ABSTRACT
Introduction There was a time when the unit costs of labour and plant were calculated from fi rst principles, the assumption being that the company employed operatives in suffi cient numbers to carry out the work and provided its own plant. A more realistic approach today would be to fi nd the current market rates paid for labour near the site and look at the market prices for plant hire. This information is readily available as feedback from current jobs and plant hire rates can be obtained from plant specialists. Another change has come with computers. The importance of establishing accurate rates for labour, materials and plant, before pricing the bill of quantities, has reduced because programs allow the estimator to change unit rates for resources at any stage of the tender period.
