Building initiatives are sometimes lengthy and sophisticated endeavors. They’re additionally costly. Fee is set within the contract course of, which incorporates the contractor cost schedule.
What’s included within the contractor cost schedule and the different sorts are a vital a part of the skilled relationship between the challenge proprietor and the final contractor. Let’s have a look at the development cost schedule to completely perceive its advantages.
What Is a Contractor Fee Schedule?
The contractor cost schedule is how contractors in development initiatives are paid. It’s uncommon for contractors to get a cost for his or her work in a single lump sum. Due to this fact, a development cost schedule reveals how they obtain compensation for his or her work over the challenge’s life cycle.
This contractor cost schedule is outlined within the development contract and units pay over common intervals throughout the challenge schedule. This units clear cost phrases for the contractor and reduces the danger of them receiving late funds and even no cost in any respect. The development cost schedule will be checked out as a kind of insurance coverage.
One purpose of the contract negotiations between the challenge proprietor and the final contractor is to draft a mutually useful contractor cost schedule that aligns with the challenge necessities and protects all of the events concerned. As a result of the development cost schedule is linked to the challenge schedule, it ought to be a part of any challenge plan.
Incorporating the development cost schedule with the execution of the challenge will be seamlessly achieved with challenge administration software program. ProjectManager is award-winning challenge and portfolio administration software program with sturdy Gantt charts that plan, handle and observe schedules in actual time.
Not solely can normal contractors embrace the contractor cost schedule of their challenge timeline, however they will hyperlink all 4 varieties of job dependencies to keep away from pricey delays that reduce into their revenue margin. They’ll additionally filter for the vital path to establish important duties to maintain the challenge on schedule and set a baseline to trace deliberate versus precise effort in actual time. Get began with ProjectManager immediately free of charge.

What Ought to Be Included In a Contractor Fee Schedule?
A development cost schedule is a part of the contract in a construction project. However past that, what’s included in that contractor cost schedule can fluctuate. Nonetheless, most normally embrace the next.
- Venture Info: The title of the challenge, the place it’s positioned and an outline of the challenge is at all times within the contract, together with the beginning date and its anticipated length.
- Names of These Concerned: Contracts record the names of the contractor, challenge proprietor and subcontractors who’re additionally certain by the contract.
- Scope of Work: Embody the duties, supplies and providers lined within the contract.
- Fee: Element the cost because of all events concerned and the due date for these funds.
- Frequency: Outline the timing of funds, equivalent to due dates or the intervals at which funds have to be made. That is typically tied to milestones, the completion of particular duties or will be scheduled for month-to-month, bi-weekly, and many others.
- Methodology of Fee: How will funds be disseminated, equivalent to by test, digital switch, and many others.
- Phrases: Outline the cost phrases, as in any penalties or invoicing necessities.
- Methodology of Resolving Disputes: Define the method for payment-related disputes, equivalent to mediation or arbitration procedures.
- Precise Fee: Be aware the quantity to be paid and the date by which it have to be paid.
- Signatures: There have to be signature traces for all concerned events and one other line to point the date the contract is signed.

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Building Fee Schedule Template
Use this free Building Fee Schedule Template for Excel to handle your initiatives higher.
Forms of Building Fee Schedules
All components of a development contract are essential. The contractor cost schedule is among the most essential items to nail down for the final contractor and the challenge supervisor alike. Not solely does it outline cost, however it could assist keep the schedule on track by avoiding disputes and staying throughout the finances.
The contract kind can affect the development cost schedule. Due to this fact, it’s essential to know the varied varieties of development cost schedules. Every has its benefits and drawbacks. Let’s assessment six of the most typical varieties of constructor cost schedules.
Deposit and Last Fee
This kind of contractor cost schedule is good for smaller development initiatives. The deposit covers supplies, permits and generally labor. The ultimate cost offers with the income and bills. This manner, a normal contractor doesn’t need to entrance all the cash and the property proprietor has the steadiness to make sure that work is completed to their satisfaction.
Progress Funds
Medium-to-large development initiatives want a unique kind of contractor cost schedule. Progress cost implies that the funds come at particular occasions through the execution of the project. There are numerous methods wherein a progress cost will be given out. The final 4 varieties of development cost schedules clarify the several types of progress funds.
Time-Based mostly Funds
The funds are damaged up into equal distributions. That is normally carried out month-to-month with set dates for cost supply. This cost schedule is clearly outlined within the contract, nonetheless, it’s versatile and will be adjusted to reply to change orders or delays as they happen.
Milestone-Based mostly Funds
This additionally outlines funds over time, however that point is outlined by particular phases of the challenge. As one challenge part ends, which is a milestone on the schedule, the cost is launched. Or it could possibly be no matter is outlined as a milestone. When that work is completed, the contractor is paid. That is present in bigger development initiatives and the pay acts as cost for the completion of smaller initiatives throughout the bigger one.
Completion-Based mostly Funds
This progress cost isn’t held till the tip of the challenge however is paid off at common intervals. These intervals are primarily based on the challenge’s progress, equivalent to a proportion. It may be exhausting to find out the proportion of completion, subsequently, this kind of development cost schedule ought to solely be used when initiatives are clear with itemized budgets and schedules of value.
Retainage
A portion of the cost that the challenge proprietor or normal contractor withholds till the challenge reaches substantial completion. This proportion of the entire challenge cost is faraway from every of the progressive funds.
Building Fee Schedule Pattern
To raised perceive a development cost schedule, it helps to have an instance. Let’s take a contractor engaged on constructing a deck for a house owner’s home. The general contractor and the property proprietor have agreed on a deposit and remaining cost of $4,000.
Due to this fact, the contractor can ask for $2,000 upfront to tug permits for the job and buy supplies. The challenge proprietor will then pay the contractor the steadiness as soon as the job is accomplished. This can cowl the remainder of the supplies, the contractor’s revenue and any labor prices the contractor paid to subcontractors.
The profit, as famous, is that the contractor doesn’t need to pay for the complete job and the home-owner has insurance coverage that the job will likely be carried out to their satisfaction. The steadiness of the cost is the motivation for the contractor and the insurance coverage for the home-owner.
Contractor Fee Schedule Template
Use this free construction payment schedule template to streamline payroll. It has all the things essential to seize the cost course of and observe cost all through the life cycle of the development challenge. There’s a high part for normal challenge data, equivalent to its title, challenge proprietor, normal contractor and subcontractors.
Beneath that could be a grid with columns for bill numbers, work description, who’s being paid, on what date, whether or not it’s autopay or not, the quantity and even the retainage. Following that could be a cost standing. This template is split into months, however the template is totally customizable so customers can change it to quarterly, milestones or nonetheless the cost will likely be processed.
Advantages of Utilizing a Contractor Fee Schedule In Building
Agreeing on a cost construction earlier than work begins on a challenge is at all times advisable. The challenge proprietor and the contractor should have a legally binding contract that they each signal to make sure that everybody is aware of what’s anticipated and the way it is going to be compensated for.
Utilizing a contractor cost schedule is however one a part of the bigger contract, this one coping with cash that will likely be paid and the way it is going to be delivered. A development cost schedule ensures that there will likely be a well timed and structured financial alternate. It outlines when and the way funds will likely be made.
Extra Building Venture Administration Templates
As soon as the contract is signed and all events have agreed on a contractor cost schedule, then the work begins. However earlier than floor will be damaged, an in depth finances and schedule will likely be created. Construction project templates might help facilitate this course of. Beneath are just a few free development challenge administration templates accessible for obtain.
Construction Budget Template
The extra correct the development finances, the safer a contractor’s revenue margin. To make sure that your price forecast is as shut as attainable, use this free development finances template for Excel. It permits customers to find out labor, supplies and miscellaneous prices for each job. It even helps observe precise prices in opposition to the deliberate ones to assist keep on finances.
Construction Schedule Template
To remain on finances requires an understanding of the schedule. The free development schedule template takes customers into the ProjectManager software program the place Gantt charts can manage duties and deliverables, allocate property, plot milestones, filter for the vital path, hyperlink dependencies and extra to remain on observe and ship the challenge on time.
Construction Estimate Template
The power to forecast challenge prices is vital to delivering a challenge inside finances whereas holding a wholesome revenue margin for the contractor. Use this free development estimate template for Excel to provide you with correct estimates by breaking the challenge into phases and figuring out the labor and materials prices for every.
How ProjectManager Helps Handle Building Fee Schedules
Whereas templates will be helpful when planning a development challenge, their limitations grow to be apparent as soon as the work begins. Templates are static paperwork. They take time to replace manually they usually’re not conducive to collaboration. That’s why normal contractors use development challenge administration software program to plan, handle and observe their initiatives.
ProjectManager is award-winning development challenge administration software program with sturdy Gantt charts to create schedules and budgets, allocate sources and extra. There are additionally a number of challenge views to trace development cost schedules.
Map Building Fee Schedule on Kanban Boards
To make sure that funds are delivered as agreed upon, map out that course of on customizable kanban boards. Every column will be titled for the month, quarter, milestone or regardless of the frequency of cost is. Connect the contract to the kanban card, use a tag to tell apart it from different job playing cards and arrange recurring duties as reminders for when a cost is due. As funds are acquired, transfer the kanban card from one column to the subsequent to trace your contractor cost schedule.

Monitor Venture Prices With Timesheets and Actual-Time Dashboards
Keep watch over labor and different useful resource prices to make sure that the finances is being saved to and never consuming into the revenue margin. There are a number of methods to do that. One, safe timesheets seize labor prices and supply transparency into how far the group is on finishing their duties and the prices related to that work. For a high-level overview, real-time dashboards always seize reside knowledge and show it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that present prices, time and extra key efficiency metrics (KPIs).

Associated Contractor Administration Content material
There’s much more to contractor administration than development cost schedules. ProjectManager isn’t solely software program, however the on-line hub for all issues challenge administration, with weekly blogs, tutorial movies, and, in fact, free templates. Listed here are just a few of the contractor management-related items of content material that we’ve just lately revealed.
ProjectManager is on-line development administration software program that connects groups whether or not they’re within the workplace, on the job website or anyplace in between. They’ll share information, remark on the job degree and keep up to date with e mail and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.