Installation labor and productivity estimating · Lesson 2 of 4

Installation labor and productivity estimating: materials, standards and design constraints

Why a production rate is an average of past work, which product, site, people and schedule factors move it, and what the published overtime, overmanning and shift-work multipliers say and do not say.

You will be able to: Sort the factors that change installation hours into product, site, people and schedule, and cite a source for each.

18 min · 12 slides · 16 questions

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Slide 1 of 12

A rate is an average of past work

UFC 3-740-05 says production rates are based on averaging past production rates for the same or similar work.

It adds that nothing substitutes for the knowledge and experience of the cost engineer.

So a rate is a starting assumption from records, adjusted for this job, never a fact about the next one.

Sources

UFC 3-740-05 Construction Cost Estimating (09 December 2022), chapters 5 and 6 - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NAVFAC and AFCEC (Unified Facilities Criteria)

Glossary

Count driver: A quantity other than length that installation labor follows: pieces, joints, corners, notches, nails and screws. A 100 ft run needs the same number of 10 ft pieces as 126 in pieces, but many more joints if cut shorter.
Schedule compression: Doing work in less than the normal time, usually by overtime, overmanning or shift work. Hanna found productivity decreases as each increases.
Overtime: Hours beyond 40 in a week, or more than 8 hours a day or 5 days a week (Hanna).
Overmanning: More workers than the optimal crew, or a peak-to-average workforce ratio above 1.6 for one trade; Hanna's screen for the condition.
Shift work: Hours worked by a separate crew of the same trade after the first crew has left for the day (Hanna).
Safety monitor: A competent person who warns workers of fall hazards on low-slope roofs and has no other responsibilities that could take attention from monitoring (29 CFR 1926.502(h)).
Acclimatization: The beneficial physiological adaptation after gradual, increased exposure to heat, which is why NIOSH recommends building up time in the heat gradually over 7 to 14 days. Experienced workers: no more than 50, 60, 80 and then 100 percent of the usual duration on days 1 to 4.