Iowa City

Posts Tagged ‘Circumstances’

Previously it has been demonstrated how to calculate the hourly cost of labour, how to assess the quantity of materials required, taking account of waste and how to establish the hourly rate for a piece of mechanical plant. None of these calculations takes in to account the different quantities that can determine whether or not output is high or low. In other words how long it will take to complete an operation. Other than the general comments made it is not the purpose in this text to investigate in detail influences on productivity. The estimator will in practice take these factors into account when pricing the unit rate.

Estimators have at their disposal many sheets of data showing a variety outputs of various operations for differing circumstances. These cover every aspect of construction work from plant outputs in different materials to the coverage of different types of paint on various surfaces.

Adapted with permission from Brook (1998), Shows typical data for fixing softwood skirtings, architraves, trims, etc. The next stage is to build up the all-in rate, which brings together the data for the labour, material and plant costs required to execute the described bills item. Demonstrates this for building a half-brick-thick wall using cement mortar 1:3 mix, built in stretcher bond. The table demonstrates a rate to lay 1000 bricks and also the rate to lay one metre super of brickwork.

There are many people who believe that the optimal political model is a Singapore style benign dictatorship, but I am not among them. Similarly many believe that enlightened capitalism is the best economic model, and here I share that belief. The problem with both concepts is that my definition of them probably (make that certainly) differs from yours: they are based on interpreting ‘bits’ of this factor and ‘bits’ of that element, and often seem to apply to a set of particular circumstances that make them difficult to transfer:

They are also like the Intel chip: millions of people have heard about it, but if somebody put one on a table right in front of you wouldn’t recognize it for what it was  Is enlightened capitalism about employees who can’t wait to get to work? High investor returns? Effective and efficient operations and/or service? Great products? Being environmentally responsible? Not treating your vendors like dog-poop? Avoiding but not evading taxes? Having a clear vision? Impeccable ethics? Acting with political correctness? Or is it all of the above? As with many things, the best way to pin it down is to rule out what it isn’t. Sherlock Holmes made us face the self-evident: when every thing else has been ruled out, whatever’s left – however unlikely – must be the answer.