Page 19 - 2018 National Home Improvement

2018 National Home Improvement Estimator, All Rights Reserved Page 15

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, in Chapter 4, Page 70, you'll find estimates for installing BC plywood wall sheathing by the
square foot. The Craft@Hrs column opposite 1/2" plywood wall sheathing shows:

B1@.016

That means we estimate the installation rate for crew B1 at 0.016 manhours per square foot. That's the
same as 16 manhours per 1,000 square feet.

Figure 1-4 is a table that defines each of the craft codes used in this book. Notice that crew B1 is
composed of two craftsmen: one laborer and one carpenter. To install 1,000 square feet of 1/2" BC wall
sheathing at 0.016 manhours per square foot, that crew would need 16 manhours (one 8-hour day for a
crew of two).

Notice also in the table that the cost per manhour for crew B1 is listed as $33.44. That's the average for
a laborer (listed at $29.93 per hour) and a carpenter (listed at $36.94 per hour): $29.93 plus $36.94 is
$66.87. Divide by 2 to get $33.44, the average cost per manhour for crew B1.

In the table below, the cost per manhour is the sum of hourly costs of all crew members divided by the
number of crew members. That's the average cost per manhour.

Costs in the Labor column in this book are the product of the installation time (in manhours) multiplied
by the cost per manhour. For example, in Chapter 4, the labor cost listed for 1/2" BC wall sheathing is
$0.54 per square foot. That's the installation time (0.016 manhours per square foot) multiplied by $33.44,
the average cost per manhour for crew B1.

Craft Cost Per Crew
Code Manhour Composition
B1 $33.44 1 laborer and 1 carpenter
B2 $34.60 1 laborer and 2 carpenters
B3 $32.27 2 laborers and 1 carpenter
B4 $36.90 1 laborer
1 operating engineer
1 reinforcing iron worker
B5 $36.57 1 laborer, 1 carpenter
1 cement mason
1 operating engineer
1 reinforcing iron worker
B6 $32.48 1 laborer, 1 cement mason
B7 $30.32 1 laborer, 1 truck driver
B8 $36.03 1 laborer, 1 operating engineer
B9 $32.62 1 bricklayer, 1 bricklayer's helper
BB $37.47 1 bricklayer
BC $36.94 1 carpenter
BE $40.04 1 electrician
BF $33.79 1 floor layer
BG $35.68 1 glazier