Concrete construction software: the foundation estimate, priced by the yard and by the form
- Work order total
- $863.16
- Labour
- $510
- Parts, marked up
- $288
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. Jobcardo publishes no tax rate, no wage figure and no trade standard: the rate, the markup and the tax on the parts line are yours, and the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.
Concrete work is priced on two quantities that behave completely differently. The concrete itself is a volume, ordered by the cubic yard, with a short delivery window and a waste allowance for over-excavation and spillage. The formwork, reinforcement and finishing are areas and hours, and they are where the labor sits. Concrete construction software that treats a pour as one line will always mis-price the job, because doubling the depth doubles the concrete and barely moves the forms.
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Volume for the concrete, area and length for everything else
Work out the cubic yards from the dimensions and the depth, then price the forms by the linear foot of edge, the reinforcement by the area or the ton, and the finishing by the square foot. Keeping those quantities separate is what lets you re-price a design change in a minute rather than an evening.
Build the foundation estimate from the excavation up
A foundation estimate that starts at the pour has already missed the expensive part. Excavation and disposal, compaction, the vapor barrier, the footing steel, the inspection wait and any dewatering are all lines. Ground conditions carry an allowance with a rate beyond it, because nobody knows what is down there until it is open.
Carry the pour into the schedule, not just the price
A concrete job is a sequence of fixed appointments: inspection, delivery window, finishers on site, cure time before the next trade. The estimate that becomes a dated work order with those appointments on it is the one that does not end with a truck waiting or a crew standing.
Concrete construction software: common questions
How is concrete waste usually handled in an estimate? As an allowance on the volume, sized from your own experience of over-excavation and spillage on similar pours rather than from a rule of thumb. State the ordered volume on the estimate so a short load or an extra truck is a visible change rather than an argument.
Does concrete software need to price rebar separately? Yes, because it varies independently of the volume. A thicker slab with the same mat of steel costs more concrete and no more reinforcement. Pricing them as one rate per square foot hides that and makes every design change a guess.
What should a foundation estimate say about ground conditions? Exactly what has been assumed and what happens if the assumption is wrong: the depth allowed for, the bearing assumed, the disposal included, and the rate charged for additional excavation or engineered fill. That single paragraph is what turns a discovered problem into a priced instruction.
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