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Government & Prevailing Wage Estimating
Public works and federal bids carry burdens most estimators don't fully understand. We've spent entire careers bidding and building government work: wage determinations, union agreements and PLAs, certified payroll, and the specs behind them. We understand the language these agreements are written in, we understand what other contractors don't, and we don't guess.
Why Government Work Prices Different
On private work, labor is whatever the market says it is. On public work, labor is set by the wage determination, and the determination doesn't care what you usually pay. Pick the wrong classification, miss a fringe requirement, or carry open-shop rates on a job that's really a total-package union job, and the miss lands on every labor hour on the schedule.
Then come the burdens the private side never sees: certified payroll, apprentice ratios, overtime rules that trigger differently on public work, and unit-price bid schedules where an unbalanced line can win the bid and still lose money. That overhead is real cost, and it belongs in the number on bid day, not in a change order fight after award.
What We Get Right
- Davis-Bacon wage determinations read line by line: the current determination, the right classifications for your actual crew
- Fringe handled correctly, cash or bona fide plan, and what each does to your burdened rate
- Union crews priced from the agreement: total package, zone pay, shift differentials, subsistence and travel where they apply
- Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) priced from the actual agreement: which crafts are covered, what the fund contributions are, and what it all does to your labor
- State prevailing wage where it governs, including jobs covered by both state and federal rates
- Certified payroll, apprentice ratios & public-work overtime carried into labor cost, not discovered after award
- Unit-price bid schedules priced line by line, with quantities you can defend
Built for the Bid Schedule
You get the same full bid package we build for any job, put together the way public work demands: complete takeoff, production-based pricing, labor burdened from the governing determination, trucking and material quotes, a scope letter with inclusions and exclusions, and the bid schedule, alternates, and allowances filled out and ready to sign.
Who Uses It
Contractors stepping into public work for the first time. Contractors already in it whose estimators are buried. General contractors who need the dirt scope priced to the determination. Agencies and owners who need an independent number they can defend.
Questions
Do you price from the wage determination in my bid documents?
Yes. We work from the determination in your bid package, check that it's the current one with all modifications, match the classifications to the crew that will actually do the work, and burden the rates with fringe, taxes, and insurance. Misreading a classification is one of the fastest ways to lose money on public work.
Can you price both union and open-shop crews?
Both. Union labor is priced from the agreement: the full total package, including fringe, zone pay, shift differentials, and subsistence where they apply. Open-shop labor is priced from your real rates with the prevailing wage minimums as the floor. On PLA jobs, we price from the project labor agreement itself: the crafts it covers, the funds it feeds, and the rules it puts on your crew.
What about state prevailing wage versus Davis-Bacon?
We price whichever governs the job, and both where the project carries state and federal money. State determinations and classifications are not the same as the federal ones, and we don't treat them like they are.
What do you need from me to start?
The bid package: plans, geotech report, the bid schedule and forms, the wage determination, the specs, and your bid date. Upload it all through the secure file link and we confirm your quote before any work starts.
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