Hmm, good wisdom here. I’m going to remember this.

You can solve all of your drama problems by partnering with the electrician. You handle the planning labor (prints meetings etc...all billable) and wire sale and let them handle wire pulling. This way everything gets done "to code"...you have an ally whos making more money thanks to you.

I've done this often on residential jobs. My only caveat is that instructions often don't get communicated clearly to the actual laborers, and so details of the pulls (i.e. the exact height of a roughin box, how much slack to leave, etc.) can get mucked up. Spending time on site with the laborers helps solve this.

Me too. (after interviewing the electrician -- some have an attitude and are not qualified to pull low voltage for a doorbell) Having an ally who is more likely to be called onsite if there is a change by the designer, can prevent issues that pop up after a wall is moved, lights added or removed, cabinet eliminated,  etc., etc.

Also, if the electrician views me as an ally, I can get referrals through this channel. There can also be some risk of loosing jobs if the electrician then feels qualified to do the whole A/V aspect of the project. Anyone with a stepladder and a hammer can do this, right?

I find that the work comes at you very differently. In a residential job, we have three distinct phases, rough-in, trim-out and final. In larger (10=K sq. ft.) commercial, it seems like the phases all run together. They finish floors, wings, or rooms at a time. We may be finishing up wiring in one area, trimming out another and staring finial install in a conference room. All in the same week. On really large jobs, 40K sq. ft. and up, a crew never leaves the job-site. We will have someone there for six months straight.

Triple your normal labor estimates. Reduce your equipment margins. Be prepared for a lot of paperwork, especially if you have to submit AIA pay applications. Create a wiring diagram, and as-built drawings. Make friends with the EC, and remember, most of the other subs don't care about the quality of their own work, let alone yours.

Hope that was inspiring enough.....

Ditto this. In commercial, in order to land the bigger jobs, almost all margins including labor will need to be reduced significantly. Race to the bottom is always in affect.

Also, in my experience when bidding on commercial jobs, I always find that not all bidders provide everything that is asked for in order for them to show a lower price. The customer or owners rep typically only look at the bottom number and that's it. They never really compare quotes. Some bidders like to play games with the ways the RFP or Bid spec is written up, hence my comment before this one.