Estimating Exercises
1. A team comprises of 1 Foreman @ R23, 50 per hour and 6 Labourers @ R20, 20 per hour
each. They work for 9 hours per day and each labourer excavates 2, 5 m3 per day. What
is the unit cost per cubic metre?
2. A Cat 215 excavator and 2 No. Trucks excavate and remove material from a hole 6 m
wide x 4.5 m long x 3 m deep. The production of the team is 18 m 3 per hour. How long
does it take to complete the excavation?
3. A JCB digger loader @ R95, 00 per hour dry together with 1 Foreman and 3 Labourers
dig a trench 500 mm wide and 600 mm deep at a unit cost of R18, 45 per m3. The fuel
consumption of the JCB is 10 litres per hour and the fuel cost is R10, 50 per litre. The
operator is paid R28, 00 per hour. Use the same rates in 1. above for the Foreman and
Labourers. Based on a 9 hour day:
a) How many m3 of excavation is completed each day?
b) How many lineal metres of excavation are completed each day?
4. The cycle time taken for a 6 m3 tipper truck to be loaded, to then travel 2 km, to a dump,
to dump its load and finally return to the loader is 15 minutes. The loader produces 120
loose cubic metres per hour. In order for the loader to maintain its production, how many
6 m3 trucks are required?
5. A bricklayer and 3 labourers lay 630 bricks per day. They are building a 220 mm wide wall
and there are 105 bricks to a square metre. If they work 10 hours per day how many
square metres do they build in one hour?
6. The rate of the bricklayer is R24, 00 per hour and the bricks are purchased at R1 200, 00
per thousand. The cost of the mortar including the mixing is R800, 00 per m3 and the
quantity required is 0.65 m3 per 1000 bricks. The labour rate remains at R20, 20 per hour.
Using 1 bricklayer and 3 labourers it takes 5 days to construct a wall working 9 hours per
day at a production of 630 bricks per day. What is the total cost of the 220 mm thick wall
including labour, bricks and mortar?
7. A Cat 950 loader and 5 tipper trucks move 2 000 loose cubic metres of material in a 10
hour shift. The cost of the team including fuel, drivers and operator is R1 920, 00 per hour.
The loose density of the material is 1500 kg/m3 and the material is compacted to 2100
kg/m3. What is the cost of hauling the material?
a) Per tonne
b) Per loose m3
c) Per compacted m3
8. Equipment expenses constitute a significant part of construction costs. It is therefore
important to accurately quantify and price them when preparing an estimate for a job to
ensure that the tender is both competitive and profitable.
Calculate the cost per m3 for mixing and transporting concrete given the following
information:
• 400 l Concrete mixer purchase price = R18 990
• Scrap value = R8 000
• Working life = 9 000 hours
• Repairs & maintenance = 12 % of purchase price
• Interest, taxes etc. = 8 % of purchase price
• Mixer uses 20 litres per day of petrol working 8 hours per day
• Petrol = R16 / litre
• Mixer produces 15 batches per hour of 300 litres of concrete per batch
• Mixer works with one operator and 5 labourers
• Operator = R25, 00 / hour
• Labourer = R20, 30 / hour each
• Allow 15 % for mark-up