Total 1–9 Employees 10+ Employees
2016 2014 2012 2010 2008 2016 2014 2012 2010 2008 2016 2014 2012 2010 2008
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
New Construction 34%> 32% 31% <34% <43% 29% 28% 26% <30% <38% 45% 43% 43% 47% 52%
Maintenance /Service/Repair 39% <41% 42%> 38%> 31% 44% 45% 47%> 41%> 35% 28% 28% 28% 27%> 22%
The (<) and (>) difference shows significance at the 90% level of confidence.
Average Revenue from Sector by Number of Employees
for respondents, with 35 percent stating
involvement in such projects.
Looking at several specific integrated
systems product categories, one can see
the overwhelming importance of ECs
in lighting selection and installation.
Figure 12, Roles Played by Firm in
Integrated Systems, shows that almost
60 percent of ECs said they both specify
and install lighting—about double the
percentage that say they only install such
systems, without also specifying them.
Where’s the money?
In small but statistically significant ways,
new construction has become more
important to ECs’ bottom lines, accounting
for 34 percent of 2015’s revenue, across our
total sample, up from 32 percent in 2013. It
was especially important for larger firms,
responsible for almost 50 percent of revenue for firms with 20 or more employees
(not shown). On the flip side, the maintenance/service/repair sector is at the top
for billings among smaller companies.
While the revenue percentages for each
sector remained fairly steady compared
to 2014’s survey results, Figure 13, Average Revenue From Sector by Number
of Employees, shows how much more
important new construction was eight
years ago, when it represented 52 percent
of revenue for larger companies.
Looking at the types of work ECs are
doing within these sectors, electrical/
power distribution accounted for 43 per-
cent of revenue in this year’s survey, and
it is statistically unchanged from 2014.
As a point of reference, in 2004, respon-
dents indicated this category accounted
for 69 percent of revenue, which serves
as another indicator of how much ECs
have expanded into other areas just over
the last dozen years. Figure 14, Aver-
age Revenue From Specific Areas,
shows that this trend holds true for the
smallest firms—revenue from electrical/
power distribution is no longer statisti-
cally higher for these companies than for
their larger counterparts.
Looking at our total sample, CII
projects represent a larger portion of
total revenue than either residential or
nonbuilding (including transportation/
lighting and utility categories) projects,
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Average Revenue From Various Building Categories
Total 2016 1–4 5–9 10–19 20–99 100+
■ CII
■ Residential
■ Nonbuilding
Percent
Percent
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Average Revenue From Specific Areas
Total 1–9 10+
■ Electrical/Power Distribution
■ Lighting (Ballasts, Controls,
Fixtures, Lamps)
■ Industrial Systems (Motors,
Controls, etc.)
■ Communications/Data Systems
■ Automated Building
Systems/ Controls
■ Backup Power
■ Fire Systems
■ Security Systems
■ Energy Management/
Power Quality
■ Sound and Video (Home Theater)
■ Sound and Video (Commercial)
■ Alternative Power
Generating Systems
■ Building Systems Integration
■ Life Safety (Not Including Fire)
