General Contractor Job Costing Calculator
Price GC projects with precision. Know your real costs before you sign the contract.
👷 Labor
Add one row for each general contracting worker type. Use the actual hours and pay for each person.
Example: 1 apprentice at $20/hr for 3 hours plus 1 journeyman at $40/hr for 1 hour.
Typical: 25-35%. Covers FICA, workers comp, unemployment insurance, PTO.
🔧 Materials
Total cost of parts, supplies, and materials for this general contracting job.
Markup covers your time sourcing, picking up, and storing materials. Typical: 10-25%.
🏢 Overhead
Your monthly fixed costs spread across this general contracting job.
Rent, insurance, marketing, phone, software, vehicle payments, tools. Anything you pay whether or not you're on a job.
🚛 Travel & Setup
Time before and after the actual general contracting work. Most contractors forget this.
Applied at your average hourly pay rate. Includes all workers.
💰 Desired Profit Margin
The percentage of the final price you keep as profit.
What to Charge
$0
Total job price
Adjust the inputs on the left to see your numbers update in real time.
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How to Cost General Contracting Jobs
General contractors juggle more cost variables than any other trade. You are managing your own crew, coordinating subs, buying materials from multiple suppliers, and absorbing schedule delays. Miss any of it in your estimate and the margin evaporates.
This calculator focuses on your direct costs per phase or per day: crew labor with burden, materials at cost plus markup, and overhead. Use it to check individual phases of a larger project or to estimate smaller standalone jobs.
The goal is simple. Know your cost floor so you can price with confidence, not hope.
Typical General Contracting Costs
GC project costs vary enormously. A bathroom remodel runs $3,000 to $8,000 in hard costs (labor, materials, subs). A kitchen gut reno is $15,000 to $40,000+. Even smaller handyman style jobs cost $200 to $800 in labor and materials. The common thread is that subs and materials make up 60% to 70% of total cost, with your crew labor and overhead covering the rest.
Target Margins for General Contracting
General contractors target 20% to 30% net margins on most residential projects. Design build and custom work can hit 30% to 35% with proper scope control. If you are below 20%, you are likely eating change orders or undercharging for project management time. Track hours spent on coordination and supervision as they are real costs.
Tips for General Contracting Job Costing
- Track project management hours separately. GCs often spend 15% to 20% of project time on coordination, scheduling, and client communication. That is labor cost.
- Get sub bids in writing before you finalize your price. Verbal estimates from subs are the number one source of budget surprises.
- Material costs shift with volume. Lock pricing with suppliers on larger jobs and buy in project lots, not piecemeal.
- Change orders should be profitable. Mark them up at 20% to 30% minimum. The disruption to your schedule has real cost beyond the materials and labor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a general contractor charge?
General contractors typically charge 20% to 35% on top of total project costs (labor, materials, subs). On a $50,000 renovation, that means the GC fee is $10,000 to $17,500. Your fee must cover project management time (15% to 20% of project hours), overhead, and profit. Price using margin, not markup, to ensure your target net profit is accurate.
What is a good profit margin for general contractors?
General contractors target 20% to 30% net margins on most residential projects. Design build and custom work can hit 30% to 35% with good scope control. If you are below 20%, you are likely eating change orders or not charging for project management time. Track coordination hours as real labor cost.
How do you calculate labor cost for construction projects?
Add up crew hourly pay times hours on site, then add labor burden (workers comp, payroll taxes, benefits) at 20% to 28%. A 3 person crew at $28/hr with 24% burden costs $104.16/hr total. Include project management and supervision hours. On a 2 week renovation, PM time can add 30 to 40 hours of labor that many GCs forget to price.
How much should a general contractor mark up subcontractors?
Standard GC markup on subcontractor work is 10% to 20%. This covers your cost of sourcing, scheduling, supervising, and warranting their work. Some GCs go higher on specialty subs (15% to 25%) where coordination is more complex. On a $5,000 plumbing sub bid, your markup should be $500 to $1,000.
How do you calculate overhead for a general contracting business?
Total all monthly fixed costs: general liability insurance, vehicle costs, tool depreciation, office expenses, licensing fees, and unbillable time (estimates, client meetings, scheduling). Most GCs carry $5,000 to $15,000/month in overhead. Divide by monthly project count to get per project overhead. A GC running 4 projects per month with $10,000 overhead needs $2,500 per project.
Knowing Your Numbers Is Step One
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