2008 National Concrete &
Masonry Estimator
Chapter Preview

The sections that follow have detailed labor, material and equipment costs for nearly all common concrete and masonry work. Emphasis will be on avoiding risk -- pricing pitfalls that can turn any concrete and masonry job into a financial nightmare.

For example, the cost of laying block increases as wall height increases, even when lifting equipment is on hand and is used to good advantage. Your crews are going to lay more block per hour when the wall is 4 feet high than when the same wall tops out at 18 or 20 feet above ground level. It's poor practice to assume the same labor productivity per block regardless of wall height. Masonry and concrete estimates that don't consider changes in labor productivity as wall height increases are likely to miss the mark by a wide margin.

How This Manual Will Help
Most concrete and masonry estimators wear several hats. Many serve as company manager, owner, chief estimator, project manager and field superintendent. With roles like that, there may be no time to do a detailed labor and material take-off for every job that comes along. Even a full-time estimator may not have ample time to do a detailed take-off on every job.

If you're an experienced concrete and masonry estimator with too little time to scope out the last dime of cost in every job, take heart. This book is for you. I've done most of tedious work already. Use my figures to save time, save effort, and eliminate most of the routine mistakes even seasoned estimators make at least occasionally.

If you've had years of experience with concrete and masonry in the field, but little or no estimating experience, this book is likely to be the best guide you'll find anywhere. Cost data in this manual was compiled by a mathematician with almost three decades of estimating experience. Most of the cost tables in this manual are for complete assemblies -- such as block, reinforcing, and grout -- all wrapped up into one convenient package ready for use. Using these assembly costs will give you extra time to estimate more jobs, run projects more effectively, and be a better manager for your growing business.

Throughout this book you'll find pictures and examples that make your work easier. It's nearly impossible to estimate costs for work you can't visualize and don't understand.

Of course, the best price book for your company would be based on your actual cost experience -- work done on your jobs with materials from dealers and installed by your crews or subcontractors. Since every contractor uses different crews, subcontractors and suppliers, every price book should be different. And, of course, prices in the company price book should be revised regularly to reflect current labor and material costs.

Save Estimating Effort
Having admitted that there's no substitute for developing your own price book, I'll suggest that you not bother. Most concrete and masonry contractors don't have the time or patience to maintain current installed prices for every type of block, brick and concrete job. Even if you did, spending hundreds of hours a year keeping a price book current would be a waste of time.

Instead, I suggest that you let this manual serve as your company price book. Using prices in this book (and on the National Estimator disk in the back of the book) will eliminate most of the common estimating mistakes. If your labor costs are higher or if your crews aren't as skilled as most tradesmen, you may have to increase the prices listed here to make a reasonable profit. And, of course, sometimes you're going to have a job with costs that exceed what any reasonable estimate could have predicted. This manual isn't a substitution for the exercise of good judgment. That's always your job.

This Book Works Two Ways

The disk in the back of this book has all the same information that appears in the printed book, but with one advantage. The National Estimator program makes it easy to copy and paste these costs into an estimate (or bid) and then add whatever markup you select. To get started with the National Estimator disk, insert it into any computer that uses Microsoft Windows. Then follow the instructions on the screen. If you have trouble using National Estimator, call 760­-438-­7828 8 AM to 5 PM (Pacific), Monday through Friday. We’ll be glad to help.

Before installation is complete, you’ll be invited to watch ShowMe, an interactive video guide to the National Estimator program. ShowMe is designed to speed your mastery of National Estimator. You can also start ShowMe at any time while using National Estimator. Click the question mark button at the right end of the toolbar. Then click “ShowMe Tutorial.” The installation disk has to be in your computer when ShowMe is running.

Once an estimate is finished in the National Estimator program and saved to disk, press Ctrl. on your keyboard and tap the letter J to convert the estimate into a proposal in Job Cost Wizard. You can’t make changes in the Job Cost Wizard screen. But it’s easy to toggle back to the National Estimator program (press Alt. and tap the Tab key), make a change, and then press Ctrl­J once again.

Job Cost Wizard offers dozens of choices on what you show and don’t show in written proposals. Your bids can be long (full description for everything in the estimate) or short (only a summary of each category). You can show or hide labor and material cost details. You can show or hide markup and profit.

Once work begins, you’ll want to monitor job expenses to be sure actual costs remain consistent with estimated costs. If you use QuickBooks Pro to pay bills and figure payroll, let QuickBooks do the comparisons
for you. Job Cost Wizard exports the proposal to QuickBooks, where you can prepare progress invoices and track expenses against estimates.

The National Estimator program lets you change anything in the costbook or even add your own estimated costs.
Let the National Concrete & Masonry Estimator costbook become your collection point for all estimating and pricing information. Anything you add to the costbook shows up in red and can be migrated to later editions of this manual when available. The National Concrete & Masonry Estimator costbook starts out as your most useful estimating reference. What you add to that costbook will make it even more valuable.

Material Costs in This Book

Material costs for each item are listed in the column headed “Material.” These are neither retail nor wholesale prices. They are estimates of what most contractors who buy in moderate volume will pay suppliers as of mid­2007. Discounts may be available for purchases in larger volumes.

Add Delivery Expense to the material cost for other than local delivery of reasonably large quantities. Cost of delivery varies with the distance from source of supply, method of transportation, and quantity to be delivered. But most material dealers absorb the delivery cost on local delivery (5 to 15 miles) of larger quantities to good customers. Add the expense of job site delivery when it is a significant part of the material cost.

Add Sales Tax when sales tax will be charged to the contractor buying the materials. In some states, contractors have to collect sales tax based on the contract price. No matter what your state (or county) requires, National Estimator can handle the task. Click Edit on the National Estimator menu bar. Then click Sales Tax.

Waste and Coverage loss is included in the installed material cost. The cost of many materials per unit after installation is greater than the purchase price for the same unit because of waste, shrinkage or cov­erage loss during installation. For example, 1.125 concrete block are needed to create a square foot of wall. But it’s good estimating practice to order about 5% more block than required for the job. Some block will be broken before they can be set in place (waste). A few block will be pulled off the pile for use as wheel stops or hold­downs (shrinkage). And some block will have to be cut to fit around corners, doors and windows (coverage loss). There is no coverage loss with concrete. But it’s common to need a little extra concrete to accommodate over­excavation.

Costs in the “Material” column of this book assume normal waste and coverage loss. Small and irregular jobs may require a greater waste allowance. Materials priced without installation (with no labor cost) do not include an allowance for waste and coverage except as noted.

Labor Costs

Labor costs for installing the material or doing the work described are listed in the column headed “Labor.” The labor cost per unit is the labor cost per hour multiplied by the manhours per unit shown after the @ sign in the “Craft @ Hours” column. Labor cost includes the basic wage, the employer’s contribution to welfare, pension, vacation and apprentice funds and all tax and insurance charges based on wages.

Supervision Expense to the general contractor is not included in the labor cost. The cost of supervision and non­productive labor varies widely from job to job. Calculate the cost of supervision and non­productive labor and add this to the estimate.

Payroll Taxes and Insurance are included in the labor cost. See the following section for more on the “contractor’s burden.”

Manhours per Unit and the Craft performing the work are listed in the “Craft @ Hrs” column. To find the units of work done per man in an 8­hour day, divide 8 by the manhours per unit. To find the units done by a crew in an 8­hour day, multiply the units per man per 8­hour day by the number of crew members.

Manhours Include all productive labor normally associated with installing the materials described. This will usually include tasks such as:

• Unloading and storing materials, tools and equipment on site.
• Moving tools and equipment from a storage area or truck on site at the beginning of the day.
• Returning tools and equipment to a storage area or truck on site at the end of the day.
• Normal time lost for work breaks.
• Planning and discussing the work to be performed.
• Normal handling, measuring, cutting and fitting.
• Keeping a record of the time spent and work done.
• Regular cleanup of construction debris.
• Infrequent correction or repairs required because of faulty installation.

Adjust the Labor Cost to the job you are figuring when your actual hourly labor cost is known or can be estimated. The labor costs listed in the following sec­tion will apply within a few percent on many jobs. But labor costs may be much higher or much lower on the job you are estimating.

If the hourly wage rates listed in the following section are not accurate, divide your known or estimated cost per hour by the listed cost per hour. The result is your adjustment for any figure in the “Labor” column for that craft.

Adjust for Unusual Labor Productivity. Costs in the labor column are for normal conditions: experi­enced craftsmen working on reasonably well­planned and managed concrete and masonry projects with fair to good productivity. Labor estimates assume that materials are standard grade, appropriate tools are on hand, work done by other crafts is adequate, layout and installation are relatively uncomplicated, and working conditions don’t slow progress.

Working conditions at the job site have a major effect on labor cost. Estimating experience and careful analysis can help you predict the effect of most changes in working conditions. Obviously, no single adjustment will apply on all jobs. But the adjustments that follow should help you produce more accurate labor estimates. More than one condition may apply on a job. .

• Add 10% to 15% when working temperatures are below 40 degrees or above 95 degrees.
• Deduct 10% when the work is in an open area with excellent access and good light.
• Add 5% to 50% for tradesmen with below average skills. Deduct 5% to 25% for highly motivated, highly skilled tradesmen.
• Deduct 10% to 20% when an identical task is repeated many times for several days at the same site.
• Add 20% to 50% on small jobs where fitting and matching of materials is required, adjacent surfaces have to be protected and the job site is occupied during construction.
• Add 25% to 50% for work done following a major flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane or tornado while skilled tradesmen are not readily available. Material costs may also be higher after a major disaster.
• Add 10% to 35% for demanding specs, rigid inspections, unreliable suppliers, a difficult owner or an inexperienced architect.

This manual has been compiled by and for concrete and masonry estimators, not engineers. Nothing in this manual is intended to suggest approved or rec­ommended engineering practice. Only an engineer licensed to practice in your community can identify materials and procedures that meet code requirements and accepted standards for reinforcing steel, structural concrete and structural masonry.

Use an Area Modification Factor from pages 8 through 11 if your material, hourly labor or equipment costs are unknown and can’t be estimated. Here’s how: Use the labor and material costs in this manual without modification. Then add or deduct the percentages shown for labor, material and equipment.

Equipment Costs for small tools and expendable supplies (such as towels and tape) are usually consid­ered overhead expense and are covered by your markup. Equipment costs for larger equipment (such as a forklift or backhoe)should be based on the rental rate for the period needed. Equipment costs are includ­ed in sections where heavy equipment may be needed.

Labor and Material Costs Change. These costs were compiled in the fall of 2005 and projected to mid­2006 by adding a small percentage. This projection will be accurate for some materials and inaccurate for others. No one can predict material price changes accurately.

How Accurate Are These Figures? As accurate as possible considering that the estimator who wrote this book doesn’t know your subcontractors or material suppliers, hasn’t seen the plans or specifications, doesn’t know what building code applies or where the job is, had to project material costs at least six months into the future, and had no record of how much work you crews can handle.

You wouldn’t bid a job under those conditions. And I don’t claim that all construction is done at these prices.

Estimating Is an Art, not a science. On many jobs the range between high and low bid will be 20% or more. There’s room for legitimate disagreement on what the correct costs are, even when complete plans and specifications are available, the date and site are established, and labor and material costs are identical for all bidders.

No cost fits all jobs. Good estimates are custom made for a particular project and a single contractor through judgment, analysis and experience.

This book is not a substitute for judgment, analysis and sound estimating practice. It’s an aid in developing an informed opinion of cost. If you’re using this book as your sole cost authority for contract bids, you’re read­ing more into these pages than the author intends.

Use These Figures to compile preliminary estimates, to check your costs and subcontract bids and when no actual costs are available. This book will reduce the chance of error or omission on bid esti­mates, speed “ball park” estimates, and be a good guide when there’s no time to get a quote.

Where Do These Figures Come From? From the same sources all professional estimators use: material suppliers, material price services, analysis of plans, specifications, estimates and completed project costs, and both published and unpublished cost studies com­piled by both private and government agencies.

Labor Costs and Crews

Throughout this manual you’ll see a column headed Craft @ Hrs. Letters and numbers in this column show our estimates of:

• Who will do the work (the craft code) .
• An @ symbol, which means “at” .
• How long the work will take (manhours).

For example, at the top of page 23 you’ll find estimates for installing common brick. The Craft @ Hrs column under 6'­0" high wall and opposite “Cost per square foot” shows:

B9 @ .232

That means we estimate the installation time for crew B9 at .232 manhours per square foot of wall. That’s the same as 23.2 manhours per 100 square feet.

The Craft Codes table below defines each of the craft codes used in this book. Notice that crew B9 is composed of one bricklayer and one bricklayer’s helper. To install 100 square feet of common brick in a 6'­0" high wall would require 23.2 manhours (11.6 hours for a crew of two).

Notice also in the table below that the cost per manhour for crew B9 is listed as $27.96. That’s the average for a bricklayer (listed at $31.76 per hour on page 7) and a helper (listed at $24.15 per hour). Add $31.76 and $24.15 to get $55.91. Divide by 2 to get $27.96, the average cost per manhour for crew B9.

Costs in the labor column of this book are the product of the installation time (in manhours) multiplied by the cost per manhour. For example, on page 23 the labor cost listed for a 6'­0" high wall is $6.49 per square foot. That’s the installed time (.232 manhours) multiplied by $27.96, the average cost per manhour for crew B9.

The next table shows hourly labor cost components ­ base wage, typical fringe benefits, payroll taxes, insurance, and the total hourly cost.

Craft Codes Used in This Manual

Hourly Labor Costs

Components of Hourly Labor Costs

The labor costs shown in Column 6 were used to compute the manhour costs for crews on page 6 and the figures in the “Labor” column.

It’s important that you understand what’s included in the figures in each of the six columns above. Here’s an explanation:

Column 1, the base wage per hour, is the craftsman’s hourly wage. These figures are representative of what many contractors will be paying craftsmen working on concrete and masonry jobs in 2006.

Column 2, taxable fringe benefits, includes vacation pay, sick leave and other taxable benefits. These fringe benefits average 5.15% of the base wage for many construction contractors. This benefit is in addition to the base wage.

Column 3, insurance and employer taxes in percent, shows the insurance and tax rate for construction trades. The cost of insurance in this column includes workers’ compensation and contractor’s casualty and liability coverage. Insurance rates vary widely from state to state and depend on a contractor’s loss expe­rience. Note that taxes and insurance increase the hourly labor cost by 30 to 35% for most trades. There is no legal way to avoid these costs.

Column 4, insurance and employer taxes in dollars, shows the hourly cost of taxes and insurance for each construction trade. Insurance and taxes are paid on the costs in both columns 1 and 2.

Column 5, non­taxable fringe benefits, includes employer paid non­taxable benefits such as medical coverage and tax­deferred pension and profit sharing plans. These fringe benefits average 4.55% of the base wage for many construction contractors. The employer pays no taxes or insurance on these benefits.

Column 6, the total hourly cost in dollars, is the sum of columns 1, 2, 4, and 5.

These hourly labor costs will apply within a few percent on many jobs. But wage rates may be much higher or lower in the area where you do business. We recommend using your actual labor cost rather than national averages. That’s easy with the National Estimator program. When copying and pasting any cost to your estimate, adjust the assumed hourly labor cost to your actual cost. You need do this only once for each trade. And you can make this adjust­ment at any time. Any change you make is applied to that trade throughout the estimate