How to Price Landscape & Irrigation Projects

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION ONE
Contracting Management in the New Millennium

1. Back to the Next Ten Years
2. Estimating System Overview

SECTION TWO
Establishing Annual Budgets (Costing Standards and Benchmarks)

3. Sales and Revenue Budget Projections
4. Direct Costs: Materials/Subcontractors/Equipment/Commissions
5. Field-labor Payroll and Hour Budgets
6. Crew Average Wage
7. Labor Burden
8. General and Administrative Overhead or Indirect Costs
9. Equipment Costs
10. Budget Recap and Ratio Analysis

SECTION THREE
Estimating Projects

11. Phase I Production Costs
12. Phase II General Condition Costs
13. Phase III Completing the Bid, Adding Margins and Markups &
Calculating the Break-even Point (BEP)
14. Unit Price Bids
15. Reviewing Completed Bids
16. Estimating Strategies
17. Common Mistakes or “Who’s Through in L&I Contracting?”

SECTION FOUR
Special Bidding Situations

18. Flat Rate Pricing
19. Time and Materials (T&M) Pricing
20. Bark Blowing
21. Christmas Decorations
22. Hydroseeding
23. Interior Landscape Projects
24. Irrigation Service Work
25. Lawn Maintenance Packages
26. Large Maintenance Jobs & “On-site” Maintenance
27. Lawn Fertilization, Insect and Weed Control
28. Outdoor Lighting
29. Outdoor Ponds
30. Pavers
31. Shrub Fertilization and Insect and Weed Control
32. Snow Plowing, Salting and Sanding
33. Tree Work, General
34. Tree Work, Disease Control and Fertilization

SECTION FIVE
Understanding Market Predisposition: Contractor, Know Thy Market

35. The Concept of Market Predisposition: Why it is so important?
36. Margins & Markups, What’s the Difference?
37. Gross Profit Margin, an Estimators Best Friend
38. The Six Most Common Methods for Pricing Jobs
39. The Mistake of Using Percentages to Recover G&A Overhead Costs

SECTION SIX
Keeping on Track: Running Your Company right from the Bid Sheet

40. Sales: the Bid Board and the M.A.D. Report
41. Job Costing
42. Billable Field-labor Hour "Budget vs. Actual" Performance
43. The Company Break Even Point (BEP): the "October Surprise"
44. The Profit & Loss (P&L) Statement and Recap Report
45. Field and G&A Overhead Equipment
46. Industry Benchmarks
47. Six Sigma: Total Quality Management (TQM) Reevaluated
48. Bonuses and Incentives
49. Computer Estimating
50. Marketing Strategies
51. Company Structure and Growth Patterns
52. Ordering and Controlling Materials
53. A Word to your CPA/Accountant
54. Maximizing the Value of Your Business and the Business Life Cycle
55. Evaluating, Buying and Selling a Business (Business Exit Strategies)
56. Concluding Remarks

Appendix A: Practical Exercises
Appendix B: Labor Production Rates
Appendix C: Equipment Cost per Hour (CPH) Rates
Appendix D: Abbreviations
Appendix E: Industry Benchmarks
Glossary of terms
Footnotes
List of Diagrams
List of Exhibits
List of Illustrations
List of Major Associations
For Further Reading/Reference Materials
Answers to Questions on the Back Cover
Survey

Index