CATEGORY

Business & Estimating

Pricing, labor, overhead, margins, estimates and how much contractors should charge.

17 tools · 27 guides

Guides in this category

Business6 min read

How to Set a Break-Even Hourly Rate

Contractor method for setting a profitable hourly rate: overhead, direct cost and target profit.

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Business6 min read

How to Order Material with Waste

Contractor method for adding waste to a net quantity and rounding up to the selling unit.

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Business6 min read

How to Set Job Contingency

Contractor method for keeping contingency separate from markup and profit.

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Business6 min read

How to Build a Construction Payment Schedule

Contractor method for building a payment schedule where deposit, milestones and final sum to 100%.

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Business6 min read

How to Estimate Construction Crew Productivity

Contractor method for estimating crew output from production rate, crew size and man-hours.

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Business6 min read

How to Compare Subcontractor Bids

Contractor method for comparing subcontractor quotes on total cost, not just the headline price.

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Business6 min read

How to Estimate Mobilization Cost

Contractor method for pricing site setup, transport and teardown.

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Business6 min read

How to Estimate Labor Burden

Contractor method for turning base wages into a fully burdened hourly rate.

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Business6 min read

How to Price Construction Retainage

Contractor method for calculating how much a retainage clause holds back from each payment.

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Business6 min read

How to Track Job Cost Variance

Contractor method for comparing budget to actual cost and protecting your margin.

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Business6 min read

How to Estimate Equipment Hourly Cost

Contractor method for pricing equipment: depreciation, fuel, maintenance and utilization.

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Business6 min read

How to Price a Change Order

Contractor method for pricing extra work: direct cost, markup and the contingency line.

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