Pre-Wire for New Construction

One trip at rough-in. No fishing through finished walls later.

Cat6A drops to every workstation and TV, speaker cabling to ceiling positions, smart-switch boxes with neutrals, PoE camera pulls, EV-ready conduit per Title 24, networking closet patch panel — all during framing, while the walls are still open.

Request a Pre-Wire Plan (650) 550-0719
Labeled residential panel after a YKCA pre-wire install

What This Is

The 30 cables you wish were already there.

During rough framing, before insulation and drywall, every cable you might want for the next decade can be pulled at essentially the same labor as one cable. Cat6A to future TVs, 4K cameras, AP locations; CL2 / CL3 speaker wire to ceiling positions; neutrals at every switch box; PoE conduit to the doorbell; EV-ready conduit per Title 24. We come in twice — rough-in to pull and label, trim to terminate and commission.

Three years post-move-in is when homeowners discover what they should have pre-wired. Retrofit then runs 3-6x rough-in labor plus drywall patching. The line items worth front-loading: extra Cat6 drops per room, conduit chases between floors, networking closet with cable tray, EV-ready beyond minimum, speaker conduits to roomes that "might" become a media room.

Open interior during construction with electrical rough-in visible

Rough-in stage — when pre-wire happens.

Scope

What is included in a pre-wire scope.

Structured cabling, speaker pulls, smart-switch boxes, camera drops, networking closet, EV-ready — single bid, sequenced with the GC.

Cat6A Structured Cabling

Drops to every TV, every desk, every Wi-Fi AP location, every PoE camera position. Terminated at one end on a 24-port patch panel in the networking closet.

Speaker Cabling

CL2 / CL3-rated 14/2 or 14/4 to ceiling speaker locations — living rooms, primary bedroom, patio, kitchen. Pull plans coordinated with the AV scope.

Smart-Switch Boxes

Neutral wire to every switch box, single-gang or multi-gang depending on future controls plan. Pre-wired so Lutron Caseta / RadioRA install at trim is a one-for-one swap.

Doorbell + Camera Drops

PoE Cat6 to front-door doorbell location; Cat6 to each future camera position (front, back, garage, side gates). Outdoor pulls in conduit where required.

Networking Closet

24-port patch panel, dedicated 20A circuit, UPS slot, wall-mount or 12U rack. Cable trays / chases so future additions are pull-and-terminate.

CALGreen Title 24 EV-Ready

Dedicated 208/240V conduit from panel to garage / driveway, 40A reservation in load calc, future-charger box stubbed and labeled. Inspection-ready.

TV wall mount with concealed wiring — pre-wire result at trim stage

Materials We Pull

Industry-standard cable, labeled both ends.

No bulk-bag Amazon cable. We pull Belden, Berk-Tek, Liberty AV — the brands the AHJ inspector also recognizes. Plenum or riser per location, color-coded by purpose, labeled both ends, terminated on rack-grade patch panel.

Belden / Berk-Tek Cat6A Cable

Plenum or riser-rated per AHJ requirements

Leviton / Panduit 24-port Patch Panel

Networking-closet termination, labeled

Liberty AV / West Penn Speaker Cable

14/2 or 14/4 CL2 / CL3, color-coded

Wiremold / Carlon Conduit

EV-ready and chase runs to garage

Decora 4-Gang Smart Switch Boxes

With neutral conductor at every position

Single-Gang Mud Rings

Spot positions for future Pico / keypads

FAQ

Pre-wire questions, straight answers.

Pre-wire is the act of pulling all the low-voltage cable a future smart-home, AV and security system will need — during the rough-in phase of construction, while wall studs are open and no drywall is up yet. Retrofit (after drywall) costs 3-6x as much because every drop becomes a labor-heavy fishing exercise through finished walls, with patch-and-paint to follow. Pre-wire during framing is essentially the same labor whether we pull 5 cables or 50.

Standard Bay Area new-construction pre-wire includes: one Cat6A drop to every TV location and every desk; one Cat6A to every smart-camera location (front door, back yard, garage, side gates); structured cabling back to a central networking closet; CL2 / CL3 speaker wire to ceiling speaker locations in living rooms, primary bedroom, patio; smart-switch single-gang or multi-gang boxes with neutrals at every switch; doorbell cable to chime box; PoE drop for the video doorbell; security panel cable runs if a system is planned. CALGreen Title 24 EV-ready conduit + 40A panel capacity is mandatory on most new builds.

We come in twice: once at rough framing (before insulation and drywall) to pull and label every cable, terminate one end at the networking closet on a patch panel, and stub the room ends with service loops, and once at trim (after drywall, before paint) to install wall plates, mount cameras, terminate the room ends, install smart switches, and commission the system. The two visits sequence with the GC schedule the same way HVAC and electrical do.

Living room: 2-3 (TV, AV stack, future). Primary bedroom: 2 (bed wall + opposite wall for TV). Each secondary bedroom: 1. Kitchen: 1 (counter desk or wall TV). Home office: 2-3 (desk + future expansion). Garage: 1 (camera + Wi-Fi AP). Outdoor zones: 1 per AP location and 1 per camera. Networking closet: terminate all of these on a 24-port patch panel. Adding extra drops at rough-in is essentially free.

California Title 24 Part 11 (CALGreen) requires new residential and commercial construction to install EV-ready infrastructure even if no charger is initially installed. Specifically: dedicated 208/240V conduit from the panel to a future charger location, panel capacity reserved for a 40A circuit, and an outlet box at the future charger position. Multi-family and certain commercial scenarios have additional requirements (EV-capable vs. EV-installed quotas). We handle EV-ready as part of the standard new-construction electrical scope, not as an add-on.

For a typical 2,500 sq ft Bay Area single-family build with full smart-home pre-wire (12-18 Cat6A drops, speaker cabling to 4 zones, 4-6 camera positions, networking closet panel, EV-ready), labor + materials lands in the $4,500-$9,000 range — added during rough-in. Retrofitting the same scope post-construction is $15,000-$30,000 plus drywall patching. The decision worth making at framing is "what might we want in 5 years"; the cable itself is cheap, the labor is the same trip.

Building or planning to remodel?

Get the pre-wire plan before drywall.

$200 on-site walk-through with the GC's plan set. Drop count, room map, materials list, fixed quote within 5 business days — applied to project total if you proceed.

Request a Pre-Wire Plan (650) 550-0719
×

Contact Us

For More Info!