Start with the shared cost chain
Every trade still needs a defensible cost basis, fully burdened labor, overhead recovery, a clear markup-or-margin decision, protection for scope changes, and a review of estimate versus actual. Begin with the connected pricing workflow before tuning an example to a specific trade.
Trade-specific work patterns
| Trade | Distinct pricing considerations |
|---|---|
| HVAC | Technician/helper mixes, diagnostic time, warranty callbacks, and seasonal capacity. |
| Plumbing | Apprentice/journeyman crews, emergency travel, and material-heavy work. |
| Electrical | Permits, inspections, crew composition, and specialty equipment. |
| Painting | Preparation time, nonbillable setup, material coverage, and waste. |
| Landscaping | Travel, equipment, weather downtime, and crew-hour pricing. |
| Roofing | Subcontractor crews, disposal, material waste, and mobilization. |
| Handyman | Minimum charges, trip time, and small-job overhead. |
| Cleaning | Productive labor hours, route travel, supplies, and recurring work. |
| Remodeling | Project management, subcontractors, retainage, and long-duration overhead. |
| Concrete | Mobilization, equipment, pump costs, weather, and schedule risk. |
No hidden market-rate defaults
The calculators do not supply a “going rate” for a city, state, or trade. Payroll burden, utilization, wage, overhead, waste, and target-margin assumptions are user-entered. Any worked rate is labeled as a hypothetical example unless a cited dataset supports it.
Choose the next calculation
- Mixed crews or paid nonbillable time: start with the fully burdened labor rate.
- Capacity, rent, office payroll, or fixed vehicle cost: use overhead recovery and break-even.
- Materials, subcontractors, and waste on added scope: use the change-order price builder.
- Hours or categories running over estimate: use the bid-to-actual analyzer.