Labor and Crews (Estimates)

Labor and Crews is a feature that gives estimators a more detailed way to build and manage labor rates. Without it, a line item’s labor rate is entered as a single flat number with no way to capture the details behind it, like which roles or workers are needed or what they’re being paid. With Labor and Crews, you can define the workers that make up a labor rate, including how many of each are needed and whether they’re paid at regular time, overtime, or double time. Ediphi then uses that information to calculate the labor rate for you.

Once a crew is built, it can be assigned to as many line items as needed. This makes it easier to standardize labor rates across your estimate, and when a rate or crew needs to change, you only need to update it once; every line item using that crew will update automatically.

In this article

• Getting Started with Labor and Crews
  • Key Terms
  • How Crew Rate and Individual Rate are calculated
  • Using Fractional and Negative Quantities
  • Navigating Labor and Crews
• Labor Resources
  • Creating a Labor Resource
  • Inserting, Duplicating, or Deleting a Labor Resource
  • Using Multi-Select on Labor Resources
• Labor Crews
  • Creating a Labor Crew
  • Adding Labor Resources or Crews from the UPC
  • Adding Resources to a Crew
  • Editing a Crew
  • Creating a New Resource from the Quick Add Modal
  • Inserting or Duplicating a Crew
  • Managing Resources Within a Crew
  • Deleting a Crew
• Assigning Crews to Line Items
  • Changes to the Detailed Summary
  • Assigning a Crew to a Line Item
  • How Crews Come In When You Add Line Items from the UPC
  • Creating a New Crew While Assigning
  • Unassigning a Crew
  • Overriding a Crew Rate
  • Understanding the Labor Crew Icon
  • How Changes Update Your Line Items

Getting Started with Labor and Crews

Key Terms

You’ll see the following terms used throughout Labor and Crews:

• Labor Resource: A role or worker, such as a Concrete Foreman or Carpenter. Each resource can have its own hourly rate for Regular Time, Overtime, and Double Time.
• Labor Crew: A named group of labor resources. A crew specifies which workers are needed, how many of each, and at what rate they’re paid. Building a crew is also referred to as “composing” a crew.
• Crew Rate: The crew’s total combined cost per hour.
• Individual Rate: The average rate for a single worker in the crew. The Individual Rate is for display only and is not stored on the line item.

How Crew Rate and Individual Rate are calculated

The Crew Rate is calculated by multiplying the quantity of each resource by its rate, and then adding the results together. The Individual Rate is the Crew Rate divided by the crew size (the total quantity of all resources in the crew, including any overtime or double time).

For example, say a crew called Foundations includes 1 Concrete Foreman at $50.00/hour, 4 Carpenters at $55.00/hour, and 2 Laborers at $40.00/hour, all at regular time:

• Crew Rate: (1 × $50.00) + (4 × $55.00) + (2 × $40.00) = $350.00
• Individual Rate: $350.00 ÷ 7 workers = $50.00

Using Fractional and Negative Quantities

Quantities don’t have to be whole numbers. If a resource only works part of the day at overtime or double time, enter the portion of the day as a fraction. To find the fraction, divide the overtime hours by the length of a regular workday. For example, 2 hours of overtime on an 8-hour day is 0.25 of a person.

Say the 4 Carpenters on Foundations each work 2 hours of overtime at $82.50/hour. That’s 4 × 0.25 = 1.00, so you would enter 1 at Overtime for Carpenters, in addition to the 4 at regular time. The crew size is now 8 (1 Concrete Foreman + 4 Carpenters + 2 Laborers at regular time, plus 1 at Overtime):

• Crew Rate: (1 × $50.00) + (4 × $55.00) + (2 × $40.00) + (1 × $82.50) = $432.50
• Individual Rate: $432.50 ÷ 8 = $54.06 (rounded)

Double time works the same way. For example, if 2 Laborers each work 4 hours of double time, enter 2 × 0.5 = 1 at Double Time.

Negative quantities are also allowed to account for a non-productive resource in a crew. For example, if your Foreman is not supposed to be counted as part of your crew hours, they can be represented as follows:

1 Concrete Foreman at $50/hour, and -1 Concrete Foreman (non-productive) at $0/hour.

This will effectively include the cost of the Concrete Foreman without impacting crew hours by adding a crew member to the calculations.

Navigating Labor and Crews

Every estimate now includes a Crews section in the side panel. This is where you’ll manage the labor resources and labor crews for your estimate. Each estimate has its own set of resources and crews. If you duplicate an estimate, its resources and crews are copied into the new estimate as a separate set, so changes in one estimate won’t affect the other. The Crews module is organized into two tabs:

• Labor Resources: Where you create and manage the individual workers and their rates.
• Labor Crews: Where you group those resources together into crews.

If your estimate doesn’t have any resources or crews yet, you’ll see an empty state on each tab until you add your first one.

From there, the general workflow looks like this:

1. Create your resources in the Labor Resources tab.
2. Build crews from those resources in the Labor Crews tab.
3. Assign crews to line items in the Detailed Summary after enabling Labor Columns.

Each of these steps is covered in more detail below.

Labor Resources

Labor resources are the individual roles or workers used to build your crews, such as a Concrete Foreman or Carpenter. All of your estimate’s resources are managed in the Labor Resources tab.

Creating a Labor Resource

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Resources tab.
2. Click on New Labor Resource, or click + New Resource at the bottom of the grid. A new row will be added to the grid, ready for you to start typing in your values.
3. Enter a Description and Item Code, if desired.
4. Enter the resource’s Regular Time, Overtime, and Double Time rates.

Inserting, Duplicating, or Deleting a Labor Resource

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Resources tab.
2. Click the 3 dots (ellipses) to the right of the resource, or right-click on the row.
3. Select one of the following:
   • Insert Resource to add a new resource directly below the selected one. The new resource will use the same item code as the selected row, so you’ll just need to give it a description.
   • Duplicate Resource to create a copy of the selected resource, including its rates. The copy will include “(Copy)” at the end of its name.
   • Delete Resource to remove the resource. A confirmation window will appear. Confirm to delete the resource.

Using Multi-Select on Labor Resources

You can select multiple resources at once to delete them in bulk, or to quickly build a new crew from them.

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Resources tab.
2. Select the resources you want by checking the box to the left of each row, or by holding SHIFT on your keyboard and selecting a range of rows.
3. The toolbar will update to show how many resources are selected. From there, choose one of the following (you can also right-click on your selection to see the same options):
   • Delete Resources to delete all of the selected resources at once.
   • New Labor Crew to create a new crew that includes all of the selected resources. Enter a name for the crew, a Crew Item Code (if applicable), then click Create Crew.

Labor Crews

Labor Crews group your labor resources together, specifying how many of each resource is needed and at what rate. All of your estimate’s crews are managed in the Labor Crews tab.

Creating a Labor Crew

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Crews tab.
2. Click on New Labor Crew.
3. Enter a Labor Crew Name and Crew Item Code (if applicable), and click Create Crew.

Your new crew will be added to the grid and will open automatically, so you can start adding resources right away.

Adding Labor Resources or Crews from the UPC

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Resources or Labor Crews tab.
2. Click Add Labor Resource From UPC or Add Labor Crew From UPC.
3. Search for and check the resources or crews you want. A Central or myUPC badge shows where each one comes from.
4. Click Add to Estimate.

Adding Resources to a Crew

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Crews tab.
2. Open the Quick Add modal in one of two ways:
   • Hover over the crew and click the + button.
   • Click + Add Resource beneath the crew’s resources.
3. The Quick Add modal will show all of the resources in your estimate, along with their rates. Check the box to the left of each resource you want to add to that Crew.
4. Enter the quantity of each resource needed at Regular Time, Overtime, and Double Time.

The Crew Rate and Individual Rate will calculate automatically as you enter quantities.

Quantities don’t have to be whole numbers. To add overtime or double time for workers already on the crew, enter it as a fraction of a day. See How Crew Rate and Individual Rate are calculated for an example.

Creating a new resource from the Quick Add modal

If you’re building a crew and realize the resource you need doesn’t exist yet, you don’t need to leave the crew to create it.

1. From the Quick Add modal, click + Create New Resource.
2. Enter a Resource Name and Resource Item Code (if applicable).
3. Under Qty, enter the quantities needed for this crew at Regular Time, Overtime, and Double Time.
4. Under Rates, enter the resource’s Regular Time, Overtime, and Double Time.
5. Click Create.

The new resource will be created and added to the crew in one step. It will also appear in the Labor Resources tab, so you can use it in other crews.

Editing a Crew

The following can be edited directly in the Labor Crews grid by double-clicking within the respective header/cell you’d like to edit:

• Crew Name
• Item Code
• Resource quantities, for any resource in the crew

When you update a quantity, the Crew Rate will recalculate automatically. If the crew is assigned to any line items, those line items will update to the new Crew Rate accordingly.

Inserting or Duplicating a Crew

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Crews tab.
2. Click the 3 dots (ellipses) to the right of the crew, or right-click on the crew row.
3. Select one of the following:
   • Insert Crew to add a new, empty crew that you can name and configure. The new crew will use the same item code as the crew you selected.
   • Duplicate Crew to create a copy of a crew. The Duplicate Labor Crew window will appear with the Labor Crew Name and Crew Item Code already filled in, and "(Copy)" added to the end of the name. Update either field if needed, and click Duplicate Crew.

Managing Resources Within a Crew

Each resource within a crew has its own set of options.

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Crews tab.
2. Expand the crew to view its resources.
3. Click the 3 dots (ellipses) to the right of a resource row, or right-click on the row.
4. Select one of the following:
   • Edit Resource to open the Edit Resource window and update the resource’s details, rates, and quantities in this crew, then click Save.
   • Duplicate Resource to open the Create New Resource window with the selected resource’s details already filled in. Adjust any of the values, and click Create to add the new resource to the crew. Note the duplicate will include “(Copy)” at the end of its name.
   • Remove Resource to remove the resource from this crew.

Removing a resource from a crew takes effect immediately. The crew’s Crew Rate and Individual Rate will recalculate, and any line items using this crew will update. The resource itself will still be available in the Labor Resources tab.

Deleting a Crew

1. Select Crews from the side panel, and click on the Labor Crews tab.
2. Click the 3 dots (ellipses) to the right of the crew, or right-click on the crew row, and select Delete Crew.
3. A confirmation window will appear. Choose Confirm.

If the crew is assigned to line items, the crew will be removed from those line items, and their Crew Rate will be set to $0. An estimate version will also be created automatically before the crew is deleted, in case you need to restore that crew.

Removing resources, unassigning, and deleting: what’s the difference?

These three actions affect your line items differently:

• Removing every resource from a crew: The crew stays assigned to its line items, and their Crew Rate becomes $0.
• Unassigning a crew from a line item: The crew is removed from that line item, but the line item keeps the last Crew Rate as a flat value. See Unassigning a Crew.
• Deleting a crew: The crew is removed from every line item it was assigned to, and their Crew Rate is set to $0.

Assigning Crews to Line Items

Once your crews are set up, you can assign them to line items to drive their labor rates.

Changes to the Detailed Summary

Crews are assigned to line items in the Detailed Summary. With Labor and Crews enabled, you’ll notice a few changes to the grid’s columns:

• Crew Rate: The Labor Rate column is now labeled Crew Rate. When a crew is assigned, this value comes from the crew.
• Crew Hours: The Labor Hours column is now labeled Crew Hours. It works the same way Labor Hours did before.
• Crew Hrs/UoM: The Hrs/UoM column is now labeled Crew Hrs/UoM. It works the same way Hrs/UoM did before. The line item's Labor UC is calculated by multiplying the Crew Rate by the Crew Hrs/UoM.
• UoM/Crew Hrs: The UoM/Hrs column is now labeled UoM/Crew Hrs.
• Labor Crew: A new column that shows the crew assigned to each line item.
• Individual Rate: A new column that shows the average rate for an individual worker in the assigned crew. This column is read-only.
• Individual Hours: A new column that shows the total hours for all workers in the assigned crew (Crew Hours multiplied by the crew size). This column is read-only.
• Individual Hrs/UoM: A new column that shows the production rate in hours per unit of measure for an individual worker.
• UoM/Individual Hrs: A new column that shows the production rate in units of measure per hour for an individual worker.

Line Item Calculation Tips:

• The four production rate columns (Crew Hrs/UoM, UoM/Crew Hrs, Individual Hrs/UoM, and UoM/Individual Hrs) are linked, so editing any one of them updates the other three. If no crew is assigned, the crew size is treated as 1, so the crew and individual columns will match.
• Crew values and individual values always add up to the same total labor cost: Crew Rate × Crew Hours = Individual Rate × Individual Hours = Total Labor Cost. For example, if the crew from the example above (Crew Rate of $350.00, 7 workers) works 10 Crew Hours, that’s 70 Individual Hours. Either way, the total labor cost is $3,500.00: 10 × $350.00, or 70 × $50.00.

• Crew Hours and Individual Hours are calculated from the line item’s quantity (Crew Hours = Quantity × Crew Hrs/UoM, and Individual Hours = Crew Hours × crew size). If a line item’s quantity is 0, these columns can’t be filled in. Enter a quantity first, then enter either the Crew Hours or the Crew Hrs/UoM, and Ediphi will calculate the other, along with the line item’s Labor UC and labor cost.

  For example, a line item with a quantity of 100 SF and a Crew Hrs/UoM of 0.05 will have 5 Crew Hours. If you change the Crew Hours to 10, the Crew Hrs/UoM will update to 0.10.

Assigning a Crew to a Line Item

1. Within the Detailed Summary, click on the icon within the Labor Crew cell for the line item. The Select Labor Crew panel will appear at the bottom of the page, listing all of the crews in your estimate.
2. Expand a crew to review its resources and rates.
3. Select the crew, and click Save Crew.

The line item’s Crew Rate will update based on the crew’s composition, and the Individual Rate will display the crew’s average rate per worker.

Each line item can only have one crew assigned at a time. If you assign a different crew to a line item that already has one, the new crew will replace the current one.

Crews can be assigned to child line items within an assembly, but not to the assembly parent line item. If you convert a line item that has a crew into an assembly, the crew will be removed. Crews also can’t be assigned through Bulk Edit, Update All Similar, or the Edit Line Item window. Entering a labor rate in any of those places on a line item that has a crew will override its Crew Rate. See Overriding a Crew Rate.

How Crews Come In When You Add Line Items from the UPC

When you add a UPC product that has a crew, the crew and its resources are copied into your estimate for the project’s cost region. The copy is yours to change. Edits stay in the estimate and don’t affect the UPC. If several products use the same UPC crew, only one copy is added.

In Add Line Items, the Labor Crew, Crew Rate, and Individual Rate columns show the crew each product will bring in. On the review screen, you can choose a different crew from your estimate or clear the crew before adding the line items. To show or hide these columns, use Show Labor Columns in the ⋮ (more options) menu.

Creating a New Crew While Assigning

If the crew you need doesn’t exist yet, you can create it right from the Select Labor Crew panel without leaving the grid.

1. Within the Detailed Summary, click on the icon within the Labor Crew cell for the line item.
2. From the Select Labor Crew panel, click + New Crew on the bottom left.
3. In the New Labor Crew window, enter a Labor Crew Name (required) and a Crew Item Code (if applicable), and click Create Crew.
4. Click + Add Resource to add resources to the crew, and enter the quantity of each resource needed under Regular Time, Overtime, and/or Double Time. The crew’s Qty, Individual Rate, and Crew Rate will calculate automatically as you enter quantities.
5. Click Add Crew on the bottom right to assign the new crew to the line item, or click Back to return to the crew list without assigning it.

The new crew will also appear in the Labor Crews tab, so you can assign it to other line items if you wish.

Unassigning a Crew

1. Within the Detailed Summary, click on the icon within the Labor Crew cell for the line item.
2. From the Select Labor Crew panel, select No Crew Selected and click Save Crew.

When a crew is unassigned:

• The crew is cleared from the Labor Crew cell.
• The Crew Rate keeps the last rate from the crew as a flat value, which you can edit. To clear the rate, delete the value in the Crew Rate cell.
• The Individual Rate returns to a dash.
• The line item’s existing unit cost is retained.

Overriding a Crew Rate

If a line item needs a different rate than its crew provides, you can override the Crew Rate while keeping the crew assigned.

1. Navigate to the Detailed Summary.
2. Double-click into the Crew Rate cell for a line item that has a crew assigned.
3. Enter the new rate.

The crew will stay assigned, and the rate you entered will become an override. This means the line item will keep your entered rate, even if the crew changes later.

To go back to using the rate from the crew, do one of the following:

• Clear the value in the Crew Rate cell.
• Assign the crew to the line item again, or assign a different crew.

The Crew Rate will recalculate from the assigned crew.

Understanding the Labor Crew icon

The icon in the Labor Crew cell changes color to show where a line item’s Crew Rate is coming from:

• Blue: The Crew Rate is coming from the assigned crew.
• Gray: The Crew Rate has been manually overridden.
• Red: The assigned crew has a Crew Rate of $0. Hover over the icon to see why. The crew may have no resources, its resources may have no quantities, or its resources may have no time values.

Once an override is cleared, the icon will return to blue.

How Changes Update Your Line Items

One of the biggest benefits of Labor and Crews is that any changes to your resources or crews automatically carry through to every line item that crew is assigned to. You don’t need to go back and update each line item individually.

The following changes will update your assigned line items:

• Updating a resource’s rate in the Labor Resources tab
• Changing a resource’s quantity within a crew
• Adding a resource to a crew
• Removing a resource from a crew
• Deleting a resource that is part of a crew

In each case, the crew’s Crew Rate will recalculate, and every line item using that crew will update to the new Crew Rate. The line item’s labor unit cost will update as well.

Example

Say you have a Concrete crew with a Crew Rate of $50, and it’s assigned to three line items. Two of those line items are using the Crew Rate from the crew, and one has an overridden Crew Rate.

If you update the Carpenter’s regular rate from $40 to $45 in the Labor Resources tab:

• The Concrete crew’s Crew Rate will increase from $50 to $55.
• The two line items using the Crew Rate from the crew will update to $55, and their labor unit cost will update as well.
• The line item with an overridden Crew Rate will stay the same.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!