Why Low Voltage Contractors Get Paid at Commissioning

QUICK ANSWER

Low voltage contractors get paid at commissioning, which means the heaviest billing waits on integration schedules other trades control. Equipment and licensing get bought months early, and a delayed commissioning window burns tech time nobody recovers. CONTROL structures milestone billing, funds the procurement, and documents every delay.

BY JOSH LUEBKER · UPDATED JUL 2026 · COMING SOON

Systems Integration Billing Milestones

Head-end integration and acceptance testing gate the biggest billing behind schedules you do not run. Milestone terms with dates keep that money moving.

Equipment Procurement Timing

Switches, servers, and licenses leave your account long before acceptance pays. Stored equipment billing puts the float on the project.

Commissioning Delay Recovery

A slipped commissioning window idles programmed techs at full cost. Documented delay notices keep repeat mobilizations recoverable.

THE FIX

The CONTROL chapters that solve this for low voltage contractors specifically.

CHAPTER 6

Project Management Standards

Milestone billing, stored equipment terms, and delay notices.

CHAPTER 7

Monthly Cadence

A forecast that carries procurement and integration timing.

CHAPTER 1

Job Cost Structure

Cost codes that separate cable, hardware, and programming.

RELATED READING

QUESTIONS LOW VOLTAGE CONTRACTORS ASK

Why do low voltage contractors get paid so late?

Low voltage contractors get paid late because their value concentrates at the end: integration, programming, and acceptance testing. Those milestones sit behind every other trade's completion and the owner's schedule, so the largest applications age while the cable in the walls was paid for months ago. Milestone terms with dates are the counterweight.

How should a low voltage contractor bill equipment?

A low voltage contractor should bill major equipment through stored material applications backed by invoices, serial numbers, and insurance, the month the gear hits the shop. Chapter 6 of CONTROL sets that standard, so the procurement float sits on the project instead of the company's working capital.

What profit margin should a low voltage contractor target?

A low voltage contractor should target 22 to 30% gross profit per project and 12% net profit after all expenses, with overhead between 9 and 13%. Programming labor is the scarce asset, so its hours belong in their own cost code where their margin can be seen and defended.

JOSH LUEBKER

PRESIDENT · SPM THE CONSTRUCTION CFO

Josh Luebker is a former commercial construction project manager and master electrician. He has managed 150+ projects totaling $2.1B+, including Google data centers, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. CONTROL is built on what works in the field.

Josh leads SPM The Construction CFO (Sulphur Prairie Management, LLC), the fractional CFO for commercial subcontractors.

SPM THE CONSTRUCTION CFO → LINKEDIN →

Why Low Voltage Contractors Get Paid at Commissioning

Systems Integration Billing Milestones

Equipment Procurement Timing

Commissioning Delay Recovery

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