JOC Construction Labor Costs
JOC construction labor costs provide the foundation for any successful Job Order Contracting Program. On average, labor accounts for sixty percent (60%) of a project total construction cost and is therefore a primary consideration.
Most “best practice” Job Order Contracts use prevailing wage rates, and more specifically Davis-Bacon wage rages if available. The wage rates are combined with material and equipment costs, and the time/crew required to perform a specified task in order to create a detailed JOC construction cost task or line item. The total for the line item is general the applied without contractor overhead and profit. The latter are accounted for by the job order contractor’s coefficient(s) as approved for the related Job Order Contract.
The listing of tasks for a Job Order Contract are contained within the JOC Unit Price Book (UPB). The UPB is generally updated annually to account for market fluctuations and the adding of any new unit price line items as required.
Historically, cost data from The R.S. Means Company, LLC has been used for the majority of Job Order Contracts. There are now independent, objective, and in some cases more suitable alternatives such as the 4BT JOC Unit Price Book.
Key considerations for a JOC Unit Price Book:
- Appropriate use of prevailing wage rates / Davis-Bacon Wage Rates (Note: 4BT painstakingly researches labor rates and provides unsurpassed granularity and accuracy in this regard.)
- Bare costs (no contractor overhead and profit)
- Locally researched cost information (The use of localization factors and/or “national average” costs is not recommended due to the likelihood of associated gross inaccuracies).
- Provided by an objective and independent resource
- Organized via CSI Masterformat
- Use of line item modifiers (Line item modifiers add or deduct cost from an associated parent line item due to a variety of factors: quantity, site/location, etc.). Modifiers, on average, impact a cost estimate by +/- 30% and are therefore a very important component of a UPB)
- Appropriate number of line items (Most Job Order Contracts require fewer than 30,000 line items for common renovation, repair, and minor new construction tasks. Some vendors market the use of hundreds of thousands of line items. Excessive numbers of line items can actually increase JOC Program cost due to their maintenance and upkeep as well as confusion and errors.
- Rapidly and securely accessible via a standard browser interface.
Learn more…
www.4BT.US – Independent, Objective, and Best Value Job Order Contracting Solutions