CFE guide · Estimating
Work Out Flooring Man Days From Your Installation Rates
Man days = Mat’l Qty ÷ QTY per Man Day. Keep your installers’ daily production in Man Day Rates (150 sy of square carpet tile, 800 lf of 4" rubber base and so on), then pick a labor item for each line on Project Man Days. CFE divides each line’s material quantity by that rate and adds them up per estimate, alternate and change order: 62.39 man days on the Willow Creek Police Substation sample.
Why man days belong in the estimate
The GC asks how long the floor will take before they ask how much. Your project manager needs it for the schedule, your installers need it to plan crews, and you need it to check that your labor price can pay those days. A guess made at the end of the bid is the first number to go wrong.
CFE - Advanced Estimating Worksheet works the days out from the same takeoff as the price. Each line’s material quantity is divided by your installers’ daily production for that kind of work, so when the takeoff changes, the days change with it. Change orders and alternates get their own man days, kept apart from the base bid.
The four steps
- Set your Man Day RatesDaily production per installer for each kind of work.
- Pick a labor item per lineProject Man Days pulls the lines from the estimate.
- Check alternates and COsEach one has its own table and total.
- Show them on reportsOne switch prints man days on the paperwork.
1Set your Man Day Rates
Open Man Day Rates in the left menu. Each row is a labor description with its QTY per Man Day and units: production per installer for one 8-hour man day at journeyman level. The sheet is clear about what a rate means: the installer’s full day of output, not only time on the floor. That includes bringing tools and material to the work area, staging and acclimating product, layout, floor preparation, spreading adhesive and waiting for its open time, installing, cleaning up and protecting the finished work.
The sample company’s Standard Rates set has 55 items. Use Add item for your own, Import Man Day Rates to add another company’s set, Export Man Day Rates to share yours, and Rate sheet for a sub to send a sub-contractor the list.
Set the rates from your own finished jobs, not a book. Divide what a crew actually installed by the man days they billed, and the number already includes the moving, waiting and cleaning that a floor-only rate leaves out.
2Pick a labor description for each line
Open Project Man Days. The lines are pulled from the Estimate Quote with their Mat’l Qty and units. In Labor Description, pick the matching labor item from your Man Day Rates; CFE fills QTY per Man Day and Rate Units and works out Man Days for the line. Lines like the LVT heading row show pick a labor item until you choose one. Refresh from estimate brings in lines you added after.
3Check the alternates and change orders
Further down the same sheet, every Alternate and Change Order has its own table, kept separate so later orders stay apart from the main estimate. Drag the handle under a table to make it taller or shorter. On the police substation bid, Alternate #1 adds 3.3 man days and Alternate #2 adds 4.3.
4Show man days on the estimate and work orders
The Man Days on reports switch at the top of Project Man Days (the same switch as View › Show/Hide › Man days) puts the man days and labor description on the Estimate Quote, every Change Order, the Work Order for Installers and the Installer Pick Ticket. On the Estimate Quote, the Project Man Days box shows the base days, the days from change orders and alternates, and the total.
Worked example: the police substation, line by line
The first lines of Willow Creek Police Substation (JE-100002), with the rates from the Standard Rates set.
| Line | Mat'l Qty | Labor item (rate) | Man days |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPT-1 Shaw Contract 24"x24" carpet tile | 3,188.85 sy | Install Carpet Tile – Square (150 sy) | 3,188.85 ÷ 150 = 21.26 |
| CPT-2 Milliken 50cm x 50cm ashlar | 1,727.25 sy | Install Carpet Tile – Square (150 sy) | 11.52 |
| RB-1 4" Johnsonite base, straight | 728 lf | Install 4" Rubber Base (800 lf) | 728 ÷ 800 = 0.91 |
| RB-2 4" Johnsonite base, cove | 607 lf | Install 4" Rubber Base (800 lf) | 0.76 |
| Project man days (all 17 lines) | 62.39 |
Note that the carpet tile uses the Mat’l Qty (3,188.85 sy, with 5% attic stock on the 3,037 sy takeoff), because that is what the crew handles. With a crew of four, 62.39 man days is a little under 16 working days, a number you can now put in front of the GC.
A few rates from the Standard Rates set
| Labor description | QTY per man day |
|---|---|
| Install Broadloom Carpet – 12’ Roll – No PR | 150 sy |
| Install Carpet Tile – Planks – Monolithic/Ashlar | 120 sy |
| Install Sheet Vinyl/Lino – Integral Flash Coved | 180 sy |
| Flash Coving – Integral base @ 6" high | 250 lf |
| Seam Welding – hot weld – sheet goods | 700 lf |
| Install LVT – straight, brick/ashlar | 500 sf |
| Install LVT – herringbone | 350 sf |
| Install VCT – Standard | 1,000 sf |
| Install Rubber Flooring – Sheets | 400 sf |
| Demo Carpet Tile | 500 sy |
These are the sample company’s rates, shown to explain the sheet. Replace them with your own crews’ numbers.
What to do next
Next, turn man days into a labor cost with labor rates, overtime and burden, and pay installers on what they lay with net area labor pricing. The man days and labor rates page shows both sheets.
Work out your man days free
Man Day Rates and Project Man Days are in the 30-day free trial. No credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does CFE calculate flooring man days?
For each line it divides the Mat’l Qty by the QTY per Man Day of the labor item you picked, then adds the lines up. 3,188.85 sy of carpet tile at 150 sy per man day is 21.26 man days.
What does a man day rate include?
One installer’s full 8-hour day of output at journeyman level, including moving material, staging, layout, prep, adhesive open time, installing, cleanup and protection, not only time on the floor.
Are change order man days added to the project?
They are kept in their own tables so later orders stay apart from the main estimate. The Estimate Quote shows the base man days, the change orders and alternates, and the total of both.
Can I give a sub-contractor my man day rates?
Yes. Rate sheet for a sub on the Man Day Rates sheet makes a rate sheet to send, and Export Man Day Rates saves the whole set to share.
Written by
Cristian Valcu – Founder & CEO, Commercial Flooring Estimating LLC
Cristian has estimated commercial flooring for over 20 years and built CFE - Advanced Estimating Worksheet around the way flooring contractors actually price, propose and track their bids.
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