This is newsletter #17 in the series. If you have missed prior newsletters, and are enjoying the series, we encourage you to take advantage of the discount offer for the complete Electrical Estimating Program. Click on the coupon at the bottom of this page.

The following is Part 2 of Variables That Affect Labor Units. If you missed Part 1 or would like to review it, click here.

3. Contractor Management Skill

Labor units are based on the effective coordination and management of the project by the contractor or construction manager. If the project is not managed effectively by the contractor, productivity losses will occur. Losses can occur because of:

• An accelerated construction schedule
• Excessive change orders
• Material furnished by the owner
• Overtime to maintain the construction schedule
• Poor coordination of subcontractors
• The redesign of any part of a project after construction has started
• Starting construction without complete or coordinated construction drawings
  

Be sure you consider the general contractor’s reputation for management effectiveness, and adjust the labor hours when necessary.

4. Embedded and Exposed Wiring

Embedded Wiring. When installing wiring systems such as boxes and raceway systems in concrete or masonry portions of a building, you need to realize that they often require significantly more labor as compared to installing the same wiring concealed in a drywall partition. Consider applying the following adjustments for concealed wiring:

Exposed Wiring. Installing exposed wiring methods such as boxes and raceways requires more in-stallation time in order to do nice offsets and ensure that the pipe is installed parallel and level along the building lines. Where multiple raceways are run next to each other, each must be carefully bent so they are run symmetrically. Consider applying the following labor adjustments to that portion of the wiring method that will be exposed:

5. Job Factors

Labor units are based on typical job locations that do not include any unusual problems. When a project location creates unusual material and tool handling issues, any type of physical or administrative obstructions, productivity losses must be considered. Some of the abnormal conditions that may cause productivity losses include:

• Delivery restrictions
• Dispersed work areas
• Hoisting restrictions
• Lack of space for a job shed
• Parking restrictions and availability
• Security restrictions
• Security problems
• Storage restrictions
  

Productivity losses due to abnormal job conditions must be determined by judgment, logic, and common sense.

If the job is remote from the office, the challenge for the office to ensure that the job is managed effectively increases. Sometimes a job located in a remote location is forgotten or ignored by the electrical contractor with disastrous results. Be careful when estimating the labor requirements for an “out-of-town job” that requires you to hire local electricians for a temporary period of time. Will the pay scale be higher than it is in your immediate area? How productive or loyal do you think the workers will be?

Author’s Comment: Be sure to include travel time to the jobsite in the estimate if required. You may also need to include lodging and other related costs for your staff if the site is far enough away from your home office.

You will need to increase your labor units for small jobs (such as remodel work) because you cannot gain any labor savings due to repetition and economies of scale. How much do you adjust? Since there is no standard adjustment factor for this type of situation, track your actual labor against your estimates for past jobs to see what pattern develops.

6. Labor Skill

Labor units are based on having an adequate supply of qualified electricians, and not having them results in a loss of productivity that must be taken into consideration during the estimating process. It is impossible to precisely determine that loss, but an attempt must be made based on experience, judgment, and common sense.

Attitude. What is your attitude toward your employees? If you do not treat them with respect, you will have high turnover and low productivity rates. If you treat them well, pay them fairly, give them all of the benefits you can afford, and provide and pay for continuing education, you will have dedicated employees who will do all they can to complete the job in an efficient and effective manner.

Experience and Skill. A well-paid, motivated, qualified, highly trained, and experienced electrician will always be more productive than an employee who feels cheated, does not care about the success of your business, and does not feel like part of the team.

If you do not have motivated, skilled, and experienced electricians, the ones you do have will need extra supervision. Poorly skilled labor results in an increase in costs to correct violations and fix mistakes. Your hiring policy will determine the quality of your employees and their attitude, but how you treat them will determine how long they will stay and how productive they will be.

Training. A continuously trained labor force will always be more efficient and productive than an unskilled force. Your investment in continuing education will result in increased labor productivity. Do you have a training program to teach your employees how to be more productive? What about people skills so they understand how to treat each other, the other trades, and customers? If you fail an inspection, do you have a review process so that all staff members know what was wrong so the same mistake is not repeated? Safety training decreases the likelihood of an accident which drives costs up due to down time and increased insurance costs. It also shows that there is concern for your employees and increases production.