Understanding equipment costs for a project requires a comprehensive approach, taking into consideration both the material and labor aspects. This article discusses how to estimate these costs, factoring in the need for specific equipment, potential usage timeframes, and the costs associated with equipment mobilization.
Key Insights
- The necessity and duration of equipment usage on a project is dependent on the tasks being self-performed. Equipment may be provided by the general contractor, but its availability to subcontractors should be taken into account when estimating costs.
- Additional labor may be required for operating certain equipment, and these costs should also be factored in. Furthermore, the intermittent usage of equipment could impact overall project costs, as equipment rental and operator labor may need to be calculated differently.
- Equipment mobilization costs, such as delivery and pick-up, should be considered in the overall estimate. Additionally, the productivity of equipment at each task, including potential extra time required for aspects like trench backfill, needs to be accounted for to correctly define labor and rental periods.
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Let's talk about estimating equipment costs. So what equipment do you need and for how long? If you're self-performing any labor, you need to consider whether any equipment is needed for installing materials or completing a task. Equipment is sometimes provided by the general contractor and may be available to the subcontractors as needed.
Equipment such as backhoes and forklifts require operators, which is a labor category. So as you add labor to the project or equipment to the project, recognize that either one may require the other to function. It's not uncommon for some equipment to be used sporadically throughout the duration of the project.
In this case, the equipment should be priced separately for its rental period, and the estimated operator labor may be calculated for only 50 percent of the time. Keep in mind that each time you have a piece of equipment delivered to a job site, it usually costs money for mobilization. They drop it off and later return to pick it up.
It might be more cost-effective to have the piece of equipment on site for an extended duration until you're finished with it. If you only need a piece of equipment at the very beginning and perhaps at the very end of a 12-month project, it may make more sense to rent it one month at a time with two mobilizations. It's important to know the productivity when using specific equipment.
A backhoe and an operator may be able to dig 50 feet of a 6-foot-deep trench per hour. After the trench is done and the work takes place, it's important to recognize that trench backfill must also be accounted for. Therefore, the equipment needs to be available when all the backfill takes place.
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The productivity of the initial work period is easy to define, but the backfill has added an additional timeframe to the equipment requirements. It's important to double-check all equipment requirements and understand how productive the equipment will be for each task. This way, you can appropriately define the labor and rental periods.
