Civil contractors carry significant equipment overhead — loan payments, depreciation, insurance, and maintenance — that most other trades don't have at the same scale. Here is what normal overhead looks like for civil contractors at every revenue level from $1M to $500M+.
These benchmarks are drawn from SPM's work with commercial civil contractors and industry data. Calculate your actual overhead rate — total G&A expenses divided by total revenue for the trailing 12 months — and compare to your revenue band below.
How to use this data: If you're above the top of the range, specific categories need review. If you're below the bottom, you may be underinvesting in systems and staff. Use the benchmark as a target range, not a single number.
Trade note for Civil Contractors: Civil work is the most equipment-intensive trade. Equipment cost is the largest variable in overhead rate at $1M–$25M. As revenue grows, equipment cost gets spread over more jobs and overhead rate compresses. Field supervision and estimating become dominant overhead drivers above $10M.
Every piece of equipment added — excavator, dozer, compactor — adds loan payment, insurance, and maintenance to overhead. When utilization drops below 50% on any piece, equipment overhead drags your rate above benchmark.
Working foremen who spend the majority of their time on job sites should be coded as direct labor, not overhead. Miscoding field-working personnel inflates overhead rate and understates job margins simultaneously.
Adding an estimator or PM coordinator adds $70K–$120K to overhead. If that staff addition doesn't generate proportionally more revenue, overhead rate climbs immediately and stays high until the revenue catches up.
SPM calculates your overhead rate monthly in ControlQore — total G&A divided by total revenue — and compares it to the civil contractor benchmark for your revenue band. When overhead drifts above benchmark, we identify which specific categories are driving it.
Equipment payments, insurance, and maintenance that aren't allocated to specific jobs inflate overhead. SPM reviews equipment cost allocation during onboarding and builds internal equipment rates so equipment cost flows to jobs rather than sitting in G&A.
Your overhead rate is compared to the civil contractor benchmark for your revenue band — not a generic construction average. Civil overhead norms are different from electrical or interior finish norms. You're measured against actual peers.
Find out in a free 30-minute call. Josh will tell you straight where your overhead rate stands and what to do about it.
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