foundation, civil work, installation, commissioning, spares. Most losing bids are missing the foundation and the lift.
- 03
Price with a contingency
Add 8-12% for freight, duty and currency. On a 15% margin, a currency move of 6% is the difference between a project and a hobby.
- 04
Ship in the section sequence
Deliver in the order the crew installs. Two shipments cost more than one, but a compound full of poles you cannot install costs more still.
- 05
Commission at night
Drive the road after switch-on and film both carriageways. Hand over the night file, the batch test records and the spare list together.
200-pole package, illustrative
| Contract value | 200 x USD 430 = USD 86,000 |
| Landed product | 200 x USD 285 = USD 57,000 |
| Installation crew and lift | 200 x USD 55 = USD 11,000 |
| Foundations and civil work | 200 x USD 25 = USD 5,000 |
| Gross profit | USD 13,000 (15%) |
| Annual capacity | Three to five packages with one crew |
The margin is made in the bill of quantities and lost in the variation order. Photograph the site before you price it.
Where it goes wrong
| Risk | What to do about it |
|---|---|
| Payment after handover | Milestone billing: 30% deposit, 30% on delivery, 30% on commissioning, 10% retention. |
| Customs delay | Book the container six weeks before the site date and keep the test reports with the shipping documents. |
| Theft after installation | Anti-theft bracket, locked battery compartment and a serial list held by the client. |
Before you order
- Road survey sheet with photographs and GPS points
- Bill of quantities including civil work and lift
- Approved sample and night photograph
- Batch test record by serial number
- Two spares per hundred units
- Signed night audit and handover file
Questions buyers ask
Answers before you write.
Do we need a local partner to install?
Yes in most markets. A local crew handles foundations, poles and permissions; we supply the sequence, the drawings and one supervising engineer for the first section.
Who handles the warranty?
The manufacturer covers the luminaire. The contractor covers installation. Put that split in writing before the first pole goes in, because most failures are diagnosed at the bracket, not the board.
Can the client pay in local currency?
Price in USD and state the exchange reference and the date. If the contract must be local currency, add a currency clause rather than a higher margin.
Run the numbers with us.
Send the model, the market and the price you think you can get. We will reply with the landed cost, the margin and the three assumptions that matter most.