labor-rate

What This Skill Does

The labor-rate skill is a powerful tool designed for construction project managers, estimators, and developers to determine precise, all-in construction labor costs. Instead of relying on simple base hourly wages, this skill automatically calculates the 'burdened' rate by layering in benefits (health, pension), taxes (FICA, unemployment), insurance (workers comp, liability), general overhead, and contractor profit. It incorporates regional cost-of-living adjustments based on a robust database, allowing for accurate financial modeling across different cities globally. The skill leverages modular Python dataclasses to handle categorization, allowing users to define specific worker roles—from general laborers to specialized superintendents—and output accurate hourly costs for comprehensive project budgeting.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, execute the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/datadrivenconstruction/labor-rate

Use Cases

• Project Estimating: Quickly generate accurate bids by calculating the true cost of a crew for a specific timeline.
• Feasibility Studies: Compare labor costs across different geographic locations to decide where a development is most cost-effective.
• Budget Forecasting: Adjust overhead and profit margins to test different project scenarios.
• Resource Allocation: Balance the cost of hiring specialized contractors versus using a general labor force with different productivity factors.

Example Prompts

1. "Calculate the fully burdened hourly rate for an electrician in Chicago, including standard benefits and taxes."
2. "Compare the total labor cost of a 4-man framing crew in New York versus Houston for a 40-hour work week."
3. "Generate a labor estimate for a renovation project that requires one foreman, two carpenters, and two laborers using the default US national burden rates."

Tips & Limitations

• Regional Accuracy: While the provided regional factors cover major markets, always verify against local union labor agreements for unionized projects.
• Burden Customization: The calculator uses standard industry percentages, but these can be overridden via the constructor if your company has specific internal overhead rates.
• Productivity Factors: This skill handles base rate math perfectly, but remember that external variables like weather or site access can impact the 'effective' rate beyond the hourly calculation. Always treat the output as a cost-per-hour baseline rather than a final project invoice.