Architectural Flashing Supply
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Installation labor and productivity estimating · Lesson 3 of 4

Installation labor and productivity estimating: methods and worked application

A six-step method for an installation labor estimate, worked on a parapet coping run: activities from the maker's sequence, counts from the takeoff, labeled rates, a multiplier applied to the right hours, a manpower plan and the estimate packet.

You will be able to: Break a flashing run into activities, attach quantities and rates, adjust for conditions with a cited multiplier, convert to crew-days and a manpower plan, and document the assumptions.

14 min · 12 slides · 12 questions

All lessons in this module
Slide 1 of 12

The method in six steps

Six steps: take quantities from the takeoff; split the work into activities; choose a rate for each; hours = quantity / rate; adjust for conditions; then set crew, duration and a plan to track actual hours.

UFC 3-740-05 says estimating labor productivity has many diverse, unpredictable factors, and no substitution for the knowledge and experience of the cost engineer.

From takeoff to a tracked installation labor estimateProcess flow of six steps with a return loop. 1 quantities from the takeoff, in length and counts. 2 activities from the installation sequence. 3 a production rate for each activity, from your own records, reference data or judgment, each labeled. 4 hours equal quantity divided by rate. 5 adjust for conditions with a cited multiplier on the affected hours, edge protection and heat. 6 crew, duration and manpower plan. Actual hours tracked daily or weekly return to step 3. Hours come first; a wage rate is applied later.1Quantities from the takeofflength and counts2Activities from the sequenceone quantity per step3A rate for each activityown record, reference or judgment4Hours = quantity / rateunits on every rate5Adjust for conditionscited multiplier, edge protection, heat6Crew, duration, manpowerthen track actual hoursActual hours, daily or weekly,go back to step 3.Hours first; a wage rate is applied later.

Six boxes in order: quantities from the takeoff in length and counts, activities from the installation sequence, a labeled rate for each activity, hours equal quantity divided by rate, adjust for conditions, and crew, duration and manpower. A loop returns actual hours, checked daily or weekly, to step 3. A bar says hours come first and a wage rate is applied later.

1
Quantities from the takeoff: length and counts
2
Activities from the installation sequence
3
A rate for each activity, labeled: own record, reference or judgment
4
Hours = quantity / rate, with units on every rate
5
Adjust for conditions: a cited multiplier on the affected hours, edge protection, heat
6
Crew, duration and manpower plan, then track actual hours
The six steps this module teaches. The loop is the point: actual hours feed back into the rates you use next time.

Sources

Glossary

Activity
One step of the installation sequence with its own quantity and rate, such as installing cleat or setting straight lengths of coping.
Manpower loading curve
Workers on site against the share of project duration elapsed. Hanna describes a normal sheet-metal project as build-up, peak and rundown, with a peak near 180 percent of the average workforce.
Estimate packet
The written record of an installation labor estimate: quantities and their source, labeled rates with units, hours by activity, cited adjustments, crew, edge protection and a plan for tracking actual hours.
Productive head
A crew member who installs material. A safety monitor with no other duty is on the roof but is not a productive head.
Cleat
The continuous metal strip fastened to the parapet that a coping hooks over. In the Drexel Econo Coping guide the cleat goes on first and is nailed into pre-punched holes.