In the Condition Detail dialog box's Item Grid, the % Base column allows an estimator to modify labor production by a percentage. When a Labor Item is entered into the Condition Detail grid, the labor values are displayed with their default production settings and this represents 100% of the Base default production rate. Entering a new percentage changes the production rate and subsequently the Crew Hours, Unit Cost, and of course, Total Labor (money).
- To increase the production rate by 50%, enter "150" in the % Base column. Quick Bid flags any production percentages over 100% in red (to indicate the production rate is higher than the default production rate for the Item). When production percentage (rate) increases, unit cost is reduced (more is being accomplished in the same amount of time). Notice that Crew Hours and Lab Total decrease when production goes up...
- To reduce the production rate by 25%, enter "75" in the % Base column. Quick Bid flags any production percentages under 100% in blue (to indicate the production rate is lower than the default production rate for the Item).and As the production percentage (rate) is reduced, unit cost is increased (less is being accomplished in the same amount of time). Notice that Crew Hours and Lab Total increase when production goes down...
You can toggle the production view from days to hours by clicking the column headers Qty/Day, Pcs/Day, and Crew/days. Depending on the Item Setup, you can also view "Pcs/time" or "Cut Size"...
Sizes and Production
Labor Production for Material Items that have been assigned Sizes can be viewed in the Pcs/Hr (or Day) column. The number of pieces shown in this column is directly related to the Size Lookup column. For example, if you consider sheets of drywall, they come in different sizes (some are 4x8, some 4x10, some 4x12). Changing the size of the drywall sheet being installed changes your Pcs/Hr but does not affect production, your Qty/Hr, because the square footage installed, per hour, remains the same.
4x10 Sheet of drywall - 3.13 Pcs (sheets) per hour, 125 SF/hour
4x12 Sheet of drywall - 2.60 Pcs (sheets) per hour, still 125 SF/hour
The pieces represented in the Pcs/Day(or Hour) column are full sized materials as indicated in the Size column. Labor is computed on the full size of the material as illustrated in the above example.
Cut Length versus Full Length
In some conditions, Labor can be distorted when production by the piece is based on full sizes.
For example, framing the vertical plane of a soffit that measures 3’ 0” high causes Quick Bid to select a 9’ 0” stud length as displayed in the Size column. If Labor is applied by the LF of material (Item codes that begin with the width of the stud), the production shown in the Pcs/Day column would be based on 9’ 0” lengths rather than 3’ 0” lengths. The discrepancy occurs because the Labor is not applied to the cut length. To apply labor production based upon the cut size (actual installed size), place the cursor in the Pcs/Day column, right-click and select View as Cut Size from the menu. Now the formula for calculating the production in pieces is modified to ignore the Size column and uses the Height column to determine the length of each piece (size). In the example described, Labor per piece is based on a 3' length rather than the 9’ length specified in the Size column.
Another example would be a Drywall Contractor applying a top-out routine to a deck high wall 13 feet high. If the height of the top-out above the ceiling is 3' in length, applying labor by the piece to wallboard would be based on a piece 3’ high X 4' wide. When View as Cut Size is turned on, the number of pieces shown is still determined by the Quantity default from the Item record and since both production columns are linked together, changing Pcs/Day modifies Qty/Day and vice versa.
How Labor Production is Calculated