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Labour rid MateroaD Requirements
s
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
January 1983
Bulletin 2146
Labor and Material Requirem ent
fer Federal Hylldlsig ©®©gtry©to@m
U.S. Department of Labor
Raymond J. Donovan, Secretary
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Janet L. Norwood, Commissioner
January 1983
Bulletin 2146
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington. D.C. 20402 - Price $4.75
Ptrsfe©®
This bulletin presents the results of a survey of Fed
eral building construction. It is one of a series of con
struction studies conducted by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics which provide detailed data on employment
requirements by occupation and type of contractor and
information on contract costs and material requirements.
A summary of this study was published in the Decem
ber 1981 issue of the Monthly Labor Review.
Other published studies in the series include high
ways, public housing, commercial office buildings, ele
mentary and secondary schools, college housing, civil
works, sewer works, private multifamily housing, pri
vate single-family housing, and general hospitals.
The Bureau gratefully acknowledges the cooperation
of the Office of Construction Management, Public
Buildings Service, General Services Administration in
helping to develop the initial universe of projects. The
Bureau also wishes to thank the almost 1,100 general
and special trade contactors who provided information
for the survey.
The study was prepared in the Bureau’s Office of
Productivity and Technology by John G. Olsen under
the supervision of Robert Ball in the Office of Produc
tivity and Technology, Jerome A. Mark, Assistant Com
missioner. Karen I. Horowitz of the Office of Economic
Growth assisted in the development of offsite employee
hour estimates.
Material in this publication is in the public domain
and may, with appropriate credit, be reproduced with
out permission.
0©nt®nts
Page
Chapter 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................
Scope of survey..........................................................................................................................
Survey methods..........................................................................................................................
Nature of the industry................................................................................................................
1
1
2
2
Chapter 2. Highlights of findings.................................................................................................
General findings............................................................................................, ..........................
Requirements by occupation and type of contractor.................................................................
Distribution of costs..................................................................................................................
Regional differences..................................................................................................................
4
Chapter 3. Labor requirements ...................................................................................................
O nsite.......................................................
Offsite.........................................................................................................................................
7
7
8
4
5
5
6
Chapter 4. Distribution of costs and wages and other characteristics.......................................... 11
Construction costs by selected characteristics..............................................................................11
Relative cost shares.......................................................
11
Contractor c o s ts ........................................................................................................................... 11
Wages and earnings by region...................................................................................................... 12
Wages by occupation....................................................................................................................12
Materials, supplies, and equipment...............................................................................................12
Construction tim e......................................................................................................................... 17
Contractors...................................................................................................................................17
Chapter 5. Comparison with other surveys..................................................................................... 18
Text tables:
1. Employee hours per $1,000 of Federal building construction by industry,
1959, 1973, 1976, and estimated 1981.....................................
5
2. Federal building construction project characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976 ..................... 5
3. Onsite employee hours required per $1,000 of Federal building construction cost
by occupation, 1959 and 1976 ......................................................................................... 8
4. Percent distribution of apprentices employed on Federal building construction
projects by occupation and region, 1976 ........................................................................ 8
5. Onsite employee hour requirements in Federal building construction
by type of contractor, 1959, 1973, and 1976......................
9
6. Onsite employee hour requirements for Federal building construction
by selected characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976............................................
9
7. Indirect employee hour requirements per $1,000 of contract construction cost for Federal
building construction, 1959 and 1976 ................................................................................. 10
8. Construction costs of Federal buildings by selected characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976 .. 12
9. Percent distribution of contract costs for Federal building construction,
1959, 1973, and 1976............................................................................................................13
10. Percent distribution of contract cost on Federal building construction projects
by type of contractor and region, 1973 and 1976............................................................... 13
v
Contents—Continued
Page
11. Average onsite earnings and wages as a percent of contract cost on Federal building
construction projects by region, 1959 and 1976................................................................. 13
12. Average hourly earnings for selected onsite construction workers on Federal building
projects by region, 1976 ...................................................................................................... 13
13. Materials, equipment, and supplies used in Federal building construction, 1959 and 1976.. 14
14. Average number of weeks of construction time for Federal building projects by selected
characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976 ................................................................................. 17
15. Percent distribution of onsite employee hours by decile of construction time,
1959 and 1976 ..................................................................................................................... 17
16. Average number of contractors for Federal building projects by type of contractor and
region, 1976 ...........................................................................................
17
17. Employee hours per 1,000 current dollars of contract cost by industry, all construction
studies, 1958-76................................................................................................................... 19
18. Percent distribution of onsite employee hours per 1,000 current dollars of contract
cost by occupation, all construction studies, 1958-76 ....................................................... 20
19. Percent distribution of construction contract costs, all construction studies, 1958-76 ........21
20. Percent distribution of cost of materials, supplies, and equipment by product group,
all construction studies, 1958-76 .........................................................................................22
Appendixes:
A. Detailed labor and cost data by region.................................................................................. 23
Tables:
A-l. Onsite employee hour requirements per $1,000 of contract cost for Federal
building construction by occupation and region, 1976 ...................................................... 24
A-2. Percent distribution of onsite employee hour requirements per $1,000 for Federal
building construction by type of contractor and region, 1976 ..........................................25
A-3. Onsite employee hour requirements in Federal building construction by selected
characteristics and region, 1976...........................................................................................26
A-4. Construction costs of Federal buildings by selected characteristics and region, 1976. .27
A-5. Average onsite earnings and wag© as a percent of contract costs on Federal
building construction projects by selected characteristics and region, 1976.....................28
B. Survey scope and m ethods...................................................................................................... 29
C. Forms used for data collection ...............................................................................................31
D. Bibliography........................................................................................................................... 51
vi
©(hapfer l Introduction
to market research analysts and companies manufactur
ing equipment and supplies are lists of material require
ments per $1,000 of construction contract.
The construction industry is an important component
of the U. S. economy. It is a major source of employ
ment and a major consumer of the materials and serv
ices furnished by many manufacturing, trade, transpor
tation, and service industries. Because of this extensive
employment impact, the creation of new construction
projects often is regarded as a means of counteracting
cyclical unemployment.
Information on the number and composition of jobs
generated by construction activity is necessary in order
to determine training needs and to develop priorities
for construction expenditures. To assist in evaluating
the impact of construction expenditures on employment,
Congress established a program of construction labor
requirements studies in 1959. Since then, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics has conducted periodic surveys of la
bor and material requirements for various segments of
the construction industry.
These studies provide data which are important in
determining skill shortages or bottlenecks for various
types of construction. Resurveys of a given type of
construction indicate cost changes and productivity
trends for onsite construction labor. Of special interest
This study, the third BLS study of Federal office
building construction,1 is based on a survey of all Fed
eral building construction completed in the continental
United States in 1976 and 1977 under the auspices of
the Public Buildings Service, General Services Admin
istration.2 The survey was designed primarily to deter
mine the number of employee hours per $1,000 of con
tract cost. Employee hours included both onsite and
offsite construction and the indirect employment re
quired to produce and deliver the materials used in the
construction activity.3
The study originally comprised 33 projects, but was
reduced to 24 due to lack of cooperation by contrac
tors and because some projects were judged to be out
of the scope of this survey. Lack of cooperation was
particularly acute in the West. As a result, data from
the West were not sufficiently reliable to permit publi
cation of separate figures for that region.4 However,
1 John G. Olsen, “ Decline Noted in Hours Required To Erect
Federal Office Buildings,” Monthly Labor Review, October 1976, pp.
18-22; Roland V. Murray, “ Labor Requirements for Federal Office
Building Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, August 1962, pp.
889-93; and Labor Requirements fo r Federal Office Building Con
struction, Bulletin 1331 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1962).
The 1973 survey of Federal building construction was one of a
group of abbreviated studies of construction labor requirements. To
allow more frequent measurement of the labor requirements of dif
ferent types of construction as well as to reduce survey costs, the
abbreviated studies omitted the collection of onsite occupational and
material data. Material and equipment cost information is used to
generate indirect employment estimates for the industries which mine,
manufacture, and transport construction materials. As a result, de
tailed data on occupational requirements, material usage, and indirect
employment impact are not available for the 1973 survey.
2 Although the study was based on project completions, most of the
value put in place occurred between 1973 and 1977, with peak ac
tivity in 1976.
The length of time between the data year and the year of publica
tion results from several factors. A considerable amount of time is
needed to define and refine the universe and collect, compile, and
verify the data. Actual data collection does not begin until at least a
year after construction is completed, and surveyed projects require
many personal visits to contractors and subcontractors. Additional
time is required for preparation and publication of the results. Never
theless, the data presented indicate trends in labor and material re-
quirements and are useful in analyzing changes in these factors over
periods of time. The data also serve as benchmarks for developing
current estimates of employment generating effects on construction
expenditures.
3No attempt was made to measure the labor required for planning,
design work, and public utilities installation. The employment gen
erated from the spending and respending of wages and profits—the
multiplier effect—also fell outside the scope of the survey.
4Data from the study were provided for the continental United
States and four broad geographic regions. The States included in
each region were: Northeast—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Is
land, and Vermont; North Central—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South
Dakota, and Wisconsin; South—Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Dis
trict of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; and West—Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,
Washington, and Wyoming.
No separate data are presented for the West, but those for the other
regions and for the Nation as a whole are believed to be accurate.
The detailed data, however, have a wider margin of sampling error
and may be subject to other limitations. Except for the data estimated
by the contractors, there are no known sources of probable nonsam
pling error. Sampling variances are being developed by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
S<g@p® ©f survey
1
declining level of Federal building construction activity
is primarily a result of delayed replacement of old struc
tures.
Technological changes in the construction industry
during recent years have primarily consisted of modi
fications and improvements in existing methods, equip
ment, and materials. The technology of building con
struction continues to advance slowly through the adop
tion of new design concepts, stronger and more dur
able materials, laborsaving computer processes, and
more efficient management techniques.
Advances in design concepts are allowing increas
ingly complex buildings to be erected economically.
The development of new and better structural design
techniques, such as plastic design, tubular design, the
staggered truss frame method, and the shear friction
principle, have helped reduce the weight and construc
tion costs of high rise buildings. Tubular design, which
uses exterior columns to carry wind loads, eliminating
the need for any interior bracing, decreased the struc
tural steel requirements for one multistory office build
ing by 30 percent, significantly lowering framing costs.6
The growing interest in energy conservation is re
sulting in the development of energy saving designs for
office buildings. The installation of a solar energy sys
tem in a new Federal building project, while increas
ing labor requirements and construction costs, signifi
cantly reduced water and space heating costs, suggest
ing the possibility of more efficient energy systems for
future office building structures.
Continuing advances in computer technology are
speeding production, improving output quality, and re
ducing unit labor costs on a variety of construction
jobs. The development of smaller, less expensive, and
easier to use computers has made it easier for construc
tion contractors to use computers for many offsite func
tions. Most major design firms employ computer sys
tems for design and cost analysis because of their greater
sophistication, accuracy, and operating speed. Com
puter models have been devised to analyze an entire
structure for stresses, enabling complex geometric de
signs to be built more efficiently. Electronic account
ing sysems are used by most large contractors for regu
lar billing, payroll, and inventory functions, reducing
the amount of clerical work required. Computer graphic
systems, which provide visual representations of various
design components, are used by surveyors because of
their map-making ability to aid in the analysis of con
struction surveys. Architects are employing these pro
gramming methods to accelerate the production of de
tailed drafting plans.
Development of construction management methods
in which the individual components of a project are
data for the West were adjusted for nonresponse and
included in national totals.
Projects in this study included regular and Social Se
curity Administration office buildings, border stations,
and other buildings included in the 1959 and 1973 BLS
studies on Federal building construction. Federal and
Social Security Administration office buildings ac
counted for about 80 percent of all Federal projects in
1973 and 1976. Although all three of these surveys are
essentially studies of office buildings, several factors
make comparisons among them difficult except in the
broadest terms.
The average building size, for example, varies con
siderably among the studies. In 1959, the average size
was about 94,000 square feet. In 1973, this dropped to
67.000 and then rose to 266,000 in 1976. A further com
plication resulted from the abolition of the Post Office
Department, whose physical plant was formerly under
the control of the General Services Administration. After
the establishment of the U.S. Postal Service, control of
the buildings reverted to the new agency. Thus, Postal
Service buildings were excluded from the 1973 and 1976
studies. In addition, a larger proportion of small Social
Security Administration office buildings, those with
10.000 square feet of floor space or less, were included
in the 1973 study and made up about 40 percent of all
projects. (See appendix B for further details on the
scope of the survey.)
Survey methods
Onsite employee hour requirements in the construc
tion industry were developed from payroll data sup
plied by contractors. Indirect labor requirements in
other industries were derived from the materials and
equipment cost information collected for the sample
projects. Estimates of indirect employment were devel
oped by classifying and aggregating individual material
values, deflating them by an appropriate producer price
index to match the base year of the input-output tables
to generate estimates of final demand. Sector produc
tivity factors then were applied to derive employee
hours by industry group. (Further details on survey
methods are presented in appendix B.)
M u r e of fth@ industry
According to the Bureau of the Census, expenditures
for the category “other Federal building construction”
amounted to about $711 million in 1981.5Federal build
ing projects constructed under the auspices of the Pub
lic Buildings Service accounted for a substantial portion
of this total. In 1981, other Federal building construc
tion was about 26 percent lower in constant dollars than
in 1976. This decline represents a continuation of a
long-term trend that began in the late 1960’s. The
5See table 2 of Construction Report C30-81-5, Bureau of the Census.
6 “ Hexagonal Tube with Rigid Frames Reduces High Rise’s Steel by
30 Percent,” Engineering News-Record, October 4, 1973, p. 36.
2
examined according to their contribution to the whole
building process is helping to control construction timelags and costs. Techniques such as value engineering,
fast-tracking or phased construction, design building,
the Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT), and the Critical Path Method (CPM) are en
hancing contractors’ ability to coordinate the various
aspects of large, complex construction projects. Value
engineering, which is used in several Federal construc
tion programs, is a systematic study of a design that
evaluates the functions of its various components. A
cost reduction incentive in the Federal value engineer
ing programs offers to share cost savings arising from
contractor-initiated changes in plans, specifications, or
other contract requirements. Fast-tracking, in which the
design and construction schedules are overlapped, has
the potential to shorten construction duration and to
provide a defense against rising construction costs, ma
terial shortages, and early obsolescence in the design
process.
3
Chapter Si. Highlights of
Findings
Federal building construction generated more than
34 employee hours directly in the construction sector
for each $1,000 expended on construction contracts in
1976 (table 1). This compares with estimates from simi
lar studies of 48 employee hours in 1973 and 108 hours
in 1959. In 1976, about 30 of the construction employee
hour requirements were expended at the site, and almost
5 hours were created in offsite construction. In addi
tion to the construction hours, almost 47 employee hours
were generated in industries which produce, transport,
and sell the materials, equipment, and supplies used in
Federal building construction.
When adjusted for inflation, each $1,000 (in 1959 dol
lars) spent on Federal building projects in 1976 gener
ated about 79 construction employee hours, compared
with 80 employee hours in 1973 and 108 hours in 1959.
Assuming a continuation of this trend, an estimated 72
construction employee hours per $1,000 (1959 dollars)
would have been generated in 1981.7
In terms of employment, each $1 billion spent on
Federal building construction during 1981 would have
generated the equivalent of about 24,100 year-long, full
time jobs throughout the economy.8 About 10,400 of
these w ou ld h ave been in the construction industry,
9,100 onsite and 1,300 offsite.9 In addition, about 13,700
jobs would have been indirectly created in other indus
tries. In comparision, during 1981, for each $1 billion
expended for commercial office building construction,
about 21,100 jobs were generated; about 22,400 jobs
were generated per $1 billion spent on elementary and
secondary school construction.10
Onsite employee hours per $1,000 (constant dollars)
decreased at an average annual rate of 22 percent be
tween 1959 and 1976.11 While this is not a measure of
onsite labor productivity, the decline indicates some
productivity improvement in this construction activity.
On average, a Federal building project finished in
1976 and 1977 required 130 weeks to complete, com
pared with 64 and 73 weeks, respectively, for projects
completed in 1973 and 1959 (table 2). The increased
length of time for completion reflects, in part, the larger
average size of projects in the current survey. Actual
construction of the sample projects took place in 1972
through 1978, but most projects were completed dur
ing 1976 and 1977. Construction time varied from 54
weeks for a small border station to 295 for one of the
largest office buildings.
Federal building projects in 1976 required an aver
age of 47 contractors, twice as many as in 1973 and
1959. E ach project contained about 266,100 square feet
and cost about $12.7 million per project. The Federal
7The 1981 employment estimates for Federal building construction
were developed from 1973 and 1976 survey data adjusted for price
and productivity changes. The deflator used to adjust survey data
for price change is the Bureau of the Census’ cost index for “nonresidential building” construction. This consists of: An unweighted
average of the Bureau of the Census single-family housing price in
dex, excluding the value of the lot; the Turner Construction Com
pany cost index; and the Federal Highway Administration structures
price index. The nonresidential building construction price deflator,
derived from an unweighted average of the three indexes on a
1972=100 base, equaled 224.8 in 1981, 136.8 at the midpoint of the
1976 survey, and 109.3 at the midpoint of the 1973 survey.
The estimate used to adjust the survey data for productivity change
is the inverse of the change in onsite employee hours per $1,000, after
adjustment for price variations, between the 1973 and 1976 surveys.
The annual rate of change averaged 1.6 percent during this period.
8Estimates of the number of full-time jobs per $1 billion spent in
1981 were derived using 1,800 hours per employee year for onsite
construction; 2,000 hours for offsite construction; 2,068 for manufac
turing; 1,780 for trade, transportation, and services; and 2,024 for
mining and all other.
Because of part-time workers, transients, and the seasonal nature
of employment in the construction industry, more workers would be
employed than indicated by the full-time jobs estimates.
9Offsite construction labor requirements were estimated from the
ratio of nonconstruction workers to total workers for the general
building and the special trade contractors (SIC 15 and 17) segments
of the contract construction industry as shown in Employment and
Earnings, March issues of the years covered.
10These 1981 employment estimates were developed from earlier
BLS survey data adjusted for price and productivity changes. For
reports on the earlier studies, see Barbara Bingham, “Labor and Ma
terial Requirements for Commercial Office Building Projects,”
Monthly Labor Review, May 1981, pp.41-48; and John G. Olsen, “La
bor and Material Requirements for New School Construction,”
Monthly Labor Review, April 1979, pp. 38-41.
11Average annual rates of change in the article were calculated be
tween the midpoints of the various surveys. The midpoint of a sur
vey is based on estimates of the value of surveyed construction put
in place by year of construction time. For the 1976 survey, most of
the value put in place occurred between 1973 and 1977 with the mid
point falling in 1975. For the 1973 survey, most of the value put in
place was erected between 1971 and 1973 with the midpoint occur
ring in 1972.
General findings
4
Table 1. Employee hours per $1,000 of Federal building construction by industry, 1959,1973, 1976, and estimated 1981
CD
00
Constant 1959 dollars'
Current dollars
Industry
1959
1973
1976
19812
1973
1976
235.7
n.a.
81.4
45.7
n.a.
187.2
172.6
107.9
97.1
10.8
47.7
42.8
4.9
34.4
29.8
4.6
19.0
16.4
2.6
80.2
71.9
8.2
79.1
68.5
10.6
71.8
61.9
9.8
127.8
79.2
35.7
12.9
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
47.0
26.0
16.5
4.5
26.7
14.4
9.7
2.6
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
108.1
59.8
37.9
10.3
100.8
54.4
36.6
9.8
1 The deflator used to adjust for price change is the Bureau of the Census’
cost index for “ nonresidential building” construction. (See text footnote 2.)
2 The 1981 employment estimates were developed from 1976 survey data
adjusted for price and productivity changes from the midpoint of the 1976 sur
vey.
3 Offsite construction employee hours were estimated from the ratio of non
construction workers to total workers for the general building and special trade
contractors (SIC 15 and 17) segment of the contract construction industry as
shown in Employment and Earnings, March issues of the years covered.
4 Indirect employment data were revised from the original 1959 survey re
sults because of the reprocessing of materials data through improved input-out
put tables.
buildings consisted primarily of steel-framed, multistory
office structures. Most projects had a built-in roof with
a concrete roof base, an acoustical tile ceiling, dry wall
interiors, a concrete floor base with carpet covering,
and a basement. A majority of the buildings had
forced-air heating, central air-conditioning, and outdoor
parking areas. All structures of more than two stories
contained elevators.
with the two earlier studies, this represents a continu-.
ing decline in the proportion of onsite hours worked
by general contractors. The major subcontracting
groups employed in Federal building construction are:
Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning; electrical;
concrete; and structural steel. Along with the general
contractors, these groups accounted for more than twothirds of all onsite hours in 1976.
Requirements by occupation and type of
contractor
Distribution of costs
n.a. = Data not available.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
General contractors accounted for about 29 percent
of all contract costs for Federal building projects in
1976. Among subcontractors, heating, ventilating, and
air-conditioning made up the largest cost group, fol
lowed by structural steel and electrical work. These
three major subcontractors accounted for almost onethird of total construction costs.
About 26 percent of the construction costs of Fed
eral buildings completed in 1976 and 1977 represented
expenditures for onsite wages and salaries. The largest
share of the construction costs, around 42 percent, went
for materials, built-in equipment, and supplies. Equip-
Onsite employee hour requirements contributed by
skilled trades workers increased from about 60 percent
of total onsite employee hours in 1959 to more than 68
percent in 1976. Employee hours attributable to semi
skilled and unskilled workers, more than one-third of
onsite employee hours in 1959, declined to less than 24
percent in 1976. Hours of nonproduction employees,
such as supervisors, engineers, and clerks, increased
slightly to almost 3 percent in 1976.
General contractors accounted for 31 percent of on
site employee hour requirements in 1976. Compared
Tabl© 2. Federal building construction project characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976
Characteristic
1959
1973
United
States
United
States
19761
United
States
Northeast
North
Central
South
Average square feet of space per project................................
93,700
67,300
266,100
281,800
248,500
338,100
Average cost per project............................................................
$1,760,100
$2,780,100
$12,692,400
$18,476,900
$10,412,400
$15,743,200
Average cost per square fo o t....................................................
$18.80
Average hourly earnings of construction w orkers...................
$2.98
(2)
Average wages as a percent of contract cost.........................
29.0
34.0
$41.28
$47.70
$65.60
$41.90
$46.55
$8.66
$9.54
$9.93
$7.64
25.8
24.7
28.1
24.3
Average number of weeks of construction per project............
73
64
130
179
107
148
Average number of contractors per project.............................
22
22
47
36
54
50
1 In the 1976 study, data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit
publication of detailed data for that region.
2 Not available,
5
ment used to construct the projects accounted for an
other 3 percent of cost. The remaining almost 29 per
cent covered contractors’ overhead costs and profits.
This cost distribution suggests that a significant
change occurred between 1959 and 1976 in the relative
cost shares for Federal building construction. The pro
portion of costs represented by materials fell from about
51 percent in 1959 to around 42 percent in 1976. The
proportion contributed by onsite wages also declined
slightly, while contractors’ equipment showed a slight
rise. Overhead and profit costs, which include salaries
of offsite workers, supplemental benefits, performance
bonds, contractors’ profits, and expenses for interest,
office, and miscellaneous items, increased from 18 per
cent in 1959 to almost 29 percent in 1976.
More than three-fifths of the costs of materials, equip
ment, and supplies used in Federal building construc
tion during 1976 were expended for materials in three
product groups—stone, clay, glass, and concrete prod
ucts; primary metal products; and fabricated metal prod
ucts, except ordnance, machinery, and transportation
equipment. These three groups accounted for about 63
percent of material costs in 1976 compared with around
55 percent in 1959. Between 1959 and 1972, expendi
6
tures for primary metal products as a percent of total
materials almost doubled, reflecting, in part, an increase
in the size of projects in the current study, requiring
more structural steel products.
Regional! differences
Data reflect differences in construction requirements
due to differing regional conditions under which
projects are built. For example, the leading roof base
and exterior wall material used in projects in the South
was concrete. In contrast, projects in the North Cen
tral States made extensive use of steel decking for roof
bases and of load bearing masonry for exterior walls.
These different characteristics lead to differences in
costs by region. The Northeast led all regions in aver
age cost per project and per square foot, reflecting sev
eral factors; including a higher proportion of projects
with more than two stories which required elevators.
Regional differences also were observed in earnings.
Hourly earnings, for example, for all construction av
eraged $8.66, ranging from $7.64 in the South to $9.93
in the North Central region. Wages as a percentage of
costs varied from about 28 percent in the South to about
24 percent in the North Central.
Chapter III. Labor
Requirements
Onsite
cent of the onsite employee hours of all skilled workers
in Federal building construction during 1976 (table 3).
Other major skills, in descending order, included: Elec
tricians, structural iron workers, plumbers, and
sheet-metal workers. Together, these five occupations
accounted for almost 60 percent of all skilled trades
hours.
Bricklayers, and semiskilled and unskilled workers,
who contributed 2.7 and 23.6 percent, respectively, of
all onsite employee hour requirements in 1976, experi
enced a substantial decline from the 1959 Federal build
ing study. These trends reflect the increasing use of
prefabricated components and the mechanization of
some material handling operations. The proportion of
hours contributed by structural iron workers, elevator
constructors, cement finishers, operating engineers, and
electricians increased significantly over this period.
These trends reflect greater use of structural steel and
concrete as building materials as well as a larger mix
of multistory office buildings with elevators in the 1976
study.
Onsite labor requirements for Federal building
projects averaged about 30 onsite employee hours per
$1,000 of contract cost in 1976, about 37 percent of all
employee hour requirements. Federal and Social Secu
rity Administration office building projects generated
slightly lower onsite labor requirements than other Fed
eral building projects, an average of about 29 hours,
compared with 33.
In comparison, in 1959, Federal building projects av
eraged about 97 onsite employee hours per 1,000 cur
rent dollars and, in 1973, 43 onsite hours. The 1959 on
site figures constituted about 41 percent of all employee
hour requirements in that study. Current estimates based
on trends from the three Federal building studies indi
cate that about 17 onsite employee hours per $1,000 of
Federal building construction cost would have been
generated in 1981.
On a constant (1959) dollar basis, onsite labor require
ments declined from 97 employee hours per $1,000 in
1959 to almost 72 hours in 1973, and more than 68 hours
in 1976. The average annual rate of decline was 2.3
percent between 1959 and 1973 and 1.6 percent between
1973 and 1976.
Apprentice onsite employee hours. Apprentices made up
about 11 percent of all skilled workers in 1976 com
pared with approximately 6 percent in 1959. The oc
cupations that had the largest relative number of ap
prentices were sprinkler fitters, plumbers, pipefitters,
and electricians.
The distribution of total apprentice hours in 1976 in
dicates that about one-quarter of the apprentice hours
were contributed by electricians (table 4). Other major
occupations included plumbers, carpenters, structural
iron workers, sheet-metal workers, and pipefitters.
These six trades accounted for almost three-quarters of
all apprentice hours in 1976.
Onsite employee hours
per $1,000
(1959 dollars)
1959 ..............................................
1973 ..............................................
1976 ..............................................
97.1
71.9
68.5
Average annual
percent change
1959-76 ......................................................
1959-73 ......................................................
1973-76 ......................................................
-2.2
-2.3
-1-6
The change over time in onsite employee hour re
quirements per unit of output reflects the introduction
of new methods, equipment, and materials, and shifts
in the composition and location of construction. Al
though changes in onsite employee hour requirements
reflect some differences in the type of structures built
in the survey years, they provide a rough indication of
productivity trends in this type of construction.
Employee hours by type of contractor. The distribution
of onsite employee hours per $1,000 of Federal build
ing construction cost by type of contractor in 1976 re
flects a continuing trend toward more subcontracting
(table 5). The proportion of onsite hours worked by
general contractors has declined between each of the
studies. While the proportion of hours worked by struc
tural iron work, site preparation, excavation and grad
ing, concrete work, electrical, acoustical, and wallboard
Employee hours by occupation. Carpenters, the major
skilled trades workers, accounted for about 13.9 per
7
subcontractors increased substantially. This trend to
ward more subcontracting of onsite work reflects the
need for general contractors to concentrate more of
their efforts on coordinating, financing, and purchasing
functions.
Compared with the two earlier studies, the propor
tion of hours worked by plastering and lathing and
plumbing contractors declined substantially in 1976.
These trends reflect, in part, the substitution of wallboard for plastering and lathing methods and the grow
ing use of prefabricated materials that require less on
site finishing work.
Employee hours by selected characteristics. Federal
building projects during 1976 required an average of
378,000 onsite employee hours or about 210 employee
years of onsite labor, compared with 119,000 onsite
hours in 1973 and 171,000 hours in 1959. On a square
footage basis, Federal building projects in 1976 gener
ated an average of almost 142 onsite employee hours
per 100 square feet, a decline from the approximately
177 onsite employee hours generated in 1973, and the
183 hours in 1959 (table 6). Employee hour require
ments per 100 square feet during 1976 ranged from
about 102 hours in the North Central region to about
Table 3. Onsite employee hours required per $1,000 of Federal
building construction cost by occupation, 1959 and 1976
Occupation
Onsite employee
hours
Percent
distribution
1959
1976
1959
1976
All occupations..............................
97.1
29.8
100.0
100.0
Skilled trades........................................
Bricklayers........................................
Carpenters........................................
Cement finishers...............................
Electricians.......................................
Elevator constructors.......................
Glaziers..............................................
Insulation workers.............................
Iron workers, ornam ental................
Iron workers, reinforcing..................
Iron workers, structural....................
Lathers...............................................
Operating engineers........................
Painters..............................................
Plasterers...........................................
Plumbers and pipefitters..................
Plumbers.......................................
Pipefitters......................................
Roofers..............................................
Sheet metal workers........................
Soft floor layers................................
Terrazzo workers and tile setters....
Other skilled workers.......................
58.2
5.0
12.2
2.0
8.8
.7
.4
2.1
.8
2.1
1.2
1.8
2.3
2.0
2.0
8.5
0
(1)
.7
4.9
.2
.5
0
20.4
.8
4.1
1.0
3.4
.4
.1
.4
.3
.4
1.7
.3
1.1
.5
.3
2.4
1.3
1.1
.3
1-3
(2)
.2
1.2
59.9
5.2
12.6
2.1
9.1
.8
.4
2.1
.8
2.2
1.2
1.8
2.4
2.1
2.0
8.7
O
(1)
.7
5.0
.2
.5
0
68.3
2.7
13.9
3.3
11.5
1.4
.5
1.4
.9
1.2
5.8
1.1
3.6
1.6
1.1
7.9
4.5
3.4
1.0
4.5
.1
.6
4.2
Laborers and other...............................
Laborers, helpers, and tenders......
T ruckdrivers......................................
O ther..................................................
33.0
31.5
.9
.6
7.0
6.4
.2
.4
34.0
32.5
.9
.6
23.6
21.4
.8
1.4
2.2
.8
2.3
2.8
3.6
1.6
3.7
5.3
Professional, technical, and clerical
w orkers..............................................
Superintendents and blue-collar
supervisors.......................................
1 Data not available.
Less than 0.05 employee hours.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Table 4. Percent distribution of apprentices employed on
Federal building construction projects by occupation and
region, 19761
Percent distribution
Occupation
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
All skilled trades...............
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Bricklayers................................
Carpenters................................
Cement finishers.....................
Drywall finishers......................
Electricians...............................
Elevator constructors..............
Glaziers....................................
Insulation w orkers...................
2.4
13.6
3.9
.1
24.5
1.3
.6
2.4
.2
13.9
.9
(2)
31.0
5.4
(2)
5.1
10.3
4.0
.3
23.3
2.3
.6
.6
1.8
14.9
4.5
23.8
(2)
.7
3.8
Iron workers, ornamental.......
Iron workers, reinforcing........
Iron workers, structural...........
Lathers.....................................
M achinists................................
Operating engineers................
Painters....................................
Pipefitters.................................
1.2
.9
7.4
1.0
.1
.5
1.9
6.9
1.1
.2
15.1
1.4
1.1
1.2
6.7
2.0
.6
4.6
.2
1.0
1.8
9.8
1.0
1.1
7.1
1.3
.2
.1
1.9
5.8
Plasterers.................................
Plumbers..................................
Roofers.....................................
Sheet metal w orkers...............
Sprinkler fitte rs........................
Soft floor layers.......................
Tile setters................................
Other skilled trades workers ...
1.2
13.9
1.4
7.2
5.0
.2
.6
1.6
.3
12.6
(2)
7.5
.9
.2
.3
1.4
9.6
.7
7.0
14.7
.2
1.3
15.9
1.9
7.2
1.8
.2
1.0
2.6
-
.1
-
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
2 Less than 0.05 percent.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell. Detail
may not add to totals because of rounding.
170 hours in the Northeast. Onsite employee hour re
quirements per $1,000 frequently do not parallel re
quirements per 100 square feet. Differences in project
type, design, materials, geographic location, and rela
tive costs will affect the comparisons between these
two measures of unit labor requirements.
In 1976, Federal and Social Security Administration
office buildings generated slightly lower onsite labor
requirements per $1,000 than other Federal build
ings—an average of about 29 hours compared with 33.
Projects costing more than $10 million experienced the
lowest unit labor requirements of any cost class, sug
gesting that some labor saving may have resulted from
economies of scale associated with large buildings.
The distribution of onsite employee hours per $1,000
in 1976 also varied by geographic location. Federal
building projects in the North Central region experi
enced the lowest unit labor requirements of any region.
In contrast, projects in the South required the highest
number of onsite employee hours per $1,000, reflecting
the more frequent use of semiskilled and unskilled
workers.
Offsite
Offsite employee hours represent builders’ adminis
trative, estimating, and warehousing activities and the
Table 5. Onsite employee hour requirements in Federal building construction by type of contractor, 1959, 1973, and 1976
Employee hours required
per$1,000
Type of contractor1
Percent distribution
1959
1973
1976
1959
1973
1976
T o ta l...................................................................................................................
97.1
42.8
29.8
100.0
100.0
100.0
General contractors..................................................................................................
Plumbing, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning.............................................
Heating,ventilating, and air-conditioning............................................................
Plumbing................................................................................................................
Electrical....................................................................................................................
Plastering and lathing..............................................................................................
Structural and ornamental iron w o rk .....................................................................
Structural steel erection.......................................................................................
Ornamental iron w ork..........................................................................................
38.5
19.5
(2)
(2)
9.5
4.7
3.4
(2)
(2)
16.1
8.5
5.9
2.6
4.2
2.7
1.7
1.4
.2
9.1
. 4.9
4.0
.9
3.3
.5
1.8
1.7
.1
39.6
20.1
(2)
(2)
9.8
4.8
3.5
(2)
(2)
37.6
19.9
13.7
6.1
9.8
6.4
3.9
3.3
.6
30 5
16.6
13.6
3.0
11.2
1.6
6.0
5.8
.2
Elevator and other equipment installation.............................................................
Elevators................................................................................................................
Mechanical and equipment installation..............................................................
Masonry and stonework..........................................................................................
Site preparation, excavation, and grading.............................................................
1.5
(2)
(2)
7.7 '
2.0
1.6
.4
1.2
1.2
.9
.8
(2)
(2)
1.5
1.4
1.5
(2)
(2)
7.9
2.1
3.8
1.0
2.8
2.9
2.2
2.8
(2)
(2)
5.2
4.7
Roofing and sheet metal w ork................................................................................
Roofing and gutter w ork......................................................................................
Sheet metal work (except heating)....................................................................
1.2
(2)
(2)
1.0
.9
.1
.5
.4
.1
1.2
(2)
(2)
2.3
2.1
.2
1.6
1.3
.3
Painting and paperhanging.....................................................................................
Ceramic tile, terrazzo, and marble.........................................................................
O th e r.........................................................................................................................
Concrete w o rk ......................................................................................................
Carpentry...............................................................................................................
Acoustical......................................................................... .....................................
Wallboard...............................................................................................................
2.0
1.4
5.7
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.5
.5
3.7
.8
.8
.2
(3)
.5
.3
3.0
1.8
.3
.5
.9
2.1
1.4
5.9
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
1.2
1.2
8.7
1.8
1.8
.5
.1
1.5
1.0
17.1
6.0
1.2
1.8
2.9
1 Because many contractors perform more than one operation, contractors
are classified according to the major cost component of their work.
2 Data not available.
3 Less than 0.05 employee hours,
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Table 6. Onsite employee hour requirements for Federal building construction by selected characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976
Employee hours per
100 square feet
Employee hours
per $1,000
Characteristic
1959
1973
1976
1959
1973
1976
97.1
42.8
29.8
182.6
176.8
142.2
Federal office and social security buildings....................
All other buildings...............................................................
(1)
(1)
44.4
35.3
29.4
32.9
(1)
(1)
178.2
168.6
138.5
177.0
Construction cost group:
$1,000,000 and u n der...................................................
$1,000,001 - $5,000,000..............................................
$5,000,001 - $10,000,000............................................
$10,000,001 and o v e r...................................................
(1)
103.7
(2)
(2)
44.3
42.1
47.8
(2)
(2)
27.7
(2)
30.0
(1)
195.9
(2)
(2)
181.0
194.0
182.3
(2)
(2)
160.1
(2)
138.8
Region:
Northeast........................................................................
North C entral..................................................................
S o u th ...............................................................................
W est.................................................................................
(2)
100.2
96.0
89.2
35.4
36.1
48.7
37.9
25.9
24.4
36.3
(2)
(2)
204.0
180.7
133.6
211.4
119.5
176.3
149.5
169.6
102.3
168.9
(2)
All projects...................................................................
1 Not available.
2 Insufficient data.
cluding offsite construction) were required to produce
these materials, supplies, and services. Expenditures for
Federal building construction during 1976 generated
an estimated 52 offsite hours for each $1,000 of con
struction.
labor to produce and distribute the materials, supplies,
and equipment used in the construction process. Major
categories involved are: (1) Offsite construction; (2)
manufacturing; (3) trade, transportation, and services;
and (4) mining and all other industries either directly
or indirectly involved in the production and distribu
tion process.
For every hour of work performed at the construc
tion site, an additional 1.75 hours of offsite labor (in
Builders’ offsite employee hours. Federal building con
struction during 1976 required an estimated 4.6 offsite
employee hours in the construction industry per $1,000
9
of contract cost. Offsite construction employee hours
include builders’ administrative, coordinating, estimat
ing, scheduling, engineering (but not design work),
maintenance, site protection, and warehousing activi
ties. Estimates of builders’ offsite employment require
ments indicate that the proportion of total labor re
quirements contributed by offsite construction person
nel has increased from 4.6 percent in 1959 to 5.8 per
cent in 1976. This trend reflects the increasing com
plexity of many construction projects, requiring more
planning, coordination, and offsite work.
Current estimates based on trends from the surveys
indicated that 2.6 hours per $1,000 of contract cost
would have been required for this segment of the in
dustry in 1981.
Table 7. Indirect employee hour requirements per $1,000 of
contract construction cost for Federal building construction,
1959 and 1976
Manufacturing employee hours. The manufacturing
sector accounted for the second largest component
of total labor requirements in both the 1959 and 1976
studies of Federal building construction. Labor require
ments per $1,000 of Federal building construction in
1976 totaled 26 hours in manufacturing industries. The
manufacturing sector declined slightly from almost 34
percent of total labor requirements in 1959 to about 32
percent in 1976.
In 1981, an estimated 14 hours per $1,000 would have
been generated in the manufacturing sector.
1959
1976
Manufacturing............................................................
79.2
26.0
Trade, transportation, and services.......................
T ra d e .....................................................................
Wholesale trade................................................
Retail trade........................................................
Transportation.......................................................
Services.................................................................
35.7
23.0
12.9
10.1
9.0
3.7
16 5
10.4
5.0
54
37
24
Mining and oth e r......................................................
Agriculture..............................................................
M inina....................................................................
Communications...................................................
Public utilities.........................................................
Finance, insurance, and real estate...................
Government enterprises...............................
Construction...........................................................
12.9
1.4
4.3
1.1
1.2
2.8
1.1
1.0
45
4
13
.4
.5
10
5
.4
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
increased, rising from about 15 percent in 1959 to ap
proximately 20 percent in 1976.
About 10 hours per $1,000 of contract cost would
have been required for these industries in 1981.
Mining and other industries employee hours. This group
of industries includes agriculture, mining, communica
tions, public utilities, finance, insurance, real estate, gov
ernment enterprises, and maintenance construction.
More than 4 employee hours per $1,000 of Federal
building construction cost were generated in these in
dustries during 1976. This employee hour estimate rep
resents the same proportion of total labor requirements,
5.5 percent, as was contributed by this sector in the
1959 study. Among individual industries, public utilities
and government enterprises showed a slight increase
between 1959 and 1976, while agriculture and mining
declined over this period.
An estimated 3 hours per $1,000 would have been
generated in these industries in 1981.
Trade, transportation, and services employee hours. Dur
ing 1976, more than 16 employee hours per $1,000 of
Federal building construction were generated in indus
tries which distribute or provide other services for the
materials, supplies, and equipment used in the construc
tion process, either between processing stages or be
tween the last stage of manufacturing and the construc
tion site. The trade sector, including both wholesale
trade and retail trade, accounted for almost two-thirds
of this amount (table 7). Since 1959, the proportion of
total labor requirements contributed by this sector has
Sector
10
Chapter IV. Distribution of
Costs and Wages and
Other Characteristics
Construction costs by selected characteristics
On average, Federal building construction in 1976
cost about $12.7 million per project (table 8). Federal
and Social Security Administration office buildings cost
more per project than other Federal building projects
in both 1973 and 1976, reflecting the larger size of of
fice buildings in these studies. In contrast, Federal and
Social Security Administration office building projects
cost less per square foot of space than other Federal
building projects during both 1973 and 1976. These
findings indicate that some cost saving on office build
ing construction may have resulted from economies of
scale associated with large projects.
Relative cost shares
Materials, supplies, and built-in equipment constituted
the largest share of total contract costs in all three stud
ies of Federal building construction (between 42 and
51 percent) (table 9). Onsite wages and salaries made
up the second largest cost group in the 1959 and 1973
studies (29 and 34 percent, respectively), followed by
contractors’ overhead and profit (18 and 16 percent).12
In the 1976 study, however, overhead and profit costs
accounted for the second largest cost group, rising from
18 percent in 1959 to almost 29 percent in 1976. Fac
tors contributing to this large rise include increases in
the proportion of total labor requirements contributed
by offsite construction employees; a rise in interest rates
for contractor loans; and increases in employer contri
butions for supplemental benefits such as paid holidays
and vacations, health insurance, and retirement plans.
The distribution of construction contract costs within
each of the four regions during 1976 was similar to the
distribution for all projects, except for the South where
onsite wages and salaries comprised the second largest
cost group. There were greater differences, however,
between the regions. The Northeast region showed the
greatest proportion of contract dollars allotted to over
head and profit of any region in 1976. The South had
the lowest percentage in that cost category. The re
verse relationship for these two regions was observed
for the materials, supplies, and built-in equipment cost
12For 1973, general contractors’ costs were obtained directly, but
some subcontractors’ costs were estimated by general contractors.
11
component. The South generally had the highest per
centage in this category, about 44 percent in 1976, while
the Northeast showed the lowest proportion, almost 39
percent in 1976. The percentage of total costs contrib
uted by onsite wages and salaries was highest in the
South region and lowest in the North Central in 1976.
These trends may reflect, in part, variations in the
level of financial costs and profits among the regions.
For example, the cost of supplementary wage benefits
received by employees is one of the items included in
overhead. These benefits tend to be less costly in the
South than in the Northeast. Variations in such factors
may help to explain the wide differences in the per
centage of total contract cost allotted to overhead and
profit in the regions. A definitive explanation of these
trends cannot be made without further research, par
ticularly with respect to the composition of overhead
costs.
Contractor costs
General contractors accounted for the major portion
of total costs for materials, equipment, and supplies as
well as onsite labor in all four regions in 1976 (table
10). Costs paid to heating, ventilating, and air-condi
tioning; structural steel; electrical; and concrete work
contractors were among the largest categories of costs
in all regions. Together with the general contractor,
these four contractor groups accounted for about twothirds of all contract costs in each region.
The distribution of construction contract value by
contractor is substantially different for some groups
from the employee hour distribution discussed earlier.
Masonry, plastering and lathing, and painting contrac
tors made up a significantly higher proportion of total
onsite employee hours than of total contract value. On
the other hand, structural steel, acoustical, and
sheet-metal contractors showed a higher proportion of
contract value than of employee hours. These discrep
ancies may reflect, in part, the higher cost of materials,
supplies, and equipment for structural steel and
sheet-metal work and the more labor-intensive nature
of plastering, painting, and masonry work.
Differences in the mix of projects among the regions
resulted in a wide range of contract values contributed
Table 8. Construction costs of Federal buildings by selected characteristics, 1959, 1973, and 1976
Cost per project
Cost per square feet
Characteristic
All projects.............................................................
1976
1959
1973
1976
1959
1973
$18.80
$41.28
$47.70
$1,760,100
$2,780,100
$12,692,400
Federal office and social security buildings..............
(1)
40.13
47.04
(1)
2,840,800
14,136,200
All other buildings........................................................
(’ )
47.78
53.87
(1)
2,525,000
6,915,700
Region:
Northeast..................................................................
North C entral............................................................
S o u th ........................................................................
W est...........................................................................
(2)
20.35
18.83
14.98
59.63
33.08
36.17
39.42
65.56
41.90
46.56
(2)
(2)
1,402,600
2,008,600
1,466,000
2,929,700
230,300
4,188,800
4,154,300
18,476,900
10,412,400
15,743,200
(2)
1 Not available.
2 Insufficient data.
by some types of contractors. For example, masonry
work, which averaged almost 4 percent of all contract
costs, ranged from close to 7 percent in the Northeast
to around 2 percent in the South. Structural steel erec
tion varied from about 5 percent in the South to more
than 15 percent in the North Central region. The pro
portion of value contributed by general contractors
ranged from less than 17 percent in the North Central
to more than 41 percent in the South.
in the building trades as of July 1, 1975 (table 12).13 Ex
ceptions are shown in the following tabulation:
Wages and earnings by region
Occupation
Average. hourly.
earnings from study
Union wage rate
All occupations .....
Bricklayers................
Cement finishers.......
Lathers ......................
Marble setters...........
Plasterers...................
Tile setters ................
$8.66
9.76
8.94
9.45
11.31
9.02
9.00
$8.88
9.35
8.81
9.17
9.01
8.81
8.75
Factors that may account for some of the disparity
between these two series are the inclusion of overtime
in the study’s data and the exclusion of Alaska from
the area covered by the survey.
During 1976, onsite wages and salaries paid to con
struction employees working on Federal building con
struction projects averaged $8.66 per hour (table 11).
This figure accounted for about 26 percent of all con
struction contract costs compared with 29 percent in
1959.
Average hourly earnings varied among the regions.
Differences in average onsite hourly earnings were
caused by a number of factors, including variations in
the degree of unionization and the general level of wages
in individual areas. (See the following tabulation.) Con
struction workers whose rates are set by labor-manage
ment agreement generally receive higher average
hourly earnings than nonunion workers. Construction
personnel working on Federal building projects com
pleted in the South during 1976, for example, were paid
substantially lower average hourly earnings than
workers in other areas. The proportion of union con
tracts as a percent of all contracts was much lower in
the South (less than 60 percent) than in the Northeast
or North Central regions (more than 84 percent).
Materials, supplies, and equipment
Wages by occupation
Materials, supplies, and equipment costs for Federal
building construction amounted to about $454 per $ 1,000
of construction costs in 1976 (table 13). This value rep
resents a decline of $79 per $1,000 of costs or about 15
percent from the 1959 survey. Of the total materials,
supplies, and equipment costs, more than 93 percent
were spent for materials, supplies, and built-in equip
ment in both the 1959 and 1976 studies. The balance
was allocated to contractor construction equipment re
quired during construction.
Materials, supplies, and built-in equipment accounted
for more than two-fifths of construction costs in 1976.
Three major product groups made up more than
three-fifths of all materials. Stone, clay, glass, and con
crete products constituted the largest material group
ing, representing almost $103 per $1,000 of total project
costs. Most important within this group were ready-mix
concrete and concrete products. Primary metal prod
ucts were the next largest group of materials—about
$94 per $1,000 of total cost. Structural steel products,
which contributed $65 per $1,000, represented the
largest cost category in the primary metal group. Fab
ricated metal products, except ordnance, machinery,
Straight-time average hourly rates in this study gen
erally were lower than average union hourly wage rates
,J Union Wages and Hours: Building Trades, July 1, 1975, Bulletin
1907 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1976).
Union contracts as a Onsite average hourly
percent o f total
earnings (all contracts)
contracts
United States
Northeast .......
North Central .
South ..............
75.4
90.5
84.0
59.4
$8.66
9.54
9.93
7.64
12
Table 11. Average onsite earnings and wages as a percent of
contract cost on Federal building construction projects by
region, 1959 and 1976
Table 9. Percent distribution of contract costs for Federal
building construction, 1959, 1973, and 19761
Type of cost
North North
South
east Central
United States
1959
19732
1976
1976
1976
1976
Total expenditures........... 100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
34.0
25.8
24.7
24.2
27.7
Onsite wages and salaries.....
29.0
Materials, built-in equipment,
and supplies........................
51.4
Contractors’ equipment...........
1.9
(3)
Overhead and profit................
17.7
16.0
___________________
50.0
42.5
38.9
42.8
43.8
2.9
3.0
2.9
2.9
28.8
33.5
30.1
25.6
Characteristic
Wages as a
percent of
contract cost
Average hourly
earnings
1959
1976
1959
1976
All projects.....................................
$2.98
$8.66
29.0
25.8
Region:
Northeast...........................................
North C entral....................................
South ................................................
W est...................................................
(1)
3.15
2.90
3.22
9.54
9.93
7.64
(2)
(1)
31.5
27.9
(28.7)
24.7
24.2
27.7
(2)
1 Insufficient data.
2 In the 1976 study, data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit
publication of detailed data for that region.
1 In the 1976 survey, data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit
publication of detailed data for that region.
2 Estimated.
3 Equipment included in materials.
Table 12. Average hourly earnings for selected onsite
construction workers on Federal building projects by region,
19761
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Table 10. Percent distribution of contract cost on Federal
building construction projects by type of contractor and region,
1973 and 19761
1973
Type of contractor2
Subcontractors:
Heating, ventilating, and
air-conditioning..............................
Structural steel..................................
Electrical............................................
Concrete w o rk ..................................
Excavation, footing, foundations,
and grading...................................
Masonry.............................................
Elevators............................................
Plumbing............................................
A coustical..........................................
Wallboard...........................................
Carpentry...........................................
Roofing, gutter work, flashing,
and siding......................................
C arpeting...........................................
Glass and glazing.............................
Sheet metal w ork..............................
Plastering and lathing......................
Painting and wallpapering...............
Insulating...........................................
Ceramic tile ........................................
Mechanical equipment installation ..
Landscaping.....................................
Ornamental iron w ork......................
W aterproofing...................................
Concrete reinforcement...................
Linoleum, vinyl tile, and vinylasbestos tile ..................................
T e rra zo..............................................
Asphalt paving..................................
Other..................................................
Occupation
1976
United United North North
South
States States east Central
All contractors............................... 100.0
General contractors..............................
Average hourly earnings
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
38.6
29.1
24.7
16.5
41.1
8.7
6.4
7.4
2.2
12.6
10.3
9.8
5.9
11.2
13.0
12.0
5.5
13.3
15.3
8.1
11.5
13.0
5.1
10.0
1.7
3.2
2.7
2.1
6.3
4.2
3.8
3.3
2.7
5.5
6.8
38
3.2
5.9
4.2
3.5
2.3
2.4
2.2
29
2.4
.5
.1
1.7
2.6
2.2
1.5
4.6
.7
1.4
2.6
1.3
1.4
1.7
3.6
1.7
2.3
.2
(3)
.2
4.3
.7
.4
1.4
1.1
1.1
1.0
.9
.8
.6
1.0
.8
(4)
.5
(4)
.5
(4)
.9
1.5
.9
2.6
1.2
.7
1.6
1.9
.9
1.8
(4)
.6
1.0
.1
1.5
4.1
.4
1.4
.8
(3)
.5
(3)
.4
.4
.4
.2
.2
(3)
.1
(4)
.3
(4)
.8
(3)
.4
.7
.4
.1
.4
(3)
.4
(4)
.6
.3
.3
(3)
.2
3.2
.2
.2
.1
2.7
(4)
(4)
(4)
4.2
.1
(4)
.1
2.2
.3
.4
.1
3.3
All occupations........................................... $8.66
Skilled trades workers:
Bricklayers......................................................
Carpenters.............................................. !......
Cement finishers............................................
$9.54
$9.93
$7.64
9.65
8.04
7.99
8.91
8.91
8.33
9.07
8.12
8.79
9.76
8.60
8.94
9.07
9.44
9.72
9.61
8.63
9.54
9.18
9.29
9.96
10.04
9.33
9.85
10.75
10.71
9.88
9.69
10.19
8.83
10.73
9.97
9.42
10.90
Iron workers, ornam ental............................. 9.48
Iron workers, reinforcing............................... 8.87
Iron workers, structural................................. 9.25
Lathers............................................................ 9.45
Machinists....................................................... 8.68
Marble setters................................................ 11.31
Millwrights....................................................... 9.41
Operating engineers..................................... 9.27
Painters........................................................... 8.22
9.64
8.98
10.08
10.11
(2)
(2)
(2)
10.41
8.80
10.54
10.95
10.31
10.34
Plasterers........................................................
Plumbers.........................................................
R oofers...........................................................
Sheet metal workers......................................
Soft floor layers.............................................
Sprinkler fitters...............................................
Tile setters......................................................
8.17
9.06
9.54
9.02
8.80
8.78
9.28
10.15
9.69
9.00
(2)
9.28
9.47
9.42
10.54
11.16
(2)
10.03
8.27
Semiskilled and unskilled workers:
Laborers, helpers, and tenders...................
Truckdrivers...................................................
Custodial workers..........................................
6.54
6.74
3.42
Electricians....................................................
Glaziers...........................................................
Insulation workers..........................................
Paperhangers................................................
Pile driver operators.....................................
Onsite office and administrative workers:
Clerical w orkers.................................. '..........
Professional and technical workers.............
Superintendents and blue-collar
supervisors.................................................
1 In the 1976 survey, data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit
publication of detailed data for that region.
2 Since many contractors perform more than one operation, contractors are
classified according to the major cost component of their work.
3 Not available.
4 Insufficient data.
(2)
9.02
10.18
9.37
8.70
7.88
8.37
8.63
8.23
(2)
7.71
8.30
7.63
(2)
(2)
10.64
10.02
10.20
10.33
9.92
12.17
10.00
10.29
7.74
7.60
8.40
8.22
7.98
8.21
8.06
8.59
8.90
8.53
7.72
7.59
7.38
7.52
(2)
5.83
5.94
3.34
4.25
11.56
4.71
7.65
6.03
15.12
3.83
6.21
10.95
11.66
12.70
9.95
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
2 Insufficient data.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
United North North
South
States east Central
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell.
13
Table 13. [Materials, equipment, and supplies used in Federal building construction, 1959 and 1976
Percent
distribution
Value per $1,000
of contract cost
Type of material
’ 1959
1976
1959
1976
All materials, equipment, and supplies.......................................................................................
532.50
453.96
100.00
100.00
Materials, built-in equipment, and supplies....................................................................................
513.40
424.88
96.41
93.59
Agricultural products.................................................................................................................................
All horticultural products.......................................................................................................................
Agricultural and forestry products, n.e.c.3 ..........................................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
1.05
1.04
.01
(2)
(2)
(2)
.23
.23
(4)
Mining and quarrying of nonmetallic minerals, except fu e ls ................................................................
Sand and gravel....................................................................................................................................
Mining and quarrying of nonmetallic minerals, n.e.c.........................................................................
2.20
2.20
(2)
2.22
1.74
.47
.41
.41
(2)
.49
.38
.10
Textile mill products..................................................................................................................................
Carpeting and pads...............................................................................................................................
Textile mill products, n.e.c....................................................................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
7.49
7.28
.21
(2)
(2)
(2)
1.65
1.60
.05
Apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials..................................
(2)
.30
(2)
.07
Lumber and wood products, except furniture........................................................................................
Dressed boards and lumber products.................................................................................................
Millwork (wood).......................................................................................................................................
Wood kitchen cabinets and vanities-prebuilt......................................................................................
Hardwood plywood................................................................................................................................
Softwood plyw ood.................................................................................................................................
Treated lum ber.......................................................................................................................................
Acoustical tile, cork................................................................................................................................
Wood products, n.e.c.............................................................................................................................
17.60
6.70
8.20
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
2.70
10.51
2.40
3.56
1.37
.89
.39
.78
.18
.94
3.31
1.26
1.54
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.51
2.32
.53
.78
.30
.20
.09
.17
.04
.21
Furniture and fixtures................................................................................................................................
Public buildings furniture and fixtures.................................................................................................
Store furniture and fixtures....................................................................................................................
Window blinds and draperies...............................................................................................................
Furniture and fixtures, n.e.c...................................................................................................................
1.80
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
1.88
.80
.64
.32
.12
.34
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.41
.18
.14
.07
.03
Paper and allied products.........................................................................................................................
Construction paper and building board products................................................................................
Paper and allied products, n.e.c...........................................................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
2.03
1.94
.09
(2)
(2)
(2)
.45
.43
.02
Chemicals and allied products.................................................................................................................
Paint and allied products.......................................................................................................................
Miscellaneous industrial organic chemicals........................................................................................
Adhesives, sealants, and calking com pounds....................................................................................
Chemicals and allied products, n.e.c...................................................................................................
5.50
2.40
(2)
(2)
3.10
4.98
1.67
.16
1.40
1.75
1.03
.45
(2)
(2)
.58
1.10
.37
.04
.31
.39
Petroleum refining and related industries...............................................................................................
Fuels, diesel fuel, gas, oil, and grease...............................................................................................
Asphalt paving, asphaltic concrete, bituminous concrete, coal tar paving, and paving b lo ck......
Asphalt felts and coatings.....................................................................................................................
4.70
(2)
3.40
1.30
5.03
1.44
.68
2.91
.88
(2)
.64
.24
1.11
.32
.15
.64
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products.........................................................................................
Fabricated rubber products...................................................................................................................
Plastic pipe, tubing, fittings, and conduit.............................................................................................
Insulation-styrofoam and other cushioning and plastic foam insulation.........................................
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products, n.e.c...........................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
3.05
.29
.53
.31
1.93
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.67
.06
.12
.07
.43
Stone, clay, glass, and concrete products..............................................................................................
Window glass (manufactured)..............................................................................................................
Pressed and blown glass and glassware............................................................................................
Glass products (made from purchased glass)....................................................................................
Hydraulic cem ent....................................................................................................................................
Clay brick and structural clay tile .........................................................................................................
Ceramic wall and floor tile .....................................................................................................................
Clay sewer pipe, liner brick, and fittings.............................................................................................
Plumbing fixtures and accessories — vitreous china.........................................................................
115.00
3.00
(2)
(2)
3.00
14.90
1.50
(2)
(2)
102.75
3.05
.78
.47
1.19
1.97
1.92
.12
1.15
21.60
.56
(2)
(2)
.56
2.80
.28
(2)
(2)
22.63
.67
.17
.10
.26
.43
.42
.03
.25
Concrete block, brick, excluding cinder block.....................................................................................
Concrete pipe ........................................................................................................................................
Other precast concrete products..........................................................................................................
Precast terrazzo.....................................................................................................................................
Ready-mix concrete................................................................................................................................
Lime .....................................................................................................................................................
Gypsum products...................................................................................................................................
Marble, granite, slate, and other cut or natural stone........................................................................
7.60
(2)
(2)
(2)
43.00
(2)
6.30
9.60
4.20
.45
19.79
.21
33.90
.37
5.76
13.16
1.43
(2)
(2)
(2)
8.08
(2)
1.18
1.80
.92
.10
4.36
.05
7.47
.08
1.27
2.90
See footnotes at end of table.
14
Table 13. Continued — Materials, equipment, and supplies used in Federal building construction, 1959 and 1976
Value per$1.000
of contract cost
Type of material
11959
1976
Percent
distribution
1959
1976
Stone, clay, glass, and concrete products — Continued
Asbestos cement products...................................................................................................................
Crushed rock, slag, and miscellaneous aggregate...........................................................................
Insulation — magnesia, perlite, vermiculite, and related products..................................................
Insulation — fiberglass, mineral, or glass w ool..................................................................................
Acoustical tile — fiberglass, mineral w ool..........................................................................................
Stone, clay, glass, and concrete products, n.e.c...............................................................................
2.70
n
1.90
14.80
(2)
6.70
1.22
1.74
1.43
5.40
4.04
.43
0.51
(2)
.36
2.78
(2)
1.26
0.27
.38
.31
1.19
.89
.09
Primary metal industries..........................................................................................................................
Structural steel.......................................................................................................................................
Blast furnace, steel works, and related products...............................................................................
Steel or galvanized raw sheet metal...................................................................................................
Steel pipe — galvanized and ferrous noncast iron p ip e ...................................................................
Iron nails, spikes, cable, and wire— ferrous.......................................................................................
Welded or seamless steel pipe and tubes— from purchased m aterials.........................................
Cast iron products.................................................................................................................................
Copper pipe and tubing........................................................................................................................
Aluminum sheet, plate, and fo il...........................................................................................................
Cable and wire — nonferrous (noniron).............................................................................................
Primary metal products, n.e.c..............................................................................................................
57.60
24.10
(2)
8.10
(2)
(2)
(2)
4.80
8.90
3.80
7.90
(2)
94.38
65.28
1.81
2.70
10.67
1.03
.71
4.06
2.10
.24
4.82
.99
10.82
4.53
(2)
1.52
(2)
(2)
(2)
.90
1.67
.71
1.48
(2)
20.79
14.38
.40
.59
2.35
.23
.16
.89
.46
.05
1.06
.22
Fabricated metal products, except machinery and transportation equipm ent...................................
Builders’ hardware.................................................................................................................................
Plumbing fixtures, and accessories — metal or enameled iron.......................................................
Plumbing accessories; fittings and trim — brass...............................................................................
Domestic furnaces — steam or hot water..........................................................................................
Fabricated structural steel....................................................................................................................
Fabricated structural alum inum...........................................................................................................
Steel doors — all ty p e s .... ...................................................................................................................
Aluminum doors — all types.................................................................................................................
Metal windows — all metal types........................................................................................................
Prefabricated store fronts — all metal types......................................................................................
122.70
6.70
7.80
(2)
8.10
(2)
(2)
(2)
19.80
(2)
(2)
87.91
5.30
1.43
.99
2.02
9.36
.62
3.04
.31
5.91
.82
23.04
1.26
1.46
(2)
1.52
(2)
(2)
(2)
3.72
(2)
(2>
19.36
1.17
.32
.22
.45
2.06
.14
.67
.07
1.30
.18
Fabricated metal plate products..........................................................................................................
Fabricated sheet metal products.........................................................................................................
Architectural and ornamental metal work...........................................................................................
Prefabricated metal buildings and components.................................................................................
Metal reinforcing bars and expended metal lath................................................................................
Bolts, nuts, screws, rivets, and related products...............................................................................
Other metal stampings .,.......................................................................................................................
Plumbing accessories, fittings, and trim — m etal.............................................................................
Miscellaneous fabricated wire products — made from purchased w ire .........................................
Fabricated metal products, n.e.c.........................................................................................................
1.80
18.70
6.80
(2)
43.30
(2)
(2)
4.20
3.70
1.80
3.21
12.26
8.81
2.04
16.18
1.32
1.26
6.36
5.33
1.34
.34
3.51
1.28
(2)
8.13
(2)
(2)
.79
.69
.34
.71
2.70
1.94
.45
3.57
.29
.28
1.40
1.18
.30
Machinery, except electrical.....................................................................................................................
Elevators and moving stairways...........................................................................................................
Pumps, and compressed air, oxygen, and nitrous oxide system s...................................................
Compressors..........................................................................................................................................
Blowers and exhaust and ventilation fa n s .........................................................................................
Sprinkler systems — fire prevention.....................................................................................................
Electric computing equipm ent..............................................................................................................
Air-conditioning and warm-air heating equipment..............................................................................
Commercial refrigeration equipment...................................................................................................
Commercial kitchen equipment other than refrigeration....................................................................
Machinery, except electrical, n.e.c......................................................................................................
79.10
26.40
2.50
(2)
4.40
(2)
(2)
3.50
34.70
(2)
7.60
48.30
18.24
1.73
.93
6.39
2.77
2.45
12.57
.55
1.25
1.40
14.85
4.96
.47
(2)
.83
(2)
(2)
.66
6.52
(2)
1.43
10.64
4.02
.38
.21
1.41
.61
.54
2.77
.12
.28
.31
Electrical machinery, equipment, and supplies.....................................................................................
Transformers — power, distribution, and specialty............................................................................
Switchgear and switchboards apparatus...... ........................ ............ ................................................
Electrical motors and generators...........................;............................................................................
Electronic timing systems and electric motor controls.......................................................................
Welding supplies.... ...............................................................................................................................
Electric housewares and fa n s ..............................................................................................................
Household appliances, n.e.c.................................................................................................................
Electric lamps and bulbs.......................................................................................................................
Current-carrying wiring devices............................................................................................................
Noncurrent-carrying wiring devices....................................... ..............................................................
Commercial, industrial, or institutional electric lighting fixtures........................................................
Emergency lighting systems and lighting equipment, n.e.c...............................................................
Radio, television, and public address equipment, except communications and
transmitting equipment............................................ ..........................................................................
Radio and television communication and transmitting devices and parts, except tubes...............
Electrical machinery, equipment, and supplies, n.e.c........................................................................
89.00
2.80
17.30
2.30
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
4.20
22.00
30.80
(2)
46.33
1.64
6.57
4.34
1.94
.32
.33
.21
.48
1.74
7.34
13.49
.46
16.71
.53
3.25
.43
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.79
4.13
5.78
(2)
10.21
.36
1.45
.96
.43
.07
.07
.05
.11
.38
1.62
2.97
.10
3.50
3.30
2.80
.51
4.34
2.61
.66
.62
.53
.11
.96
.57
See footnotes at end of table.
15
Table 13. Continued — Materials, equipment, and supplies used in Federal building construction, 1959 and 1976
Value per$1,000
of contract cost
Type of material
'1959
Measuring, analyzing, and controlling instruments....,....................................................
Residential and commercial automatic environmental appliance controls...............
Industrial instruments for measurement, display, and control of process variables.
Measuring and controlling devices — nonelectrical.................. ..............................
Miscellaneous measuring, analyzing, and controlling instruments...........................
Percent
distribution
1976
1959
1976
15.40
7.90
(1
23
)
(2)
7.50
4.61
3.38
.24
.81
.18
2.89
1.48
(2)
(2)
1.41
1.01
.74
.05
.18
.04
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries..............................................................
2.80
2.04
.53
.45
Total contractors’ construction equipment............................................
19.10
29.08
3.59
6.41
(4)
Apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials
(2)
.01
(2)
Lumber and wood products, except furniture....................................................
Wood scaffolding — dressed board................................................................
Contractor's office — trailer..............................................................................
Wood products, n.e.c........................................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.80
.12
.58
.10
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.18
.03
.13
.02
Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products....................................................
(2)
.05
(2)
.01
Fabricated metal products, except machinery and transportation equipment
Handtools (nonpowered)..................................................................................
Metal forms — any m aterial.............................................................................
Metal scaffolding................................................................................................
All other fabricated metal products.................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
3.98
1.35
.82
1.72
.10
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.88
.30
.18
.38
.02
Machinery, except electrical.................................................................................
Power cranes.....................................................................................................
Tractors, bulldozers, and crawler tractors......................................................
Backhoes and trenchers...................................................................................
Motor scrapers and graders.............................................................................
Rollers and compactors....................................................................................
Mixers, pavers, and related equipment...........................................................
Hoists, monorails, derricks, booms, and winches..........................................
Off-highway trucks................................................................................... ........
Front-end loaders..............................................................................................
Other light construction machinery and equipm ent......................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
21.86
8.34
1.45
1.48
.12
.25
.40
2.64
.29
.79
.33
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
4.82
1.84
.32
.33
.03
.05
.09
.58
.06
.17
.07
All other heavy construction equipment.........................................................
Drill rigs...............................................................................................................
Industrial trucks, tractors, forklifts, and related equipment...........................
Power driven handtools....................................................................................
Welder and cutting apparatus..........................................................................
Pumps.................................................................................................................
Compressors.....................................................................................................
Power driven service machines......................................................................
Machinery, except electrical, n.e.c...................................................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.14
.25
.30
1.59
.31
.57
.35
.13
2.14
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
.03
.05
.07
.35
.07
.13
.08
.03
.47
Electrical machinery, equipment, and supplies............................
Electrical welding apparatus.......................................................
Miscellaneous electrical machinery, equipment, and supplies
(2)
(2)
(2)
.69
.57
.12
(2)
(2)
(2)
.15
.13
.03
Transportation equipm ent...............................................................
Motor trucks (highway)................................................................
Miscellaneous transportation equipment...................................
(2)
(2)
(2)
1.60
1.53
.07
(2)
(2)
(2)
.35
.34
.02
Measuring, analyzing, and controlling instruments......................
(2)
.03
(2)
.01
Miscellaneous manufacturing industries
(2)
.06
(2)
.01
1 Detailed data have been regrouped for the year 1959 and group totals may
vary slightly from those presented in earlier publications of the survey data.
2 Not available.
3 The last items in each group labeled n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified) are
those which have not appeared in the previous surveys in sufficient amounts
to be recorded, but were included in this table to present the complete results
of the latest survey.
4 Less than 0.005.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Materials data for
the 1959 Federal buildings study were reaggregrated to match the 1972
Standard Industrial Classification manual to make comparisons with the 1976
materials data easier. Data include sales tax.
and transportation equipment, the third largest group,
accounted for more than $88 per $1,000 of contract
cost. Within this group, the important products were
metal reinforcing bars and expended metal lath, and
fabricated sheet-metal products.
Three items, whose used increased appreciably in the
current Federal building survey, were air-conditioning,
structural steel, and concrete products. Air-condition
ing is becoming widely used in most Federal buildings
to help create a more productive working environment.
16
Concrete block and other concrete products have
gained wide usage for floor and ceiling bases and exte
rior walls. Structural steel is more widely accepted as
a replacement for load bearing masonry and other types
of framing materials, particularly on high rise struc
tures. Continuing development of new and better con
struction materials should help to control material costs
on Federal building projects in the future.
For convenience, construction machinery and equip
ment were included in the materials table as a sep
arate category. Costs for construction equipment
were based on depreciated or rental costs or equivalent
value of machinery or equipment at the construction
site, exclusive of equipment operators. Expenditures
amounted to about $29 per $1,000 during 1976 or more
than 6 percent of all materials and equipment costs. The
major cost item in this category is machinery, except
electrical, which consists primarily of construction
equipment such as cranes, hoists, power-driven handtools, backhoes, bulldozers, and similar items.
Construction time
1959
1973
1976
All projects.......................................................
73
63.8
129.9
Construction cost group:
$1,000,000 and less..........................................
$1,000,001 $5,000,000..................................
$5,000,001— $10,000,000................................
$10,000,001— $25,000,000..............................
$25,000,001 and o v e r.......................................
(1)
(1)
(1)
0
(1)
45.6
70.3
100.7
(2)
—
(2)
104.0
(2)
121.9
211.5
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
63.1
40.7
78.3
75.7
179.4
107.3
148.4
(3)
Characteristic
Region:
N ortheast............................................................
North C entral.....................................................
_____
1 Not available.
2 Insufficient data.
3 In the 1976 study, data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit
publication of detailed data for that region.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell.
Table 15. Percent distribution of onsite employee hours by
decile of construction time, 1959 and 1976
Projects in the North Central region required the
fewest number of weeks to complete of any region in
the 1973 and 1976 Federal building surveys, reflecting
the smaller average size of projects in this region (table
14). The South and Northeast regions experienced the
highest average number of weeks of construction time,
in 1973 and 1976, respectively. As expected, the length
of time for completion increased as the size and cost of
the projects grew.
In order to develop a typical employment pattern,
the construction time for each project was divided into
10 equal parts or deciles. This distribution or phasing
pattern of onsite work shows that the distribution of
onsite hours during the construction period has not
changed significantly between 1959 and 1976 (table 15).
On average, the percentage of total hours required in
creased slowly over about two-thirds of the total time
period and then declined gradually in both 1959 and
1976.
Percent of
onsite hours
Construction time
1959
1976
T o ta l....................................................................
100.0
100.0
1st decile...................................................................
2d decile.....................................................................
3d decile.....................................................................
4th decile....................................................................
5th decile...................................................................
6th decile....................................................................
7th decile....................................................................
8th decile...................................................................
9th decile...................................................................
10th decile.................................................................
2.7
6.4
9.7
11.8
13.0
14.4
13.3
13.8
10.5
4.3
3.7
5.7
10.5
12.7
13.5
14.3
15.8
11.9
8.4
3.5
Table 16. Average number of contractors for Federal building
projects by type of contractor and region, 19761
Contraetors
Federal building projects in 1976 required an aver
age of about 47 contractors per project, ranging from
about 54 contractors per project in the North Central
region to about 36 contractors in the Northeast (table
16). On average, each project had 1 general contractor,
5 prime contractors, 33 subcontractors, and 8 sub-subcontractors. The North Central region required the
highest average number of prime contractors and sub
contractors per project. The South region experienced
the highest number of sub-subcontractors per project.
Table 14. Average number of weeks of construction time for
Federal building projects by selected characteristics, 1959,
1973, and 1976
__________________ __
Type of contractor
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
All contractors..........................
47.3
35.8
53.9
50.2
General contractors.................
1.2
1.0
.9
1.8
Prime contractors....................
4.9
.6
8.3
3.6
Subcontractors.........................
32.9
23.6
38.0
34.2
Sub-subcontractors.................
8.3
10.6
6.7
10.7
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed dataforthat region.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
17
Chapter V. Comparison With
Other Surweys
Total employee hour requirements for Federal build
ing construction were the lowest of any building con
struction activity in the BLS studies of construction la
bor requirements (table 17).'4 However, it is possible
that requirements for commercial office building and
school construction might have been the same as for
Federal building construction, or slightly lower, if the
studies had been conducted in the same year.
The occupational requirements for Federal building
construction were essentially the same as for commer
cial office buildings (table 18). Compared with all nonresidential building construction activity studied by
BLS, the occupational requirements for Federal build
ing construction were the highest for administrative and
supervisory workers and the lowest for skilled trades
workers. Among individual occupations, Federal build
ing construction employed the highest proportion of
electricians and iron workers and the lowest proportion
of bricklayers, plasterers and lathers, and laborers,
helpers, and tenders.
The distribution of contract costs for Federal build
ing construction more closely resembled those for com-
mercial office buildings than schools or general hospi
tals (table 19). The ratio of onsite wages and salaries
for Federal buildings, 25.8 percent, was the lowest
among these four nonresidential building activities. The
cost of overhead and profit, 28.8 percent, was the high
est for Federal building construction, reflecting rising
interest expenses and the increasing scope and size of
most construction projects, necessitating more planning,
coordination, and offsite work.
The material requirements for Federal building con
struction again most closely matched those for com
mercial office building construction than for the two
other nonresidential building activities (table 20). Al
though Federal buildings required a larger proportion
of primary metal products and a smaller proportion of
stone, clay, glass, and concrete products and machin
ery, except electrical, than commercial office buildings,
these three groups of materials accounted for almost 60
percent of the cost of materials in both types of con
struction. These three major groupings made up almost
63 percent of total materials, equipment, and supplies
for Federal buildings and nearly 59 percent for com
mercial office buildings. Federal building construction
required a larger proportion of primary metal products
and construction equipment and a smaller proportion
of mining, lumber, furniture, and fabricated metal prod
ucts than the three other nonresidential building
activities.
14In comparing the Federal building construction survey with other
surveys of construction labor requirements, it must be kept in mind
that the studies cover different time periods. Furthermore, compari
sons cannot reasonably be made with heavy construction (i.e., high
ways, sewer works, and civil works) which is entirely different in
nature from building construction.
IS
Table 17. Employee hours per 1,000 current dollars of contract cost by industry, all construction studies, 1958-76
Construction
Trade,
transportation,
and
services
Mining
and all
other
Total, all
industries
Onsite
Commercial office buildings:
1 9 7 2 -7 3 .............................................................................
97.5
37.2
4.8
33.0
16.6
5.9
Public housing:
I9 6 0 2..................................................................................
19682..................................................................................
1975...................................................................................
246.0
175.1
(3)
113.7
79.6
33.2
15.9
11.9
7.1
65.3
47.8
(3)
36.9
26.7
(3)
14.2
8.8
(3)
Elementary and secondary schools:
19592..................................................................................
19652..................................................................................
1972...................................................................................
231.8
193.2
114.1
86.0
72.3
41.6
11.7
8.8
6.0
78.0
65.8
40.8
41.4
34.4
14.8
12.0
Federally aided highways:
19582..................................................................................
1976...................................................................................
250.7
80.5
97.3
32.2
9.0
3.3
66.1
22.8
52.5
15.4
25.8
6.9
Federal office buildings:
19592..................................................................................
1973....................................................................................
1976....................................................................................
235.8
(3)
81.4
97.1
42.8
29.8
10.9
4.7
4.6
79.2
(3)
26.0
35.7
(3)
16.5
12.9
(3)
4.5
College housing:
19612..................................................................................
1972....................................................................................
236.3
(3)
93.6
48.3
14.1
8.1
77.5
(3)
37.2
(3)
13.8
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
47.4
(3)
3.9
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
213.4
(3)
84.7
43.2
4.5
2.5
53.2
(3)
46.9
(3)
24.1
(3)
251.4
(3)
133.9
57.0
15.6
7.0
56.8
(3)
31.6
(3)
13.5
(3)
208.8
128.3
85.9
48.0
4.8
3.0
75.9
48.8
27.2
18.8
15.0
9.7
208.1
127.4
82.7
47.0
5.7
4.0
80.0
51.6
27.1
17.6
12.6
7.2
Private multifamily housing:
19712..................................................................................
137.5
50.0
6.5
46.9
26.1
8.1
Private single-family housing:
19622..................................................................................
19692..................................................................................
215.7
145.6
72.1
51.9
11.0
8.2
68.6
47.2
48.7
29.6
16.1
8.7
General hospitals:
1959-602............................................................................
19662..................................................................................
226.0
189.0
88.8
76.1
12.3
9.8
78.0
64.0
34.2
29.6
12.7
9.5
Nursing homes:
1965-664............................................................................
192.7
73.7
8.4
66.6
33.6
10.4
Type of construction and year
Civil works, total:
19 60...................................................................................
1972....................................................................................
Land projects:
1960....................................................................................
1972...................................................................................
Dredging projects:
I96 02..................................................................................
1972....................................................................................
Sewer works:
Lines:
19632..................................................................................
1971 ...................................................................................
Plants:
19632................... ..............................................................
1971....................................................................................
1 Revised. Revision based on adjustment to 1979 benchmarks of
Employment and Earnings series. Some SIC groupings were not revised for
earlier years; thus, data on offsite construction hours are not strictly
comparable. Differences, however, would be slight.
2 Indirect data revised from original study results due to reprocessing
Offsite1
Manufacturing
materials through improved input-output tables.
3 Not available.
4 Estimated except for onsite construction hours. Based on case study.
NOTE: Detail may not addto totals due to rounding.
labile 18. Percent distribution of onsite employee hours, per 1,000 current dollars of contract cost by occupation, all construction
studies, 1958-76
Type of construction
and year
AdminisAll
trativeand
occupa
super
tions
visory
Brick
layers
Carpen Electri
Iron
ters
cians workers
Operat
ing
engi
neers
Painters
Plas
terers
and
lathers
Other
Plumb
skilled
ers
con
and
strucpipe
tion
fitters
trades
Laborers,
helpers,
and
tenders
Other
occupa
tions
(includ
ing
truckdrivers)
Commercial office buildings:
1974.........................................
100.0
7.4
3.3
19.2
6.4
6.3
4.0
1.9
2.1
6.2
19.0
22.6
1.6
Elementary and secondary
schools:
19 59.........................................
19 65.........................................
1972.........................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
3.9
3.6
4.4
9.3
9.2
6.0
18.7
16.5
16.8
7.1
7.3
11.0
2.8
3.1
4.2
1.9
2.7
2.4
3.3
3.5
2.8
2.7
2.0
2.7
9.4
9.6
9.6
7.9
10.1
16.9
29.1
30.9
22.3
4.0 .
1.5
.9
Federally aided highways:
1958.........................................
1976.........................................
100.0
100.0
10.4
6.3
(1)
-
(1)
5.7
(1)
1.2
(1)
2.6
(1)
24.3
0
.4
(1)
-
(1)
.2
38.2
5.9
(1)
33.2
251.4
320.3
Federal office buildings:
1959.........................................
1973.........................................
1976.........................................
100.0
(1)
100.0
6.0
0
8.1
5.2
0
2.7
12.6
9.1
4.2
( 1)
13.9
11.5
7.8
2.4
(1)
3.6
2.1
( 1)
1.6
3.8
(1)
2.2
8.7
(1)
7.9
11.8
(1)
17.1
32.5
0
21.4
1.5
(1)
2.2
College housing:
1961.........................................
1972.........................................
100.0
(1)
3.4
O
10.0
0
16.9
(1)
6.6
O
3.9
(1)
1.7
(1)
3.6
(1)
3.4
0
9.7
(1)
7.8
0
31.8
(1)
1.1
(1)
100.0
(1)
10.1
(1)
6.4
(1)
-
24.1
(1)
-
23.0
26.4
(1)
(1)
(1)
6.9
0
3.1
(1)
-
0
( 1)
( 1)
( 1)
100.0
(1)
4.7
(1)
-
-
-
-
n
0
(1)
1.1
(1)
1.7
0
1.7
(1)
490.8
(1)
100.0
100.0
11.2
12.9
1.7
1.0
7.7
6.9
1.5
2.9
1.9
1.9
100.0
100.0
11.6
13.5
1.3
.2
2.4
1.2
.1
.4
100.0
100.0
11.0
12.3
2.0
1.9
14.3
14.0
Private multifamily housing:
1971.........................................
100.0
5.8
5.0
Private single-family housing:
1962.........................................
1969.........................................
100.0
100.0
3.0
2.8
100.0
100.0
4.0
3.6
( 1)
( 1)
General hospitals:
1960..........................................
1966..........................................
100.0
100.0
3.9
3.2
5.4
5.0
13.2
13.0
8.8
9.9
3.5
3.1
Nursing homes:
1966s........................................
100.0
4.4
6.4
15.2
7.8
2.2
Civil works:
Land projects:
1960.........................................
1972.........................................
Dredging projects:
1960.........................................
1972.........................................
Sewer works, total:
1963.........................................
1971.........................................
Lines:
1963.........................................
1971 .........................................
Plants:
1963.........................................
1971.........................................
Public housing:
1960..........................................
1968..........................................
1975..........................................
-
( 1)
-
-
-
0
(1)
0
0
17.4
20.4
.7
.8
-
2.5
3.3
2.7
5.4
39.1
30.0
13.4
14.4
.4
.2
19.6
27.3
-
-
.4
-
1.2
3.0
44.9
33.7
18.1
20.6
3.3
5.7
3.9
4.5
14.6
11.5
1.5
1.9
-
5.1
7.2
4.6
9.8
31.8
25.1
7.9
5.9
25.4
5.9
2.3
2.9
4.0
1.7
7.6
11.3
25.8
2.3
5.5
5.7
34.6
34.9
2.8
3.0
1.4
1.8
9.5
7.3
2.0
1.7
5.2
4.3
12.2
20.0
23.3
27.9
.5
.5
7.6
7.8
19.1
20.3
4.1
5.8
2.7
3.1
4.4
4.9
6.8
3.0
7.8
9.3
6.5
6.6
30.9
30.2
4.0
1.9
( 1)
0
( 1)
O
1.6
1.8
2.8
2.6
6.2
6.1
14.2
15.6
12.0
13.1
26.7
25.7
1.7
1.8
4.7
5.6
13.7
11.2
26.7
.4
D
( 1)
0
-
2.1
3.5
( 1)
0
0
( 1)
.7
4 Includes mostly ships’ masters, captains, mates, crew, and support
personnel.
5 Based on case study.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell.
1 Not available.
2 Includes apprentices and on-the-job trainees and laborers, helpers, and
tenders.
3 Includes blue-collar worker supervisors.
( 1)
20
Table 19. Percent distribution of construction contract costs, all construction studies, 1958-76
—
Total
contract
costs
Onsite
wages
and
salaries
Materials,
supplies, and
built-in
equipment
Commercial office buildings:
1974.........................................................................
100.0
26.7
42.2
2.7
28.5
Elementary and secondary schools:
1972.........................................................................
1965.........................................................................
1959.........................................................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
28.2
25.8
26.7
44.4
54.2
54.1
2.1
1.0
1.4
25.3
19.0
17.8
Federally aided highways:
1976.........................................................................
1958.........................................................................
100.0
100.0
23.8
23.9
46.7
50.6
(2)
(2)
29.5
25.5
Federal office buildings:
19 76.........................................................................
19733........................................................................
19 59.........................................................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
25.8
34.0
29.0
42.5
50.0
51.3
2.9
(4)
1.9
28.8
16.0
17.7
College housing:
19723........................................................................
1961 .........................................................................
100.0
100.0
36.0
29.3'
51.1
52.6
(4)
1.6
13.0
16.5
100.0
100.0
26.0
29.1
29.0
26.2
22.0
22.1
22.0
22.6
100.0
100.0
25.0
26.0
32.0
35.0
20.0
19.3
24.0
19.7
100.0
100.0
30.0
32.3
24.0
17.3
28.0
24.9
19.0
25.5
100.0
100.0
24.7
25.3
40.7
46.6
11.5
9.9
23.1
18.2
100.0
100.0
24.3
24.3
35.2
44.5
16.7
11.2
23.8
20.0
100.0
100.0
25.2
26.6
47.0
49.2
5.6
8.2
22.2
16.0
Private multifamily housing:
1971.........................................................................
100.0
27.9
44.2
3.0
24.8
Private single-family housing:
1969s........................................................................
1962s........................................................................
100.0
100.0
20.4
22.1
43.4
47.2
.9
1.0
35.3
29.7
Public housing:
19753........................................................................
1968.........................................................................
19 60.........................................................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
32.7
32.4
35.5
48.7
41.9
45.0
4.4
1.5
2.5
14.2
24.2
17.0
General hospitals:
1966.........................................................................
1960.........................................................................
100.0
100.0
29.6
28.2
50.4
53.2
1.3
1.2
18.7
17.4
Nursing homes:
1966®........................................................................
100.0
28.7
53.7
1.2
16.4
Type of construction and year
Civil works, total:
19723........................................................................
1960.........................................................................
Land projects:
1972.........................................................................
1960.........................................................................
Dredging projects:
1972.........................................................................
19 60.........................................................................
Sewer works, total:
1971.........................................................................
1963.........................................................................
Lines:
1971.........................................................................
1963.........................................................................
Plants:
1971.........................................................................
1963.........................................................................
Overhead
and profit1
j
1 Includes offsite wages, fringe benefits, construction financing costs,
inventory, and other overhead and administrative expenses as well as profit.
2 Equipment included with overhead and profit.
3 Estimated.
4 Equipment included in materials.
Construction
equipment
5 Includes selling expenses.
6 Estimated. Based on case study.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding.
1
Table 20. Percent distribution of cost of materials, supplies, and equipment by product group, all construction studies, 1958-76
Type of construction
and year
Mining
Total
Lumber
and
Petro
Stone,
mate
Chemi
quarrying and wood
leum
clay,
rials,
Furniture cal and
Primary
of non- products,
refining
glass,
and fix
supplies,
allied
metal
metallic except
and
and
and
tures
prod
products
minerals, furni
related concrete
equip
ucts
except
ture
products products
ment
fuel
Fabri
cated
metal
prod
ucts1
Elec
Con
trical
and elec struction
Machin
tronic
equip Material
ery,
machin
ment
and
except
ery,
(rental supplies,
elec
equip value and n.e.c.
trical
ment, deprecia
tion)
and
supplies
Commercial office buildings:
1974......................................... 100.00
0.67
7.55
0.42
0.99
1.98
23.90
12.55
22.21
11.43
7.62
5.99
4.69
Federal office buildings:
1959 .........................................
1973.........................................
1976.........................................
100.00
(2)
100.00
.41
(2)
.49
3.31
(2)
2.31
.34
(2)
.41
1.03
(2)
1.10
.88
(2)
1.11
21.60
(2)
22.61
7.32
(2)
20.82
32.81
(2)
19.33
6.91
(2)
10.65
18.20
(2)
10.11
3.59
(2)
6.52
3.61
(2)
4.56
Elementary and secondary
schools:
1959.........................................
1965.........................................
1972.........................................
100.00
100.00
100.00
.83
1.62
.85
9.90
9.13
6.09
1.50
2.90
3.67
1.41
.96
1.41
2.02
2.27
1.72
24.99
24.67
20.15
13.07
11.68
11.03
26.78
24.41
24.06
2.47
5.30
7.71
9.27
8.78
12.32
4.04
4.45
4.52
3.74
3.83
6.47
Private multifamily housing:
1971.........................................
100.00
1.34
18.67
3.89
2.21
1.74
22.12
8.85
15.59
3.72
9.36
6.51
6.00
Private single-family housing:
1962......................................... 100.00
1969......................................... 100.00
.79
.89
40.05
37.40
3.28
2.22
1.82
2.30
1.80
23.58
21.33
5.50
5.05
14.60
12.90
.46
1.90
6.49
6.77
2.03
2.00
1.99
4.87
Public housing:
1960......................................... 100.00
1968......................................... 100.00
1975.........................................
(2)
.80
.80
(2)
14.10
14.40
(2)
.30
.30
(2)
1.80
2.00
(2)
1.70
2.20
(2)
27.10
24.70
(2)
8.00
9.20
(2)
28.50
27.20
(2)
2.30
2.50
(2)
8.40
11.30
(2)
5.30
3.50
(2)
1.80
1.80
(2)
General hospitals:
1960......................................... 100.00
1966......................................... 100.00
.42
.51
4.16
4.66
.86
.44
.81
.77
.97
.80
18.98
18.40
6.82
8.61
35.05
31.11
8.48
12.11
15.60
15.62
2.06
2.50
5.89
4.47
Nursing homes:
19664.......................................
100.00
.53
9.06
.27
1.24
1.82
20.16
6.23
33.32
11.03
10.78
2.15
3.41
College housing:
1961.........................................
1972.........................................
100.00
(2)
.78
(2)
10.67
(2)
1.70
(2)
1.18
(2)
1.05
(2)
25.78
(2)
6.11
(2)
33.90
(2)
2.92
(2)
11.36
(2)
2.94
(2)
1.62
(2)
Federally aided highways:
19 58......................................... 100.00
19 76......................................... 100.00
11.34
12.42
1.76
.85
-
.80
.97
17.09
17.58
16.77
14.04
17.46
(2)
4.15
(2)
—
3.87
(2)
12.65
(2)
9.09
(2)
3.93
(2)
28.07
(2)
—
-
(2)
.36
1.14
3.02
4.82
.98
.87
1.85
1.25
Civil works:
Land projects:
1960......................................... 100.00
19 72.........................................
(2)
Dredging projects:
1960............. ........................... 100.00
1972.........................................
(2)
Sewer works:
Lines:
19 63......................................... 100.00
1971......................................... 100.00
Plants:
19 63......................................... 100.00
1971 ......................................... 100.00
-
(2)
-
—
—
(2)
(2)
(2)
4.65
3.43
.79
1.53
-
2.27
1.11
1.64
2.46
.22
-
1 Includes vitreous china plumbing fixtures except for Federally aided
highways, private office buildings, elementary and secondary schools (1971),
and single-family and multifamily housing.
2 Not available.
19.48
21.22
-
-
13.20
(2)
.59
(2)
(2)
1.49
(2)
1.40
(2)
55.87
40.77
8.79
7.38
2.39
2.20
16.78
15.62
14.48
11.22
13.16
13.87
-
1.33
(2)
(3)
(3)
32.75
32.92
.24
(2)
35.39
(2)
2.05
(2)
—
(2)
58.98
(2)
6.13
(2)
3.02
4.48
.74
1.03
20.19
32.22
.20
1.00
22.34
33.51
9.51
6.72
14.25
10.59
2.75
2.54
3 Construction equipment estimate included in materials and supplies, n.e.c.
4 Based on case study.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. Dash denotes that the
survey had no sample projects in this cell.
/^ppoftKofe
Detailed Labor
asubl ©®sft Data by ^©gi©ini
Tables A-l through A-5 show detailed labor and cost
data, by region, for Federal building construction dur
ing 1976. Detailed data on employment, wage, and cost
requirements are presented for 3 of the 4 economic re
gions. (Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable
to permit publication of detailed data for that region.)
!R(ig)i©rDsii cmptoyment data
Tables A-l and A-2 show regional detail during 1976
for the onsite employee hour data summarized in the
text in tables 3 and 4. Regional onsite employment re
quirements by occupation are presented in table A-l.
Table A-2 lists the employment share of the general
23
and special trades contractors engaged in Federal build
ing construction, by region.
Regional data by selected building
characteristics
Tables A-3, A-4, and A-5 show regional employment,
cost, and wage data, by selected building characteris
tics during 1976. These data are summarized in text ta
bles 5, 9, and 12. Variations in regional employment,
cost, and wage requirements reflect differences in de
sign and type of structure as well as the regional con
ditions under which the Federal building projects were
built.
Table A-1. Onsite employee hour requirements per $1,000 of contract cost for Federal building construction by occupation and
region, 19761
Percent distribution
Employee hours per $1,000
Occupation
United
States
North
east
North
Central
All occupations.....................................................
29.8
25.9
Skilled trades workers:
Bricklayers................................................................
Carpenters................................................................
Cement finishers......................................................
Drywall applicators and finishers............................
Electricians...............................................................
Elevator constructors...............................................
Glaziers.....................................................................
Insulation workers....................................................
.8
4.1
1.0
.1
3.4
■4
.1
.4
Iron workers, ornam ental.......................................
Iron workers, reinforcing.........................................
Iron workers, structural............................................
Lathers.......................................................................
Marble setters...........................................................
Operating engineers................................................
Painters.....................................................................
Pile-driver operators................................................
South
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
24.4
36.3
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
.7
3.8
.5
(1
2)
3.5
■7
.1
.3
1.0
2.8
1.1
.1
3.4
.4
.1
.3
.7
5.4
1.1
.1
3.4
.4
.2
.6
2.7
13.9
3.3
.2
11.5
1.4
.5
1.4
2.8
14.6
2.0
.2
13.6
2.6
.3
1.2
4.3
11.4
4.4
.2
14.0
1.5
.4
1.2
1.8
14.9
3.1
.2
9.4
1.0
.6
1.6
.3
.4
1.7
.3
.2
1.1
.5
.2
•4
.1
2.2
.5
(3)
.9
.2
(3)
•2
.3
1.0
.2
(3)
.9
.4
(3)
.3
.5
2.1
.4
(3)
1.2
.7
.2
.9
1.2
5.8
1.1
.8
3.6
1.7
.6
1.4
.5
8.6
1.9
(3)
3.6
.9
(3)
.8
1.1
4.3
.7
(3)
3.6
1.5
(3)
.7
1.4
5.7
1.0
(3)
3.4
2.0
.6
Pipefitters..................................................................
Plasterers..................................................................
Plumbers...................................................................
R oofers.....................................................................
Sheet metal workers................................................
Sprinkler fitters..........................................................
Tile setters................................................................
Other skilled trades workers...................................
1.0
.3
1.3
.3
1.3
.4
.2
.4
.7
.2
1.1
.1
1.2
.2
(2)
1.5
1.3
.3
.8
.2
1.2
.6
.1
.4
1.0
.4
1.8
.5
1.5
.2
3.4
1.1
4.5
1.0
4.5
1.2
.6
1.4
2.7
.9
4.4
.5
4.7
.7
.1
5.8
5.3
1.3
3.4
.6
5.1
2.6
.6
1.5
2.7
1.1
5.1
1.4
4.1
.7
.8
2.0
Semiskilled and unskilled workers:
Laborers, helpers, and tenders..............................
Truckdrivers..............................................................
Custodial w orkers....................................................
O ther..........................................................................
6.4
.2
.1
.4
5.2
.1
4.4
8.6
20.2
.3
.3
(3)
.9
18.0
1.2
(3)
1.1
23.7
.8
.4
1.4
Onsite office and administrative workers:
Clerical w orkers.......................................................
Professional and technical workers.......................
Superintendents and blue-collar supervisors.......
.2
.6
1.6
.8
1.7
2.4
.3
4.1
5.6
1.0
1.1
6.2
.2
.3
.1
.5
21.4
.8
.2
1.2
.2
.4
.6
.1
1.0
1.4
.4
.4
2.2
.8
2.0
5.3
—
1Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of detailed
dataforthatregion.
2 Less than 0.05.
.3
.7
24
.3
—
3 Insufficient data.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell.
Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
Table A-2. Percent distribution of onsite employee hour
requirements per $1,000 for Federal building construction by
type of contractor and region, 19761
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
T o ta l...............................................
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
General contractor...............................
Waterproofing.......................................
Concrete w ork......................................
Structural ste e l.....................................
Carpentry...............................................
Masonry.................................................
Heating, ventilating, and
air-conditioning.................................
Sheet metal w o rk .................................
Plumbing...............................................
30.5
.6
6.0
5.8
1.2
5.2
24.6
.4
8.7
9.2
1.1
8.8
15.4
.6
12.5
7.4
.7
6.2
40.4
.7
1.6
3.8
1.5
3.5
13.6
.3
3.0
9.9
.3
3.9
12.5
.8
3.3
15.6
(3)
2.4
Electrical................................................
Elevators...............................................
Insulating...............................................
W allboard..............................................
Plastering and lathing.........................
Painting and wallpapering...................
Linoleum, vinyl tile, and vinyl-asbestos
tile ......................................................
Carpeting...............................................
Roofing, gutterwork, flashing, and
siding.................................................
11.2
2.8
.5
2.9
1.7
1.5
12.0
4.5
(3)
.8
(3)
.9
13.7
2.9
1.5
2.3
2.5
1.2
9.6
2.2
.1
4.0
1.1
1.9
.1
.6
(3)
.5
.1
.6
.2
.7
1.3
1.0
.8
1.7
Ornamental iron work..........................
Asphalt- paving......................................
Landscaping.........................................
Acoustical..............................................
Excavation, footing, foundations, and
grading...............................................
Ceramic tile ..........................................
Terrazzo................................................
Glass and glazin g................................
Concrete reinforcement.......................
O th er.....................................................
.2
.1
(3)
(3)
.1
3.2
.4
.2
2.4
(3)
.1
.4
.9
8.6
1.4
(3)
.5
.2
1.1
2.5
.4
.7
.9
.5
2.7
Type of contractor2
.3
1.8
4.8
.6
.4
.6
.4
1.9
5.3
.3
(3)
(3)
(3)
4.6
.3
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
2 Since many contractors perform more than one operation, contractors
are classified according to the major cost component of their work.
3 Insufficient data.
NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
25
Table A-3. Onsite employee hour requirements in Federal building construction by selected characteristics and region, 19761
Employee hours per $1,000
Employee hours per 100 square feet
South
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
24.4
36.3
142.2
169.6
102.3
168.9
(1
2)
(2)
26.0
(2)
28.2
(2)
34.0
(2)
36.9
177.9
120.9
140.7
(2)
(2)
174.4
(2)
111.2
(2)
179.1
(2)
163.8
30.0
27.8
25.9
-
24.4
(2)
37.1
(2)
140.5
164.7
169.6
-
99.2
(2)
170.3
(2)
Basement:
Basement..................................................................
No basement............................................................
29.4
32.3
26.0
(2)
24.2
(2)
36.6
35.2
139.8
158.9
173.3
(2)
101.7
(2)
166.9
177.2
Parking area:
In or under the building..........................................
Outdoor.....................................................................
In or under the building and outdoor.....................
29.5
29.4
31.7
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
25.0
(2)
36.2
34.5
(2)
146.5
136.1
135.3
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
99.2
(2)
158.9
187.9
(2)
Heat:
Forced a ir .................................................................
Hot w a te r..................................................................
Electric radiant.........................................................
29.5
32.2
31.6
26.0
-
36.8
(2)
(2)
146.1
118.6
130.7
173.3
-
(2)
23.4
(2)
(2)
(2)
98.3
(2)
(2)
177.7
(2)
(2)
Fuel:
E lectricity..................................................................
G a s ............................................................................
29.3
31.0
(2)
(2)
23.9
25.7
35.8
(2)
140.1
127.6
(2)
(2)
103.1
92.3
187.4
(2)
Framing:
Steel..........................................................................
Concrete...................................................................
29.8
31.1
25.9
-
24.5
(2)
37.5
(2)
141.9
150.6
169.6
-
99.3
(2)
178.7
(2)
Exteriorwall:
Concrete...................................................................
Load bearing masonry.............................................
Curtain w a ll...............................................................
32.0
28.8
31.7
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
37.4
(2)
(2)
150.2
124.6
159.1
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
165.6
(2)
(2)
Interior wall:
Drywall......................................................................
34.2
30.7
28.0
36.2
157.0
177.3
102.1
166.8
Floor base:
Concrete...................................................................
29.7
25.9
24.1
36.2
140.7
169.6
99.5
166.8
Floor covering:
Carpet.......................................................................
Vinyl/vinyl-asbestos tile ...........................................
29.0
33.6
26.0
(2)
23.7
-
37.3
34.7
141.6
162.9
173.3
(2)
103.1
-
170.7
165.9
Ceiling:
Acoustical tile............................................................
29.8
25.9
24.4
37.1
141.5
169.6
102.3
170.3
Roof base:
Steel decking............................................................
C oncrete...................................................................
32.4
31.0
(2)
26.0
25.3
27.1
39.9
35.3
139.8
153.8
(2)
173.3
89.0
112.5
210.9
158.7
Roof cover:
Built up......................................................................
29.7
25.5
24.4
36.4
140.5
169.3
102.3
167.2
Characteristic
United
States
North
east
All projects............................................................
29.8
25.9
Number of stories:
Less than 3 ...............................................................
3 or 4 ........................................................................
5 or m ore..................................................................
31.2
29.0
29.7
Conveyor systems:
Elevators...................................................................
No elevators............................................................
North
Central
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
2 Insufficient data.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell,
26
Table A-4. Construction costs of Federal buildings by selected characteristics and region, 19761
Cost per square foot
United
States
North
east
All projects..................................... $47.70
Characteristic
Number of stories:
Less than 3 .......................................
3 or 4 ................................................
5 or m ore..........................................
57.05
41.73
47.37
Conveyor systems:
Elevators...........................................
No elevators.....................................
46.84
59.25
Basement:
Basement..........................................
No basement....................................
Parking area:
In or under the building...................
Outdoor..............................................
In or underthe building and
outdoor............................................
Heat:
Hot w a te r..........................................
Electric radiant..................................
Fuel:
Electricity..........................................
G a s ....................................................
Oil.......................................................
47.49
49.13
Cost per square foot
North
Central
South
$65.60
$41.90
$46.5E
(2)
(2)
67.09
(2)
39.43
f)
65.56
—
66.78
(2)
40.60
(2)
42.01
(2)
Characteristic
Framing:
Steel..................................................
Concrete...........................................
Load bearing masonry....................
52.7(
(2)
44.47' Exterior wall :
Concrete...........................................
Load bearing masonry....................
Curtain w a ll......................................
45.8<
(2)
nterior wall:
Drywali..............................................
Plaster...............................................
45.6
50.4
Hoorbase:
Concrete...........................................
North
east
North
Central
South
47.65
48.44
(2)
65.56
(2).
40.60
(2)
(2)
47.68
(2)
(2)
46.96
43.34
50.17
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
44.25
(2)
(2)
45.95
(2)
57.69
(2)
36.50
(2)
46.07
(2)
47.34
65.56
41.23
46.07
48.80
48.49
66.78
(2)
43.46
45.82
45.82
49.58
46.26
(2)
(2)
(2)
39.67
43.9
54.4-
42.75
(2)
(2)
(2)
Floor covering:
C arpet................................................
Vinyl/vinyl-asbestos tile ...................
4fi X
Ceiling:
Acoustical tile....................................
47.49
65.56
41.90
45.89
Roof base:
Steel decking....................................
Concrete............................................
43.14
49.64
(2)
66.78
35.14
41.55
52.92
45.01
52.39
(2)
Roof cover:
(2)
Built up...............................................
47.26
66.40
41.90
45.96
4Q 4c;
36.87
41.40
47.87
41.24
(2)
7R
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
3? 04
(2)
(2)
43.16
35.84
(2)
(2) '
(2)
1 Data for the w est are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
United
States
27
“
2 Insufficient data,
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell.
Table A-5. Average onsite earnings and wages as a percent of contract costs on Federal building construction projects by
selected characteristics and region, 19761
Average hourly earnings
United
States
North
east
North
Central
Number of stories:
Less than 3 ...............................................................
3 or 4 .........................................................................
5 or m ore..................................................................
$8.67
9.27
8.57
(2)
(2)
9.56
Conveyor systems:
Elevators...................................................................
No elevators.............................................................
8.65
8.87
Basement:
Basement..................................................................
No basem ent............................................................
Wages as a percent of contract costs
South
United
States
North
east
North
Central
South
(2)
9.40
(2)
$8.37
(2)
7.40
27.03
26.86
25.46
(2)
(2)
24.85
(2)
26.50
(2)
28.45
(2)
27.29
9.54
-
9.96
(2)
7.56
(2)
25.95
24.65
24.67
-
24.34
(2)
28.05
(2)
8.80
7.86
9.55
(2)
10.05
(2)
7.68
7.47
25.90
25.41
24.80
(2)
24.31
(2)
28.10
26.27
Parking area:
In or under the building...........................................
Outdoor.....................................................................
In or under the building and outdoor.....................
8.68
8.96
8.15
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
9.66
(2)
7.53
8.40
(2)
25.64
26.38
25.80
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
24.17
(2)
27.25
29.00
(2)
Heat:
Forced a ir .................................................................
Hot w a te r..................................................................
Electric radiant.........................................................
8.79
8.11
8.10
9.55
(2)
10.24
(2)
(2)
7.69
(2)
(2)
25.96
26.08
25.56
24.80
(2)
23.95
(2)
(2)
28.27
(2)
(2)
Fuel:
Electricity..................................................................
G a s ............................................................................
8.65
8.47
(2)
(2)
10.17
9.46
7.19
(2)
25.31
26.22
(2)
(2)
24.31
24.34
25.70
(2)
Framing:
Steel...........................................................................
Concrete...................................................................
8.68
8.63
9.54
-
9.94
(2)
7.50
(2)
25.85
26.84
24.67
-
24.32
(2)
28.12
(2)
Exteriorwall:
C oncrete...................................................................
Load bearing masonry.............................................
Curtain w all...............................................................
8.53
8.86
6.15
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
7.80
(2)
(2)
27.26
25.49
19.51
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
29.18
(2)
(2)
Interiorwall:
Drywall......................................................................
7.93
8.71
9.13
7.61
27.11
26.76
25.52
27.55
Floor base:
C oncrete...................................................................
8.63
9.54
9.91
7.61
25.66
24.67
23.90
27.55
Floor covering:
C arpet.......................................................................
Vinyl/vinyl-asbestos tile ..........................................
8.72
8.30
9.55
(2)
10.04
-
7.33
8.16
25.28
27.87
24.80
(2)
23.81
-
27.30
28.37
Ceiling:
Acoustical tile............................................................
8.68
9.54
9.93
7.56
25.87
24.67
24.23
28.05
Roof base:
Steel decking............................................................
C oncrete...................................................................
8.44
8.38
(2)
9.55
9.66
9.26
7.63
7.64
27.34
25.96
(2)
24.80
24.47
25.07
30.41
26.95
Roof cover:
Built up......................................................................
8.68
9.71
9.93
7.60
25.80
24.76
24.23
27.63
Characteristic
All projects.............................................................
1 Data for the West are not sufficiently reliable to permit publication of
detailed data for that region.
2 Insufficient data.
NOTE: Dash denotes that the survey had no sample projects in this cell,
28
Appendix B. Survey Scope
and Methods
Data collection procedures
The study was designed to develop estimates of the
employee hour requirements for the construction of all
Federal buildings completed between October 1975 and
October 1977 in the 48 contiguous United States and
the District of Columbia.
After receiving their lists of assigned projects, field
representatives usually contacted the appropriate
regional General Services Administration (GSA) office
to secure their cooperation. They then verified that the
work contractors performed was within the scope of the
survey. At the GSA office, the field representatives also
obtained some project information and summarized
contractor payrolls filed with GSA.
Field representatives often visited the construction
site to become as familiar as possible with the structural
characteristics of the projects before visiting the gen
eral contractor. If a general contractor should refuse
to cooperate, the project would have to be dropped
which could bias the survey results. Therefore, every
effort was made to enlist the cooperation of the general
contractor by explaining the nature of the survey and
the reasons for conducting it.
If the general contractors agreed, they were asked
to verify the final contract value, including change or
ders, and the list of subcontractors and their current
addresses. In addition to payroll data for onsite workers,
the field representatives recorded the type of material
item, the purchase cost, and the name and fair rental
value or equivalent of any equipment used on the job.
Each of the subcontractors also was contacted to ob
tain similar data.
After all the data for a sample project were collected,
they were checked for completeness and internal con
sistency by the regional offices and forwarded to BLS
in Washington for final review, editing, and coding for
computer processing.
An imputation procedure was used to supply esti
mates for missing data within projects.
Universe characteristics
The survey included Federal office buildings, Social
Security Administration office buildings, border sta
tions, and other miscellaneous buildings constructed un
der the auspices of the Public Buildings Service of the
General Services Administration. Out-of-scope activi
ties and costs associated with an in-scope project in
cluded additions and renovations to existing structures,
moveable equipment, customized construction, and re
pair work or materials replacement. Preconstruction
activities such as land acquisition, demolition, architec
tural and engineering services, force account labor, util
ity company services, and any work beyond the prop
erty line also were excluded from the survey.
The initial universe was composed of 33 new Fed
eral building projects. Of the original universe, a num
ber were found to be out of the scope of the study or
could not be studied because the contractors did not
cooperate or could not be located. Therefore, the final
sample for this survey consisted of 24 Federal building
projects.
Accuracy of data
The aggregate U.S. data and regional data for this
study, except for the West region, are believed to be
accurate. Sample response for the West was not ade
quate to permit publishing data for that region. The de
tailed data, in general, have a wider margin of sampling
error and may be subject to other limitations. Employee,
hour and material requirements are affected by a num
ber of factors such as location, size of project, type of
structure, architectural design, availability of certain
materials or equipment, labor skills, and local building
codes and customs. The effects of these separate fac
tors cannot be isolated.
Except for the nonresponding sample units and the
data estimated by the contractors, there are no known
sources of nonsampling error. Sampling variances are
being developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Development of employee hour estimates
Onsite and offsite employee hour estimates were com
bined to obtain estimates of total employee hour re
quirements for Federal building construction.
Onsite (direct) employee hours were obtained from
individual contractor payrolls. Offsite (indirect) em
ployee hour requirements, representing the hours to
produce, transport, and sell the materials, supplies, and
equipment used in construction were developed by the
BLS Office of Economic Growth using the 1972 Inter
29
industry Study of the Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau
of Labor Statistics field representatives collected the
basic data on materials, supplies, and equipment from
each prime contractor and his subcontractors (or esti
mated in a relatively small number of cases). The ma
terials listings thus obtained were categorized accord
ing to the 4-digit industry classification of the Standard
Industrial Classification Manual (1972 Edition, Office of
Management and Budget). For each product group, the
average amount required for $1,000 of construction cost
was calculated. This bill of materials was deflated to
the 1972 price level by application of the appropriate
producer price indexes. The resulting deflated value for
each group was reduced by the ratio of producers’ value
to purchasers’ value. (This ratio was based on data pro
vided by BEA.) The differences between purchaser and
producer valuation were allocated to trade and trans
portation sectors. The deflated values were matched to
the sector coefficients in the 1972 interindustry study.
For each group of materials, the interindustry study
provided information on the amount of products re
quired from each industry sector. The product data
were converted to employee hours by use of output per
employee hour ratios for each industry. While process
ing the data, the Economic Growth Division adjusted
30
for price and productivity changes from the base year
of the tables (1972) to the study year. The results were
the average total (indirect) employee hours per $1,000
of contract cost required to produce, transport, and sell
the materials used to construct the projects covered by
this survey.
These employee hours, plus the builders’ offsite em
ployment, were combined with direct or onsite em
ployee hours to determine total employee hours within
the definition of the study. Offsite employment of each
construction contractor was not obtained directly from
the contractors since it would be difficult if not impos
sible to allocate a portion of total offsite employment
to a particular project. Instead, an estimate for the off
site employee hours was developed by applying to the
onsite employee hours collected for this study the ratio
of construction workers to all employees in the general
building and special trade contractors (SIC 15 and 17)
segments of the contract construction industry for 1975
as reported in Employment and Earnings, United States,
1909-78 (BLS Bulletin 1312-11, 1979).
An additional measure of employee hours expended
in construction—employee hours per 100 square feet of
construction—was developed by applying the cost per
100 square feet of construction to employee hours per
$1,000 of construction contract cost.
Appendix C„ Forms Used fo r
Date Colteetion
Bureau o f Labor Statistics
Survey o f Labor and M aterial R equirem ents
fo r B uild in g C onstruction
U.S. D epartm ent o f Labor
Fo rm A p proved
This re p o rt is a u th o riz e d b y la w 2 9 U.S.C. 2.
Y o u r v o lu n ta ry c o o p e ra tio n is needed to m ake
the re sults o f th is survey com prehensive,
accurate, a n d tim e ly .
Th e in fo rm a tio n colle c te d on th is fo rm b y th e Bureau
o f La bor S ta tistics w ill be held in c o n fid e n c e and w ill
be used fo r s ta tis tic a l purposes o n ly .
O .M .B . No. 4 4 R -1381
Survey
N am e o f B u ild in g (s )
B u ild in g (s ) L o c a tio n (street address)
(c ity , c o u n ty , state)
A F® m
Survey Id e n tific a tio n
(E n te r 2 d ig it code)
S chedule N um b er
(E n te r 3 d ig it code)
I
I
SMSA
(E n te r 3 d ig it code)
|
j
State
Census Region
(E n te r 2 d ig it code) (E n te r 1 d ig it
code)
|
,
83
B L S 2 6 5 2 .0 5 A
(Revised M arch 1978)
31
84
85
2
Section 1:
Type of Construction (See the survey Technical Memorandum fo r type o f con structio n codes.)
001
1a_________________________________________________________ _
.
002
1b.
003
004
1d.
005
1e.
Section 2:
Total Value of Construction Contract
Enter the total value o f all general and prim e contracts on this project, adjusted fo r any change
orders. Include the value o f equipm ent and materials supplied by the project's sponsor. E xclude,
when possible, the value o f out-of-scope activities described in the survey Technical Memorandum.
(R ound to whole dollars.)
Section 3:
Construction Dates
(R eport fo r in-scope activities on ly. Enter dates to tw o digits; fo r example, July 4, 1976 w ould be reported
M onth
0 i 7 0 i4 7 i6
A l i . )
Year
Day
007
I
3a. Beginning date of construction
I
I
3b. Ending date o f construction
009
3c. T otal number of weeks in construction (include d o w n /tim e )
Section 4:
Wks.
Square Footage
What is the total square footage of all in-scope flo o r space in the building(s)?
(E nter to the nearest square fo o t.) (F o r a d e fin itio n o f square footage, see the survey
Technical M em orandum .)
Remarks
32
010
Sq. ft.
3
Section 5:
Building Characteristics
5a. How many stories are there above ground level in the m ajor building?
(Ground level is the highest level at w hich the ground intersects the building,
the po in t at w hich excavation begins. The m ajor building is the one tha t cost
the most.)
011
Stories
5b. A re elevators installed in the m a jo r building?
Code
012
1 - Yes
2 - No
5c. A re escalators installed in the m a jo r building?
Code
1 - Yes
2 - No
5d. Is there a below ground basement in the major building? (A basement is the area
im m ediately below ground level.)
Code
1 - Yes
2 - No
5e. Is au tom o bile parking space provided?
Code
1 - Yes, in or under the building
2 - Yes, outdoors
015
3 - Yes, both in or under the building and outdoors
4 - No
5f. What is the major typ e o f heating provided?
Code
1 - Forced air (duct heating)
2 - H ot water (exclude steam)
3 - Radiant heating (electric)
4 - No heat
9 - O ther type o f heating (specify, e.g. steam, solar, etc.)
5g. What is the major type o f heating fuel used?
Code
1 - E le c tric ity
2 - Gas
3 - Oil
4 - Coal
017
5 - No fuel
9 - O ther (specify, e.g., solar, e t c . ) ___________
5h. Is air-cond itioning provided in the m a jo r building?
Code
1 - Yes, central air c on ditionin g
018
2 - Yes, other than central air con ditionin g
3 - No
Remarks
33
4
Section 6:
Building Materials
For each building feature listed below , select the predom inant typ e o f m aterial (in terms o f d o lla r costs fo r the entire project) w hich best
describes th a t feature.
6a. Framing
Code
1 - Steel
2 - Concrete:
pre-cast, poured, etc.
3 - Load bearing masonry:
block or brick
019
4 - Wood
9 - O ther (s p e c ify )_______________________
6b. E xterio r Walls
Code
1 - Steel
2 - Concrete:
pre-cast, poured, etc.
3 - Load bearing masonry: block or brick
4 - Wood
5 - Stucco
020
6 - Curtain wall (any material)
9 - O ther (s p e c ify )_____________________
6c. In te rio r Walls
Code
1 - D ryw all
2 - Plaster
3 - Masonry: block or brick
4 - Wood
5 - Metal
6 - Plastic
7 - Glass
8 - Movable pa rtitions
9 - Other (s p e c ify )________
6d. F lo or Base
Code
1 - Concrete
2 - W ood/P lyw ood
3 - O ther (specify) _
Remarks
34
5
Section 6:
Building Materials—Continued
6e. Floor Covering
Code
1 - Wood
2 - Terrazzo
3 - Carpet
4 - V inyl/vinyl-asbestos tile
5 - Linoleum
023
8 - No flo o r covering
9 - Other (s p e c ify )________________________
6f. Ceiling
Code
1 - D ryw all
2 - Plaster
024
3 - A coustical tile (including suspension type)
9 - O ther (s p e c ify )----------------------------------------
6g. R oof Base
Code
1 - Steel decking
2 - Concrete
025
3 - W ood/P lyw ood
9 - O ther (s p e c ify )----------------------------------------
6 h. R oof Cover
Code
1 - Asphalt/asbestos shingles
2 - B u ilt-up
3 - Wood shingles
026
4 -T ile
9 - Other (s p e c ify )________________________
B e s ik s
35
6
Section 7:
General Contractor Information
(O btain data fo r this section solely fro m the general con tracto r, if possible.) If there is more than one general con tracto r to the project, report
fo r the general con tracto r having the largest dollar p o rtio n of the project am ount. (See the survey Technical M em orandum fo r the year and type
o f b u ild in g con structio n.)
Report all percentages and dollars to the nearest whole num ber
7a. What percentage o f the general con tracto r's _________ total dollar volum e o f business was fo r
(year)
(type o f building)
. build ing construc-
tion? (E nter to three digits. F o r example 50% w o u ld be entered 050; one th ird w o u ld be entered 033.)
7b.W hat does the general co n tra cto r estimate to be the percentage of total contract value "p u t in place" during each of the calendar years
the p ro je c t was under construction?
O
Begin w ith the year the project was started (enter in box 028) and w o rk down to the year the project was com pleted.
©
Enter the fo u r d ig it year in colum n A.
©
Enter the percentage to three digits in colum n B. For example, 50% w ould be entered 050; one-third w ould be entered 033.
©
The total percentage must equal 100.
C olum n A (Year)
C olum n B (%)
028
%
January 1 to December 31
029
%
January 1 to December 31
030
%
January 1 to December 31
031
%
January 1 to December 31
032
%
January 1 to December 31
033
%
January 1 to December 31
034
%
January 1 to December 31
Total =
Section 8:
100 %
N um ber o f C ontracts
How many of the fo llo w in g types o f contracts were let fo r this project? (The total must equal the number of B-forms subm itted.)
035
General
036
Prime
037
Subcontract
038
Sub-subcontract
039
TO TAL
Remarks
36
7
Section 9:
I
Prefabrication
ndicate the types of prefabricated components used in this project by answering questions 9a, 9b, and 9c.
More than one box may be checked ( \ / ) fo r each question.
9a. Which integrated assemblies (prefabricated com ponents whose installation requires more than one trade) were used in this project?
(Check as many boxes as necessary.)
040
1 - Bathroom s
041
2 - Kitchens
042
3 - Pre-engineered buildings
043
4 - Solar heating units
044
5 - ______________________
045
6
- ________________________________________
046
7 - ______________________
047
8
- ____________________________________
048
9 - None
049
1 0 - Other (specify) _______
9b. Which special prefabricated com ponents (single construction un its—more than one trade may be em ployed) were used in the project?
(Check as m any boxes as necessary.)
050
1 - Pre-cast concrete walls
051
2 - Pre-assembled brick panels
052
3 - A ir handling ducts
053
4 - A ir con ditionin g equipm ent
054
5 - Pre-cast concrete structural beams or colum ns
055
6 - Elevators and escalators
056
7 - Plumbing pipe "tre e s " or electrical conduit "tre e s"
057
8 - C om m unication and alarm systems
058
9 - None
059
10
- Other (sp ecify)_______________________________
(Note:
Items 1-6 are fabricated o ffs ite ; items 7 and 8 are fabricated onsite fro m stock parts.)
Remarks
37
8____________________________________________________________________________
Section 9:
Prefabrication—Continued
9c. W hich stock prefab ricated com ponents were used in the project? (Check as m any boxes as necessary.)
060
1 - T o ile t pa rtitions
061
2 - Steel joists
062
3 - W indows
063
4 - Concrete form s
064
5 - Movable or rem ountable wall pa rtitions
065
6 - Hung ceilings
066
7 - Concrete or metal ro o f and flo o r decks
067
8 - U nderfloor duct
068
9 - None
069
10 - Other (s p e c ify )_____________________
(Note:
Items T 4 are fabricated offsite; items 5-8 are fabricated onsite fro m stock parts.)
Remarks
38
10
Remarks
11
Section 10:
Factors Affecting Productivity
Office Use Only
What factors can the general co n tra cto r id e n tify as having con trib u te d tow a rd raising
or lowering employee-hour requirements (p ro d u c tiv ity ) during the con structio n of
th is building project, as contrasted to a sim ilar project on w hich the con tracto r p a rti
cipated during the past tw o years?
List below each factor cited by the general contractor.
E xplain w hy the factors identified raised or lowered requirements.
Examples o f factors:
strikes, weather, floo ding, bu ild ing codes, apprenticeship
programs, union practices, supply o f skilled workers,
government specifications, prefabricated com ponents,
standardized com ponents, unusual build ing conditions
(such as adverse and unexpected ground con ditions fo r
fou nda tion), o th e r factors.
List o f Factors:
41
I
Survey I.D.
I
Schedule N um ber
|
12
Remarks—Continued
Bureau o f Labor Statistics
Survey o f Labor and M aterial Requirem ents
fo r Buildings C on stru ction
U.S. Department of Labor
Contract Information
Form Approved
O.M.B. No. 44R-1381
This re p o rt is au thorize d b y law 29 U.S.C. 2
Y our volun tary cooperation is needed to make
the results o f this survey comprehensive,
accurate, and tim ely.
The info rm atio n collected on this fo rm by the Bureau
o f Labor Statistics w ill be held in confidence and w ill
be used fo r statistical purposes only.
Name o f C ontractor
Survey
Name o f Project
Location o f Project (street address)
(city, cou nty, state)
B Form
Office Use Only
I
Major Operations Code
(Enter 2 d ig it code)
Contract Number
(Enter 3 d ig it code)
Schedule Number
(Enter 3 d ig it code)
|
I
|
I
I
093
43
Superior C ontract Number
(E nter 3 d ig it code)
|
094
Status Code
(Enter 1 d ig it
code)
Part I Contract Information
C o n tra c t A m o u n t
a.
b.
c.
For the id en tified project, w hat was the fina l contract am ount, including all change orders?
(R ou nd to whole dollars.)
s
095
How much interest expense, if any, did the con tracto r incur on monies borrow ed fo r this
contract? ( I f none, enter " 0 ." )
$
096
Did this con tracto r have form al labor management agreement(s) covering a m a jo rity o f the
employees w ho perform ed w o rk on the contract?
Code
1 - Yes
2 - No
097
d. Scope o f Operations
B riefly describe the w o rk perform ed fo r the contract. Also, id e n tify the im po rtant kinds of heavy equipm ent, materials, and occupations
used or supplied under this contract.
e.
List o f Sub-subcontracts
R eport any sub-subcontractors w ho w orked on the identified project. For each sub-subcontractor, assign a con tract number. For the
con tract number, refer to the SO-302 form .
C ontract Number
Value of Sub-subcontract
Name of C ontractor
$
f.
Record o f Persons S upplying Data
Date of V isit
Field Representative
Name and T itle of Person Contacted
44
Part II C o n s tru c tio n E q u ip m e n t
a. Enter the total on-site equipm ent costs (sum of all items reported in colum n C, lines 100-1 09 and
110-198 on the con tinuatio n sheets).
If none, enter " 0 ."
b.
Instructions
Complete columns A through D as follow s:
Colum n A — List all equipm ent used on-site as a too l o f construction. (Exclude equipm ent required solely fo r personal use.) Record
each piece of equipm ent separately.
Colum n B — Enter the equipm ent code fo r each piece o f equipm ent listed in colum n A . (Refer to the Coding Manual fo r Labor and
Materials Requirements Surveys).
Colum n C — Enter, in whole dollars, the contractor's depreciation cost or the rental cost fo r each piece o f equipm ent. If this data cannot be
obtained, enter the rental cost equivalent; refer to the Technical Memorandum fo r the Rental Cost Equivalent procedure.
Colum n D — Code fo r the info rm atio n reported in Colum n C as follow s:
Code
1 - con tracto r owned equipm ent
2 - contractor rented equipm ent
For additional entries, use con tinuatio n sheet(s) fo r C onstruction E quipm ent BLS 2652B.
In the colum n "O ffic e Use," begin the con tinuatio n sheet w ith the appropriate line item number.
In the spaces provided at the b o ttom of the page, explain any unusual entries.
Colum n A
Colum n B
Equipm ent
Code
Description o f C onstruction Equipm ent
C olum n C
Depreciation or Rental Cost
(express in whole dollars)
$
C olum n D
Enter Code
1 or 2
O ffice Use
Line
Item
Number
100
101
102
103
104
'
105
106
107
108
109
Enter Line
Item
Number
Remarks or W ork Area
45
Part III Materials, Supplies, and Built-In Equipment Costs
Instructions
Complete colum ns E through I as fo llo w s:
Colum n E — Enter the building materials, supplies, or b u ilt-in equipm ent used in or during construction. R eport dissim ilar items separately
(i.e., rivets should be reported separately fro m structural steel bar beam).
Colum n F — Enter the materials code fo r the building m aterial, supply, or b u ilt-in equipm ent listed in C olum n E. (Refer to the Coding Manual
fo r Labor and Material R equirem ent Surveys).
Colum n G — Enter in w hole dollars the cost o f materials reported in Colum n E. (Include all taxes and delivery'fees.)
Colum n H -- If the data in Colum n G does n o t include sales tax, enter the sales tax rate (to one decimal) in colum n H.
Exam ple:
Colum n
5%% — enter as
5
3% | ;
5% — enter as
I — Code fo r the m aterial cost reported as follow s:
5
0%
Code
3 - material cost is absolute (hard data)
4 - material cost is estimated
For additional entries, use con tinuatio n sheet(s) fo r Materials, Supplies, and B u ilt-in E quipm ent BLS 2652B.
In the colum n "O ffic e Use," begin the co n tin u a tio n sheet w ith the appropriate line item number.
a.
In w hole dollars, report the total cost o f all materials and supplies used during construction (sum o f all
costs in C olum n G, lines 200-229 and 230-598 on the co n tin u a tio n sheet). Include all taxes and delivery fees.
Colum n
1
Enter
Code
3 or 4
If none, enter " 0 .”
If " 0 " is reported fo r material cost, leave Column I blank.
Office
Use
Line
Item
Number
599
Column E
Column
F
Material Item
Materials Total Cost Including A ll Taxes
Code
and Delivery Fees
Column G
Column H
Sales Tax Rate if
Taxes not Included
in Colum n G
(report to one
decimal)
%
$
Column
1
Office Use
Enter
Code
3 or 4
Line
Item
Number
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
Enter Line
Item
Number
Remarks or W ork Area
46
Part III Materials and Supplies Costs—Continued
Column
F
Material
Code
Column E
Material Item
Column G
T otal Cost Including A ll Taxes
and Delivery Fees
Column H
Sales Tax Rate if
Taxes no t Included
in C olum n G
(re p o rt to one
decim al)
Office Use
Column
1
Enter
Code
3 or 4
Line
Item
Number
%
$
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
b. Referring to the list o f materials and supplies reported in line item number 200-229 and 230-598
on the c o n tinuatio n sheets, record the sales tax rate fo r the greatest do lla r am ount of taxable
materials purchased.
Express a fra ctiona l percentage as fo llo w s: 3% percent as
Enter Line
Item
Number
Remarks or W ork Area
47
098
%
3 3 %
Part IV
Labor Requirements
R eport, b y occupation, m o n th ly data fo r whole hours and gross earnings fo r each m o nth th a t w ork was p e rfo rm e d on the
pro je c t's con structio n site.
a.
Enter total gross earnings (sum o f all earnings reported in Colum n M, lines 600-653 and lines
654 to 997 on the con tinuatio n sheet).
999
$
If none, enter " 0 . "
b. Instructions
Complete the following for all on-site labor:
Colum n J—
Enter the m onth and year as follow s:
January 1976—
01
76
Colum n K — Enter the three-digit occupational code fo r each type o f w orke r (Refer to C ontract Operations and
Occupational Codes Lists). Code journey level w orkers and apprentices separately.
Colum n L — Report the total num ber o f hours (including overtim e hours) w orked on-site.
Do N O T boost overtim e hours w orked to obtain average ho urly earnings.
Do N O T include travel tim e unless pay is received fo r this time.
Use the remarks or w o rk area to id e n tify the num ber o f w hole h
worked in overtim e status.
Colum n M — Report total gross earnings paid to employees. Include in " to ta l gross earnings" the follo w in g :
1. Overtim e pay
2. S h ift d iffe re n tia l
3. Cost-of-living additives
4. Em ployer paid fringe benefits w hich are paid d ire c tly to the employee
Do NOT include in "to ta l gross earnings," em ployer fringe benefits payments made d ire c tly to adm inistered be nefit funds.
For additional entries, use con tinuatio n sheet(s) fo r Labor Requirements by M onth and Year. In the colum n "O ffic e
Use," begin the c o n tinuatio n sheet w ith the appropriate line item number,
c.
Report the total number o f overtim e hours fo r all occupations listed in colum n K (lines 600-653
and 654-997 on the c on tinuatio n sheets.)
——
If none, enter " 0 . "
Column K Column L
Column J
M onth
(2-digit)
Year
(2-digit)
Occ.
Code
(3-digit)
Whole
Hours
Column M
Office Use
Gross Earnings Related
to Hours (express in
whole dollars)
Line Item
Number
$
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
48
Remarks or Work Area
lo g o
Part IV
Column J
M onth
(2-digit)
Labor Requirements—Continued
Column K Column L
Year
Occ.
(2-digit) Code
(3-digit)
Whole
Hours
Column M
Off iea Use
Gross Earnings Related
to Hours (express in
whole dollars)
Line Item
Number
$
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
49
Remarks or Work Area
Part V Contract Reconciliation
Total value o f subcontracts let by this contractor
Total equipm ent cost, (from line 199, page 3)
Total material cost, (from line 599, page 4)
Total labor cost fro m this " B " fo rm (from line 999, page 6)
Total labor cost fro m attached payrolls (approx.)
TO T A L ON-SITE COSTS (APPROX.)
Total con tract am ount, (from line 095, page 2)
Total on-site costs (approx.), see above f,subtract)
A P PR O X IM A TE TO T A L P R O FIT A N D O V E R H E A D
A p p ro x , to ta l p ro fit and overhead
---------= -----;------------------------- -------- = % p r o fit and overhead
T o tal con tract am ount
Explain any unusual p ro fit and overhead percentages (over 35% o r under 10%) or any unusual expense requirements.
50
Appendfe 0. Bibliography
Construction Labor Requirements
Studies by BLS Office of Productivity
and Technology
Federally aided highways
Prier, Robert J. “Labor and Material Requirements
for Federally Aided Highways,” Monthly Labor Review,
December 1979, pp. 29-34.
A study of federally aided highway projects completed in
1976. The article discusses trends in highway labor require
ments since 1958, and provides data on minority employment,
occupational distribution, and material usage. Estimates of la
bor requirements are shown for 1978.
Civil works construction
Bingham, Barbara J. “U.S. Civil Works Construction
Shows Decrease in Required Labor,” Monthly Labor
Review, October 1978, pp. 24-29.
This study was based on a sample of 45 projects completed
in 1971 and 1972 under the supervision of the Corps of En
gineers. It provided data on labor hours, material and labor
costs, and other project characteristic data for both dredging
and land projects. Also, a comparison was made with the data
from an earlier civil works survey published in 1964.
Finger, Diane S. “Labor Requirements for Federal
Highway Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, De
cember 1975, pp. 31-36.
A study of labor and material requirements for federally
aided highway projects completed during 1973. The study
examines the trends between 1958 and 1973.
Labor and Material Requirements for Civil Works Con
struction by the Corps of Engineers (BLS Bulletin 1390),
1964, 28 pp.
Ball, Robert. “Labor and Materials Required for
Highway Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, June
1973, pp. 40-45.
A statistical study of onsite and offsite employee hour and
wage requirements for dredging and land projects in the U.S.
Corps of Engineers’ civil works program from 1959 to 1960.
Discussion of labor and material trends in highway con
struction between 1958 and 1970.
College housing construction
Labor and Material Requirements for Construction of
Federally Aided Highways, 1958, 1961, and 1964 (BLS
Report 229), 1966, 17 pp.
Bingham, Barbara J. “Labor Requirements for Col
lege Housing Construction,” Monthly Labor Review,
May 1979, pp. 28-34.
A study providing measures for 1958, 1961, and 1964 of
the labor and material requirements for federally aided high
ways, with separate measures of the requirements for onsite
and offsite construction. For onsite construction, the study
also provides a comparision of annual labor requirements for
1947-64.
A 37-project sample was surveyed in this study of college
housing projects constructed under the supervision of the D e
partment of Housing and Urban Development and completed
in 1973. The article summarized the findings on employee
hour requirements, project costs, and other college housing
characteristics and compared them to an earlier survey pub
lished in 1965.
Wakefield, Joseph C. “Labor and Material Require
ments: Highway Construction, 1958 and 1961,” Monthly
Labor Review, April 1963, pp. 394-98.
Labor and Material Requirements for College Housing
Construction (BLS Bulletin 1441), 1965, pp. 34.
A summary comparison of the 1958 and 1961 highway
surveys.
A survey of 43 college housing projects which were ad
ministered by the Community Facilities Administration. The
survey was designed primarily to determine the employee
hours required per $1,000 of college housing construction.
Kutscher, Ronald E., and Waite, Charles A. “Labor
Requirements for Highway Construction,” Monthly La
bor Review, August 1961, pp. 858-61.
Miller, Stanley F. “Labor and Material Required for
College Housing,” Monthly Labor Review, September
1965, pp. 1100-04.
Summary of findings of the 1958 highway survey.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1441 (1965).
Federal office building construction
Olsen, John G. “Labor and Material Requirements
for Federal Building Construction,” Monthly Labor Re
view, December 1981, pp. 47-51.
Commercial office building construction
Bingham, Barbara J. “Labor and Material Require
ments for Commercial Office Building Projects,”
Monthly Labor Review, May 1981, pp. 41-48.
Discusses the employment impact of the 1976 survey of
Federal building construction, including estimates for 1980.
In addition to the direct and indirect employment impact, the
A summary of BLS Bulletin 2102 (1981).
51
Private muitifamily housing construction
summary also presents data on labor requirements by occu
pation and type of contractor, cost components, and material
requirements. Comparisons are made with two previous simi
lar surveys.
Labor and Material Requirements for Private Multi
family Housing Construction (BLS Bulletin 1892), 1976,
69 pp.
Discusses labor and material requirements for the construc
tion of private multifamily housing projects. Data were ob
tained from a survey based on a probability sample represent
ing all privately owned structures of five units or more lo
cated in metropolitan areas where building permits were is
sued during 1969 for 500 units or more of this type. The sur
vey covered 89 projects in 22 Standard Metropolitan Statis
tical Areas. Most of the construction took place in 1971.
Olsen, John G. “Decline Noted in Hours Required
To Erect Federal Office Buildings,” Monthly Labor Re
view, October 1976, pp. 18-22.
A statistical study of 26 new office building projects com
pleted in 1973 under the jurisdiction of the General Services
Administration. In addition to data on labor requirements, the
study provides information on building characteristics and
contract operation.
Ball, Robert. “Labor and Material Requirements for
Apartment Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, Janu
ary 1975, pp. 70-73.
Labor Requirements for Federal Office Building Con
struction (BLS Bulletin 1331), 1962, 43 pp.
A statistical study of onsite and offsite labor requirements
for 22 Federal office building projects in various localities of
the United States over a 3-year period from the fall of 1957
to 1960.
Summarizes the first construction labor requirements study
of private multifamily housing construction.
Murray, Roland V. “Labor Requirements for Fed
eral Office Building Construction,” Monthly Labor Re
view, August 1962, pp. 889-93.
Labor and Material Requirements for Construction of
Private Single-Family Houses {BLS Bulletin 1755), 1972,
30 pp.
Private single-family housing construction
A study of labor and material requirements for construc
tion o f single-family housing in 1969.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1331 (1962).
Ball, Robert, and Ludwig, Larry. “Labor Require
ments for Construction of Single-Family Houses,”
Monthly Labor Review, September 1971, pp. 12-14.
Hospiltal construction
Dougherty, Dawn E. “Labor and Material Require
ments for Hospital Construction,” Monthly Labor Re
view, March 1982, pp. 34-37.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1755 (1972).
A summary of a survey of 90 hospitals constructed in 1976.
The article provides data on labor requirements, material
costs, and project characteristics. A comparison is made with
data from similar studies of hospital construction in 1960 and
1966.
Labor and Material Requirements for Private OneFamily House Construction (BLS Bulletin 1404), 1964,
37 pp.
A statistical study o f onsite and offsite labor requirements
for constructing single-family houses developed from a sam
ple of one-family houses built in 1962 in various localities of
the United States.
Labor and Material Requirements for Hospital and
Nursing Home Construction (BLS Bulletin 1691), 1971,
50 pp.
Rothberg, Herman J. “Labor and Material Require
ments for One-Family Houses,” Monthly Labor Review,
July 1964, pp. 797-800.
A study similar to the one done in 1962 but with data shown
per square foot as well as per $1,000 of construction contract
cost. Covers hospitals and nursing homes constructed in
1965-66.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1404 (1964).
Riche, Martha Farnsworth. “Man-hour Requirements
Decline in Hospital Construction,” Monthly Labor Re
view, November 1970, p. 48.
Public housing construction
Prier,. Robert J. “Labor Requirements Decline for
Public Housing Construction,” Monthly Labor Review,
December 1980, pp. 40-44.
Summary of BLS Bulletin 1691 (1971).
A study of public housing projects completed in 1975. The
article compares this study to the ones done in 1960 and 1968.
It discusses trends in labor requirements and distribution of
costs.
Labor Requirements for Hospital Construction (BLS
Bulletin 1340), 1962, 46 pp.
A statistical study of onsite and offsite labor requirements
for construction of selected public and private, profit and
nonprofit, general hospitals in various localities of the United
States between mid-1958 and mid-1959.
Labor and Material Requirements for Public Housing
Construction, 1968 (BLS Bulletin 1821), 1974, 20 pp.
A study based on findings of a survey of 48 public housing
projects sponsored by the Housing Assistance Administration
of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Rothberg, Herman J. “Labor Requirments for Hos
pital Construction, 1959-60,” Monthly Labor Review, Oc
tober 1962, pp. 1120-24.
Finn, Joseph T. “Labor Requirements for Public
Housing,” Monthly Labor Review, April 1972, pp. 40-42.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1340 (1962).
52
A summary of a study of labor requirements for public
housing construction in 1968.
consisted of 145 contracts for sewer works: 82 sewer lines
and 63 wastewater treatment plants. Data include onsite la
bor requirements per $1,000 of contract cost by occupation
at the national and regional levels, a detailed listing of the
types and values of the materials and equipment used, and
the offsite labor hours required to manufacture and transport
the materials. Comparision is made with an earlier 1963 study.
Labor and Material Requirements for Public Housing
Construction (BLS Bulletin 1402), May 1964, 42 pp.
A report based on findings of a survey of 31 public hous
ing projects which the Public Housing Administration admin
istered. Projects were selected in various States to represent
four broad geographic regions of the conterminous United
States.
Ball, Robert, and Finn, Joseph T. “Labor and Mate
rial Requirements for Sewer Works Construction,”
Monthly Labor Review, November 1976, pp. 38-41.
School construction
Summarizes the 1971 study of sewer works construction
which updates a study done in 1962-63. Provides data on la
bor and material requirements for construction of sewer lines
and plants for the United States.
Labor and Material Requirements for Elementary and
Secondary School Construction (Publication Number
BLS/LAB Constr-72/81), 1981, 47 pp. (Available from
National Technical Information Service, U.S. Depart
ment of Commerce.)
Labor and Material Requirements for Sewer Works
Construction (BLS Bulletin 1490), 1966, 31 pp.
This report presents the results of a survey of 68 elemen
tary and secondary school construction projects completed
in 1972. The report provides detailed data on employment
requirements by occupation and type of contractor and in
formation on contract costs and materials requirements. Sur
vey results are compared with the findings of two similar
studies of school construction in 1959 and 1965.
A study designed to measure employee hours required for
each $1,000 of new sewer facilities construction contract. The
basis for this study was 138 contracts for new sewer works
in the years 1962-63.
Other reports, articles, and summaries
Ball, Robert. “Employment Created by Construction
Expenditures,” Monthly Labor Review, December 1981,
pp. 38-44.
Olsen, John G. “Labor and Material Requirements
for New School Construction,” Monthly Labor Review,
April 1979, pp. 38-41.
A
summary
Constr-72/81.
of
Publication
Number
Discusses the direct and indirect employment impact of 13
different construction activities surveyed by BLS between
1959 and 1976. The article shows estimates of jobs generated
by $1 billion dollars of construction expenditures in 1980 as
well as summary statistics on cost components, average an
nual rates of decline in onsite labor requirements and related
data.
BLS/LA B
Labor and Material Requirements for School Construc
tion (BLS Bulletin 1586), June 1968, 23 pp.
A survey of selected elementary and secondary public
schools constructed primarily during 1964-65. In addition to
providing information on labor requirements, the study also
includes data on the types and values of materials used, wages
paid, occupations, and use of apprentices.
Ball, Claiborne M. “Employment Effects of Con
struction Expenditures,” Monthly Labor Review, Febru
ary 1965, pp. 154-58.
A summary of labor requirements for eight types of con
struction broken down by offsite and onsite hours, by occu
pation, and by region.
Finn, Joseph T. “Labor Requirements for School
Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, August 1968, pp.
40-43.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1586 (1968).
Finn, Joseph T. “Material Requirements for Private
Multifamily Housing,” Construction Review, April 1976,
pp. 4-10.
Labor Requirementsfor School Construction (BLS Bul
letin 1299), 1961, 50 pp.
This article summarizes the results of the survey of labor
and building material requirements for private multifamily
housing (BLS Bulletin 1892, 1976) with reference to the value
of the materials, supplies, and equipment used in this type of
construction. A detailed listing of the cost of these materials,
supplies, and equipment per $1,000 of construction contract
cost and per 100 square feet is included. In addition, com
parisons are made between the results of this study and the
public housing (BLS Bulletin 1821, 1974) and private onefamily housing (BLS Bulletin 1755, 1972) studies.
A study of primary and secondary employee hours required
per $1,000 of new school construction based on contracts
awarded for 85 elementary and 43 junior and senior high
schools throughout the United States.
Epstein, Joseph, and Walker, James F. “Labor Re
quirements for School Construction,” Monthly Labor
Review, July 1961, pp. 724-30.
A summary of BLS Bulletin 1299 (1961).
Labor and Material Requirements for Sewer Works
Construction (BLS Bulletin 2003), 1979, 55 pp.
Ball, Robert. “The Contract Construction Industry,”
Technological Trends in Major American Industries (BLS
Bulletin 1474), 1966, pp. 32-38.
This report gives the results of a study of new sewer works
construction in the United States completed by August 31,
1973. Most of the construction was done in 1971. The sample
Discusses economic trends in the industry with emphasis
on the impact of technological change on employment, oc
cupations, job skill, and productivity.
Sewer works construction
53
“Construction Labor Requirements,” reprint of chap
ter 33 of BLS Handbook of Methods (BLS Bulletin 1910),
1976.
Discussion of methods for reducing occupational shortages.
Ziegler, Martin. “BLS Construction Labor Require
ments Program,” Paper presented before the North
American Conference on Labor Statistics. San Juan,
Puerto Rico, June 1971.
Description of techniques of construction labor require
ments studies.
Mark, Jerome A., and Ziegler, Martin. “Measuring
Labor Requirements for Different Types of Construc
tion,” Paper presented before the Conference on the
Measurement of Productivity in the Construcion Indus
try, sponsored by the National Commission on Produc
tivity and the Construction Industry Collective Bar
gaining Commission. Washington, D.C., September 14,
1972.
Construction labor requirements program and objectives
are discussed.
Finn, Joseph T. “Material Requirements for Sewer
Works Construction,” Construction Review, January
1979, pp. 4-13.
This article summarizes the results of the survey of labor
and material requirements for sewer works construction dur
ing 1971 (BLS Bulletin 2003, 1979) with reference to the value
of the materials, supplies, and equipment used in this type of
construction. A detailed listing of the cost of these materials,
supplies, and equipment per $1,000 o f construction contract
cost and per 100 square feet is included. In addition, com
parisons are made with the results of an earlier study o f sewer
works construction during 1963.
Discussion of the BLS program of labor and materials re
quirements and analysis of the potential of using data from
the program to measure productivity by type of construction.
Weinberg, Edgar. “Mechanization and Automation
of Building Site Work,” National Response Paper for
the Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on
Housing, Building, and Planning, Third Seminar on the
Building Industry. Moscow, October 1970.
Ball, Robert. “Material Requirements for Private Of
fice Buildings and Other Selected Types of Construc
tion Activities,” Paper presented before the Construc
tion Marketing Seminar. Chicago, Illinois, September
28, 1978.
Discussion of current technology and labor requirements
at the construction site.
Weinberg, Edgar. “Reducing Skill Shortgages in
Construction,” Monthly Labor Review, February 1969,
pp. 3-9.
Discusses material and equipment requirements for the con
struction of private office buildings and other types of build
ing construction studied by BLS.
54
Bureau ©f Labor Statistics
Regi©mal Offices
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Phone: (617) 223-6761
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