Tract Builder work

I've got an opportunity to take on doing a tract builders grade work. I would have to come in 3 times per house. 1. Cut out for driveway and spread rock on driveway. 2. Come back in and rough grade/backfill around foundation (slab foundation). 3. Cleanup and finish grade around home. I don't like doing T&M, but they've already mentioned that's how they've been doing it. I know that's how homebuilders usually work, I already have a few builders. They did say the usually try and get a days worth of work at a time, which is usually on average 2 days a week, they are scattered around in 3-4 different neighbors hoods 20-30 minutes apart. I would like to approach them on the driveways and backfills and just give them a price per house, I'm pretty confident that each house is going to be pretty close. The final grade probably stick with T&M not knowing how much mess to cleanup from masons, concrete guy and plumbers. Also possibilities of hauling dirt in or out. The builders done enough the should know what it cost them per house anyway. Anybody have any experience with these guys and a pricing strategy that has worked other than T&M. I'm not a fan of T&M but it is nice consistent work/fill in work, they do have a good standing.

T&M on that kind of work is weird, at least for around here. Any builder we've worked for has always wanted unit cost. We attach specific conditions. For example, one of our conditions is that the site is clear of garbage and construction debris.
Might be the builder wants to try you out T&M before committing to anything more? But if they're disorganized and you'll be jumping around, T&M with a 4 hour minimum or so might be better. Charge for equipment and make sure you add in machine hauling costs as well. If you've gotta move 3 times in a day, float truck will end up being on hire the whole day.

Around here for builder's it pretty normal to do T&M, they understand markup on a bid and extra time added to be safe. Sometimes a new big driveway or septic, sometimes basement dig they'll ask for a bid. Most all there work will be track skidsteer, I usually keep a single axle dump with it, so logistics of moving around not a big deal.

Welcome to the Forums dirthog43!

Tell us a little about yourself and your operation in order to for us to give better advise.

I would still charge a mobilization fee to keep them honest, and for sure charge extra extra straight cost for debris clean up. I hate being expected to clean everybody else's messes for hourly wages. It all starts out simple enough, get to one job where for what ever reason there's a huge pile of trash cause they pulled the box early. They ask you to help them out and haul it away for wages. Next thing you know your doing it on every job and then they ask for a price break. I prefer hard bids, When a private gc asks me for hourly prices I throw prevailing wage rates as a starting point, for a small guy the hourly gigs pay the bills, and adds in some security, but that's all there going to do. I would be trying to put a number on each lot with a few additional charges mixed in and they will not waste your time jumping around from site to site. Both of you will respect each other and each other's time at the end of the day.

CM1995 said:

Welcome to the Forums dirthog43!

Tell us a little about yourself and your operation in order to for us to give better advise.

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Thanks CM1995, been around for a while, hadn't posted in years and forgot password. I'm just a one man show, do excavating/grading, demolition and clearing.

I understand giving hard bid, I try to always give hard bid pricing. Coming in to put driveway in and rough grade is pretty cut dry not much in way. I've checked they're jobsite's and compared to most they keep them pretty clean. Not sure when comes to finish grading if giving hard bid be beneficial since every house be different. If you have to cleanup and haul off concrete guys, bricklayer mess and then some lots might be balanced, others might need to haul off dirt or haul in fill. Previous contractor doing grading was pretty rough and I know T&M was how they did with him.

You say backfill around the foundation, who did the foundation work?
Steady work is good, just ask Vetech63 https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...e-an-interesting-thread-moving-forward.92009/

Joe H

Since the houses are similar is size driveway, slab and lot size maybe a fixed price (bid) for trip 1 and 2 then T&M for final grade.

Unit prices are also a handy pricing tool that would be subdivision specific due to travel times.

Unit pricing -

Per load of structural fill
Per load of topsoil (if you supply that)
Per load of trash removal
Labor per hour - charge for moving materials, etc
Then your normal equipment rates for finish grading
Mobilization fee

There are a couple of medium sized grading outfits here that service the large builders. From what I've heard it's a combo of unit pricing and T&M.

We we're gonna do some of the common area/park stuff on some new development before the china flu crashed and burned that lol. Our part's were gonna be mostly fixed price with a little TM. My landscape buddy doing the houses was doing all fixed for the lots, one base price for the required dirt work then add on's if the new HO wanted a total yard.

Personally I don't do trash cleanup under any circumstances. I'm an old fart and you can damn well police your own stuff, if you are the general run your site.

skyking1 said:

Personally I don't do trash cleanup under any circumstances. I'm an old fart and you can damn well police your own stuff, if you are the general run your site.

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If we do "trash cleanup" it's usually at the fine grade the parking lot stage when all the left over materials are still on the job. GC says clean it up and we do it with a CTL, dozer and a trackhoe - their 30 yard cans barely go on the truck as we don't sift the dirt out.

I had to do it when I worked at the Port of Seattle, I was tasked with cleaning up homeless camps with an excavator and dump truck. They issued cut proof gloves but the rule was, touch nothing. it was all thumb work and more than a little dirt ended up going to the landfill.
Here was a bizarre bucketload of sadness.