UNIT RATE BUILD - UP

EXCAVATION

BD 5017 Cost Estimation

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 The excavation is a construction trade which generally comprises of excavation,
disposal, planking and strutting, filling and hardfill.
 Excavation is normally measured in cubic metres and depth will be mentioned in 1.5
metres intervals (0 to 1.5, 0 to 3.0, 0 – 4.5 and so on)
 The stages of 1.5 metre are considered to be the maximum height possible for a
person to throw up soil without an intermediate platform.
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 Factors affecting excavation costs
 Nature of the site
 Nature of the ground
 Time of year and weather conditions
 Kind of excavation
 Quantity involved
 Bulking of excavation
 Method of excavation
 Any traffic restrictions
 Underground services
 Water table
 Means of disposal
 Construction programme
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 Nature of the site – Estimator should visit the site to find out what is the anticipated site
conditions are likely to be at the time the work is to be carries out. Contained and steep
sloping sections can make excavation works very difficult. Plant may not be able to reach
excavation areas and access for vehicles used for disposal may also be affected. Estimator has
to carefully check the conditions of redeveloped sites. Services must be checked out and
where necessary, it has to be disconnected.
 Nature of the ground – Estimator has to establish the nature of the ground material to be
excavated. All the data available from the test bores and trail holes should be studied
carefully. These tests will give data on ground condition soil types and the presence of ground
water. The nature and condition of ground is very important in assessing the time required for
hand excavation. Most soils excavate easily when they are moderately damp. Excessive wet or
very dry ground excavation will be usually more costly. If the material is very wet, it is difficult
to cut and it will be heavy to lift. If it is too dry, it may be too hard to cut or too powdery to
handle. If different strata are encountered, the ordinary ground output will be reduced.
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 Time of year and weather conditions – Estimator has to consider the time of the year during
which the excavation is expected to carried out. Excavation during winter is usually more
difficult than in summer. Some areas have a much higher rainfall than other areas. This could
be important at certain times of the year.
 Kind of excavation – Labour and Machine output constant varies according to whether
excavations are surface areas or bulk basement shallow trench or pier hole excavation.
 Quantity involved – Large excavations often enable a continuous flow of work, especially
suited to the plant. Small quantities of material can result in higher unit costs when, for
example, trucks are standing idle. In such instances, hand excavation may be economical.
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 Bulking of excavation – All type of ground increases in bulk when excavated. This increase is
due to breaking up of a solid mass and enclosure by the material of pockets of air. Generally,
larger the particles, the larger the space enclosed and greater the bulking. This factor must be
considered when carting away excavated material or refilling excavations. The quantities given
in the schedule do not include allowance for bulking, therefore the rate must be increased to
provide for it. Approximate increase in bulk for different materials are as follows
 Gravel – 10%
 Sand – 12.5%
 Clay (semi plastic) – 20%
 Earth (Top soil, loams) – 25%
 Rock – 33.5%
For example, the volume of excavated clay will be 20% greater than the volume of the hole.
Therefore 1 cubic metre of measured excavation in clay gives 1.2 cubic metre of excavated
clay to load and cart away.
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 Method of excavation – The estimator must decide on hand or mechanical or combination of
both, and the type of plant required. Hand excavation is usually done where the site is
restricted or the quantity is small. Hand excavation often will require the use of staging below
1.5 metre depth. Staging is usually formed with planks incorporated with planking and
strutting systems. As a guide, one labourer can lift and throw to a higher stage, the spoil that
is produced by two men excavating.
 Any traffic restrictions – This situation is likely to occur when the work is in built up city areas.
Loading times and access restrictions could hamper the flow of work. Bylaws may require all
trucks leaving the site to be washed. This all will increase the cost.
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 Underground services – Estimator need to try and establish the extent and location of existing
services such as water, gas, power, drainage and communication pipes and cables because
this will result in extra care being required during excavation. This could limit the effective use
of machinery, and reduce the output the proportion of hand digging increases.
 Water table – A high water table could mean additional costs for the work ranging from
influencing the type of plant to be used, the need of sheet piling or the use of de-watering
equipment.
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 Means of disposal – Excavated material is either used on site to make up levels or removed off
site and disposed off. Hand excavated material can often be moved to its final location by
using barrows. The maximum economic length of wheeling is about 100 metres. Beyond this
distance, it is often cheaper to load the spoil into dumpers or trucks and transport to the
required location. If the spoil is not required for the site then in the SOQ the relevant items
will be mentioned as removal surplus excavated material from site. So it becomes contractor’s
responsibility to dispose the material. This will often involve in paying for the landfill fees.
Occasionally contractors are able to sell the excavated material. The location of the site in
relation to the nearest tip, or if the subcontractor has their own dumping site, or access to
other sites that require fill, will affect the pricing.
 Construction programme – If the contract is of a fast track nature the program may dictate the
available duration of the excavation trade. This will require the estimator to price a method
that maximizes the output and may result in extra costs such as more labour, over time rates (
if they apply) or artificial lighting required for working at night.
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Labour required for excavation
 When estimating the cost of an item, the estimator should analyze every operation that can
be compiled. Any deviation from a normal situation must be carefully considered, an
appropriate adjustments made to the labour constants.
 Excavate trenches - For excavation of trenches only a cost value for excavation is required. If it
was 3 m deep, provision may be need to be made for staging the work, if not carried out in
one operation with no planking and strutting. Compliances with Health and Safety
requirements must be taken into account in costings particularly for deep excavations. If the
excavation includes for wheeling to spoil heaps on site, the rate must including loading
barrows and wheeling excavated material from trenches to the heaps.
 Return fill for backfilling– Return fill must cover any loading up from the spoil heap, wheeling,
depositing as backfill and compacting around foundations. Sometime the fill can be returned
direct from the excavated material around the trench, then loading into barrows will not be
needed.
 Cart surplus spoil away from site – This will involve loading spoil into trucks, carting and
tipping at disposal point and probably a charge for the use of a landfill.
EXCAVATION
 Example 1
SOQ item – Lift turf and stack in stock piles average 50 metres from excavation. 1000 m2

Labour required per m2

Lifting and stacking 0.3 hr
Wheel and deposit 50m 1.25 hr
Labour rate per hour $20.00
Plant required per m2
Non mechanical plant – Barrows, shovels, planks $ 0.75

What is the total rate per m2?

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 Example 1
SOQ item – Lift turf and stack in stock piles average 50 metres from excavation. 1000 m2

Labour required per m2

Lifting and stacking 0.3
Wheel and deposit 50m 1.25
Total labour hours required 1.55 hours

Labour rate per hour $20.00

Labour cost for 1 m2 1.55 x 20 = $ 31.00

Plant required per m2
Non mechanical plant – Barrows, shovels, planks $ 0.75
Total rate / m2 $ 31.75
Note : A nominal allowance is made for the plant. Normally these type plants are allowed in overheads.
EXCAVATION
 Example 2
SOQ item – Excavate trench for foundation 0 to 1.5 m below reduced level in medium soil. 100 m3

Labour required per m3

Excavate trench 2.2 hours ( considered medium soil)
Labour rate per hour $20.00
Plant required per m3
Non mechanical plant – Barrows, shovels, planks $ 3.00

What is the rate per m3?

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 Example 2
SOQ item – Excavate trench for foundation 0 to 1.5 m below reduced level in medium soil. 100 m3

Labour required per m3

Excavate trench 2.2 hours ( considered medium soil)
Labour rate per hour $20.00
Labour cost for 1 m3 2.2 x 20 = $ 44.00
Plant required per m3
Non mechanical plant – Barrows, shovels, planks $ 3.00
Total rate / m3 $ 47.00
EXCAVATION
 PLANT
 Earth moving plant
 Bulldozers
 Scrapers
 Graders
EXCAVATION
 Bulldozers – are normally rated either by their size or weight and power. Most
materials can be bulldozed. However the efficiency of the machine in terms of the
production is affected by the type of work being done and the kind of blade used.
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 Scrapers – are most effective on such large jobs as landscaping and the construction
of roads, dams and airfields.
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 Graders – A grader operated best in an unconsolidated soil, such as loose sand and
gravel. When it has to deal with heavy soils, it can be fitted with light scarifiers,
which break up the surfaces prior to grading. The output of grader largely depend on
the size of machine, operator’s skill and the type of soil and its condition.
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 PLANT
 Excavating and loading plant
 Face-shovels
 Excavators
 Clamshells
 Grabs
 Front End loaders
EXCAVATION
 Face-shovels – are the most powerful of the excavator front end equipment and give
the greatest output of an equivalent power basis. Face-shovels are rated for size by
the capacity of bucket. The main factors affecting performance are soil type, height
of work face, angle of swing, size and number of haul units, operator’s skill.
EXCAVATION
 Excavators – are often called as diggers, backacters or backhoes. They are mainly
used for excavating below ground level. They are most commonly used mechanical
excavator in the building industry. Excavators are also rated for the size by capacity of
bucket. Factors affecting the performance of excavators are same as that of
faceshovel.
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 Clamshells – these are often fitted to
backhoes or tracked cranes for special
work. Clamshells are usually used for
loading loose granular materials from
stockpile or pit. They can be used for
removing loosened materials from sheet
lined trenches, large diameter piles,
manhole pits etc. They are specially suited
for vertical lifting materials from one
location to another. Their ground
penetration and tearabout ability is poor
compared with that of face shovel and
backhoes.
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 Grabs – The grab is used to handle large blocks of rock. It is ideal for selecting larger
rocks from a shot face in a quarry or cutting.
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 Front end loaders – Wheel front end loaders, especially when articulated, are more
maneuverable than tracked machines. They are very economical for loading trucks,
short hauling and excavating in restricted spaces. Factors affecting the performance
are size and type of loader and bucket, the type of material being loaded, ground
conditions and haul distance.
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 Utilization of excavating machinery
 Mechanical excavating machinery cannot be used all the time even if it is on site.
Allowances must be made for the non-productive time standing, attending,
servicing, rigging and dismantling and also for traveling and transportation costs.
 Depending on the quantities of excavation, the utilization of mechanical
equipment can vary from between 30% to 95%. A reasonable average is 75%
which means that the three quarters of its time on site, the machinery is usefully
working. One quarter of its time, it is non productive.
 During non-productive machine time, the hire rate and cost of the operator has
to be paid by the contractor. Therefore a percentage addition to the net machine
rate is made to cover the non-productive time.
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 EXCAVATING PLANT OUTPUTS

ESTIMATED HOURLY OUTPUT ( M3 )

Capacity ( m3 ) Face Shovel Backhoe Clamshell

0.2 14 10 -

0.5 43 30 23

0.8 66 47 37

1.0 80 55 44
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 Output of a scraper depends on capacity, length of haul, haul speed and return
speed.

SCRAPER OUTPUT – ESTIMATED HOURLY OUTPUT ( M3 )

Capacity ( m3 ) 120m haul 180m haul 250m haul 300m haul
5.4 94 76 64 56
9.2 170 139 117 102
10.7 198 162 137 117
13.8 235 190 158 136
16.8 292 232 193 164
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 Excavators
 An excavator’s bucket payload (actual amount of material in the bucket on each
digging cycle) depends on bucket size and on certain soil characteristics.
 Moist loam or sandy clay may result in a heaped bucket capacity of 100 to 110%.
Hard, tough clay results in lower capacities of 80% to 90% capacity and blasted
rock may be as low as 40 to 50% capacity.
 The digging cycle of an excavator is as follows:
 Load bucket
 Swing loaded
 Dump bucket
 Swing empty
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 Excavators
 The digging cycle of an excavator
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 The total excavator cycle time depends on machine size and job conditions.
 Small machines can cycle faster than large machines.
 With excellent job conditions, the excavator can cycle fast but as job conditions
become more severe, the excavator slows down accordingly. In sewer
construction work, the operator may not be able to work at full speed if they have
to dig around existing utilities, load the bucket inside a trench shield, or avoid
injuring people working in the area.
 Operator skill also have a major effect on the digging cycle times. Depending on
the type of machine being used, a less skilled operator’s output could be as low
as 50% of an excellent operator’s output.
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 Transport
 Excavated materials are transported by trucks and the factors to be considered
are as follows:
 Capacity – m3 or tonnes
 Time for return trip to trip against turnaround time
 Loading time
 Hire rate for vehicle
 To calculate the efficiency of a truck, the mass of excavated earth is required.
Because trucks are rated on mass and not volume of the tray. The soil density
table shows that the volume is different for different soil types.
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 Transport
 Truck cycles are calculated to make sure 100% efficiency for loading from the
machinery. To calculate the timing knowledge of following factors are required.
 Loading time
 Travel time to tip
 Tipping time
 Return time
EXCAVATION
 HAND EXCAVATION VS MACHINE EXCAVATION
 The estimator has to assess, on each item of excavation being priced, the
expected proportion of hand excavation to machine excavation. It is unlikely that
a machine will be able to excavate 100% of any particular item.
 Labour for trimming the sides and bottom is generally required. Hand excavation
may be necessary in areas with difficult access for plant. This is a matter of
estimating judgement by a good estimator.
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 Example 3
 Excavate over surface of site to reduce levels 150 m3

Assume 13.8 m3 scraper, 300m haul and 90% estimated utilization.

Plant
Scraper hourly hire rate @ $200 / hr
EXCAVATION
 Example 3
 Excavate over surface of site to reduce levels 150 m3

Assume 13.8 m3 scraper, 300m haul and 90% estimated utilization.

Plant
Scraper hourly hire rate @ $200 / hr = 200.00
Utilization allowance ( 10/90) % = 11% = 22.00
=222.00

Output 136 m3 / hr = 222 = 1.63

136

Rate per m3 = $ 1.63

EXCAVATION
 Example 4
 Excavate trench for foundations 0 to 1.5 m below reduced level 100 m3

Assume 0.2 m3 excavator, in heavy clay 75% estimated utilization and 10% hand excavation.

Labour
From example 2 rate per m3 @ $47.00
Heavy clay multiplier @ 1.50

Plant
Excavator hourly rate @ $80/hr

Output 10 m3 / hr
0.6 multiplier
Plant proportion 90%
EXCAVATION
 Example 4
 Excavate trench for foundations 0 to 1.5 m below reduced level 100 m3

Assume 0.2 m3 excavator, in heavy clay 75% estimated utilization and 10% hand excavation.

Labour
From previous example 2 = 47.00
Heavy clay multiplier = 1.50
=70.50 @ 10% = $7.05
Plant
Excavator hourly rate @ $80/hr = 80.00
Utilization allowance ( 25/75) % = 33.33% = 26.66
=106.66

Output 10 m3 / hr x 0.6 multiplier = 6 m3 / hr

$106.66 = $ 17.78
6 m3 / hr
Plant proportion $ 17.78 @ 90% = $16.00

Rate per m3 = $ 23.05

EXCAVATION
 PLANKING AND STRUTTING
 Planking and strutting is the temporary support of the sides of excavation and is
generally measured in square meters.
 Planking and strutting must comply with the regulations set by the health and
safety in employment act.
 Design and type of planking and strutting is entirely up to the contractor.

 It is a temporary support and normally it will not be detailed on the drawings, but
it must comply with all the requirements of codes of practice.
 Planking and strutting normally done by timber but steel shield planking and
strutting is getting more popular now.
 Steel shield planking and strutting have longer life and it provides more safety to
the workers. They are readily placed and removed by mobile crane. These can be
hired.
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 PLANKING AND STRUTTING
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 PLANKING AND STRUTTING
 Timber used for planking and strutting is normally used to destruction. Its normal
life expectancy ranges between 5 and 10 uses. A material usage factor of 10% to
20% therefore occurs each time the planking and strutting is used and
dismantled.
 Erecting and dismantling planking and strutting for reuse is usually done with an
equal carpenter / labourer combination.
 Although the planking and strutting is usually done in m2, the labour outputs are
based on m3 of timber used owing to the variable nature of the size and length of
poling boards, walings and struts.
 Normally the allowance for overhead, profit and risk will be 20%
EXCAVATION
 HARDCORE FILLING
 The cost of placing hardcore may vary. The estimator must allow whatever the
conditions prevail.
 The delivery truck may tip the hardcore directly into the final position
 It may be moved and placed by a front loader
 On confined sites, the hardcore may have to be tipped and barrowed and filled by hand
 Hardcore consolidates approximately 20% when compacted into position. To
cover for this a 25% consolidation factor should be allowed. For example, a 10 m3
hole requires (10 m3 + 25%) 12.5 m3 material to fill. (12.5 m3 – 20% = 10 m3)
 Compaction of hardfill is generally done with mechanical plate compactors for
small areas and with hand or machine driven vibrating rollers weight up to several
tonnes for large areas.
EXCAVATION
 Example 5
 Hardcore filling under ground floor slab, compacted in layers not exceeding 150mm thick 100 m3

Materials
Delivered to site @ $15.00 / m3
Consolidation 25%
Labour
1.25m3 x 0.8 hour / m3
labour rate $ 20.00 / hr
Plant
Hire of plate compactor @ $47/day
Fuel, say $5 / day
Say 7 hours per day
EXCAVATION
 Example 5
 Hardcore filling under ground floor slab, compacted in layers not exceeding 150mm thick 100 m3

Materials
Delivered to site @ $15.00 / m3 = 15.00
Consolidation 25% = 3.75
= 18.75
Labour
1.25m3 x 0.8 hour / m3 1 hr x $ 20.00 / hr = 20.00
Plant
Hire of plate compactor @ $47/day
Fuel, say $5 / day
Cost per day $ 52/day
Say 7 hours per day = 52/7 = $7.43 / hr @ 1 hr/m3 = 7.43

Rate per m3 = $ 46.18

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 Example 6
 Prepare unit rate build-up for 25mm thick sand blinding to hardware surface m2

 Sand cost delivered to site $40.00 / m3

 Labour rate $20.00 / hr

 Plate compactor $8/hr

 Consolidation of sand 12.5%

 Out put of plate compactor – 0.06 hr / m2

EXCAVATION
 Example 6
Sand delivered to site @ $40.00 / m3 40.00
Consolidation @ 12.5% 5.00
Material cost / m3 $45.00
25mm thick = $45.00 x 0.025 m
Material cost / m2 $1.13
Plant
Plate compactor at 0.06 hrs / m2 x $ 8/hr $0.48

Labour
0.06 hr / m2 @ $20.00/hr $1.20

Rate per m2 $ 2.81

THANKS!!!