Situation · Close-out
The cage has to be empty before the crew demobilises.
Reels that came back from the floors as ceilings closed, whips left from the lighting package, and a cage that has to be cleared by a date already on the schedule.
The last month of a tenant improvement is a sorting problem wearing a punch list. Reels come back from the floors as the ceilings close, whips are left over from the lighting package, and the cage that has held material since the job started has to be empty before the crew demobilises.
A close-out lot is usually small, mixed and unusually well documented, because the job bought everything against a purchase order and the electrician knows which reels were opened and which were never touched. That combination is easier to review than its size suggests, and it usually raises fewer questions than a demolition pile of the same weight.
Buy quote request
Tell us what you have
Type, conductor, voltage class and how much is on hand. Photos can follow by text or email. A buyer reviews the lot before anyone talks about money.
Prefer to talk it through? 954-740-1983 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com
01 Material
What comes back to the cage
Leftover reels of building wire come back with feeder cut-offs from a panel change, tray and MC offcuts from the ceiling, and the short whips made up for luminaires that were never installed. On a base building job add riser cable and the larger service conductors left from the main distribution.
Most of it is new. A close-out lot differs from a demolition lot in exactly that way: the material was bought for this building, handled by one crew and never energised. The condition question is about handling and storage, not about service life or removal damage.
02 Whips
Ceiling whips and short lengths
Whips are the awkward line in any close-out. A whip made up for a luminaire is short by design, so a leftover one has limited reuse, and a bundle of them weighs less than the same copper in one length. They are still listed rather than hidden at the back of the cage.
Where whips were made up on site, say what they contain: armour type, conductor size, number of conductors and whether a grounding conductor is included. That detail decides whether the bundle is a usable line or a scrap line, and it takes a minute to write down.
03 Records
The packing list is already written
Every reel on a commercial job arrived against a purchase order, and most arrived with a packing list. Those documents name the construction, the length and the reel count, which is precisely what a review needs. The electrician usually has them in a folder or a job mailbox.
Photographs finish the job. A tag shot, a jacket print, the full reel and the pile in the cage give a buyer enough to describe the lot without a visit, and they take less time than a phone call about the same material. Keep the shots together with the list.
04 Timing
Clearing the cage before demobilisation
Demobilisation has a date, and the cage is on the list of things that must be gone by it. That date is the most useful fact in the message. It tells a buyer whether the lot can be collected on a normal run or has to be fitted around a building losing its power and its lift.
Small close-out lots sometimes travel with another job in the same district. Sending the list early, while the cage is still full and the crew is still on site, gives more options than calling on the last afternoon when the material is already on a truck to somewhere else.
- The demobilisation date.
- Whether the building still has power and a lift.
- Who signs the release on the last day.
FAQ Seller questions
What sellers ask before they send a list
Answers describe how the buying desk works. They are not an offer, a rate or a promise of purchase.
How much cable is usually left at a commercial close-out?
It varies with the job, so no useful figure applies. What is consistent is the shape of it: several partial reels of building wire, a few feeder cut-offs, MC offcuts from the ceiling and a bundle of whips. A list in those groups is more useful than a total.
Are ceiling whips worth including?
Yes, as their own line. A whip is short by design, so a leftover one is unlikely to be reused as a run, but the copper is still there and the bundle is reviewed on armour type, conductor size and length. Leaving them out of the list only makes the pile look smaller than it is.
The job files are with the office. Can a review start without them?
Yes. Tags and jacket prints answer most of the questions, and the packing list can follow. Sending what exists now is better than waiting for a complete set, since the constraint on a close-out is usually the demobilisation date rather than the paperwork.
What if the cage is on an upper floor?
Say which floor and what the building allows. Reels can often come down on a construction hoist or a freight elevator within its load limit, and small coils can be carried. Anything heavier needs a plan agreed with the building, and that is easier to arrange before the last week.
Can leftover cable be left for the tenant?
Sometimes, and that is a decision for the contractor and the owner. Where material is contractually handed over as attic stock, it is not available to sell. Where the contractor owns it and has to clear the cage, it is reviewed like any other close-out lot.
Does a small close-out lot need a site visit?
Often not. A close-out pile is usually small enough to describe from photographs and a packing list, and a buyer can decide from those whether a visit adds anything. Larger base building lots with riser cable and service conductors are more likely to justify one.
Buy quote request
Tell us what you have
Type, conductor, voltage class and how much is on hand. Photos can follow by text or email. A buyer reviews the lot before anyone talks about money.
Prefer to talk it through? 954-740-1983 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com