Labor Productivity & Rates Flashcards
7 cards from real CPE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Labor Productivity & Rates flashcards as text
A carpenter's base wage is $38.00/hour. Workers' compensation insurance is 12% of base wage, and payroll taxes add 10%. What is the fully-burdened hourly rate (excluding fringe benefits)?
Answer: $46.36/hour
Burdened rate = $38.00 × (1 + 0.12 + 0.10) = $38.00 × 1.22 = $46.36/hour.
Prevailing wage laws (Davis-Bacon Act) on federally funded projects require contractors to pay:
Answer: The locally prevailing wage and fringe benefits for each craft as determined by the DOL
Davis-Bacon mandates payment of DOL-determined prevailing wages and fringe benefits for each craft on covered federal projects.
A project in an extreme cold climate (sustained below 10°F) will likely require which labor cost adjustment?
Answer: Reduced productivity factors of 15–30% plus potential winterization costs
Cold weather reduces worker dexterity and increases break frequency, with published productivity loss tables showing 15–30% reduction at very low temperatures.
The term 'crew balance' in estimating refers to:
Answer: Matching crew composition to avoid idle time, ensuring all members stay productively engaged
A balanced crew ensures that no single worker or sub-group becomes a bottleneck while others wait, maximizing overall crew productivity.
When a project experiences scope changes after mobilization, labor productivity is most affected by:
Answer: Dilution of supervision, schedule disruption, and crew learning curve reset
Change orders disrupt planned work sequences, dilute supervision, and may require crews to re-learn new details, significantly reducing productivity.
If a project has a labor productivity factor of 1.15 applied to all trades, what does this factor indicate?
Answer: Labor will take 15% more man-hours than the baseline estimate
A factor greater than 1.0 applied to man-hours means actual hours are expected to exceed baseline, indicating reduced productivity.
An estimator uses the RS Means labor unit data as a reference. These units are typically based on:
Answer: Average U.S. conditions with a skilled journeyman crew in normal circumstances
RS Means publishes labor units representing average productivity for skilled journeymen under typical conditions, requiring local adjustment factors.