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Unit: Planning and costing

LMFFL3001A: Plan and cost flooring technology work

Section 4: Estimating costs

Using contract rates


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Installers who work for a flooring distributor or large building company often get paid under a contract arrangement, rather than by the hour.

This means that their pay is determined by the size of the project and the type of work they're doing, as opposed to how long the job takes to complete.

The advantage of a contract rate to the installer is that they can work very hard and earn good money - because the more efficient they are, the more jobs they'll complete each week.

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The advantage to the supplier is that they can rely on a set price for the job, without having to build in allowances for hold-ups or slow workers.

The main caution is that they need to be sure the contractors will maintain a high quality of workmanship, and not take shortcuts to finish jobs quickly.

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Example of a quotation using contract rates

Let's say you've asked a contractor to lay sheet vinyl on a concrete subfloor with the specifications shown below.

Room size: 5950 x 8500

Vinyl floor covering: 2 metre wide roll

Underlayment: smoothing compound skim coat.


The installer will be paid at the following rates:

       
Lay and weld sheet vinyl:
$8.00 per square metre (including cost of weld rod and vinyl adhesive)
Install skim coat underlayment:      
$6.00 per square metre (including cost of smoothing compound)

The cost of the vinyl flooring is $50 per metre, and the delivery price is $70. Your profit mark-up is 30%.

What will your quotation price be? Have a look at the calculations below.

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Quotation price

Materials

Sheet vinyl (2 m wide) cuts:

Run 1:        

6.05 m

Run 2:

6.05

Run 3:

6.05

Run 4:

6.05

Run 5:

3.05 (1/2 split)

Total length: 27.25 l/m (round up to 27.3 l/m)

Price: 27.3 m x $50 per metre:

$1365

Transport:

70

Labour

Area: 8.50 m x 5.95 m = 50.57 m2

Less: column: 0.4 x 0.4 = 0.16 m2

Total m2: 50.41 m2 (round up to 50.5 m2)

Skim coat underlayment: $6.00 m2 x 50.5 m2:

303

Lay and weld sheet vinyl: $8.00 m2 x 50.5 m2:

404

2142

Profit mark-up (30%):

642.60

2784.60

GST (10%):

278.46

Quotation price:

3063.06

Round off to $3065



Learning activity

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Let's say you have agreed to a rate increase with the contractor, and the new rates are as shown below.

Lay and weld sheet vinyl: $8.50 per m2

Install skim coat underlayment: $6.50 per m2

All other costs remain the same.

What will the total quotation price be now?

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