Glazing subcontractors carry premium overhead driven by engineering coordination, specialized equipment for curtain wall installation, and the precision quality control that glass and glazing systems require.
These benchmarks are drawn from SPM's work with commercial glazing 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 Glazing Contractors: Glazing contractors consistently show premium overhead rates and premium gross margins compared to other specialty trades — reflecting the engineering expertise, precision quality control, and specialized equipment required for curtain wall and storefront systems. A $3M glazing contractor with 25%+ gross margin and 14–18% overhead is performing well relative to trade benchmarks.
Curtain wall and storefront shop drawing preparation, engineering review, and submittal coordination are direct job costs for the specific glazing scopes being engineered. When this labor gets coded to overhead, installation jobs look less profitable and overhead is overstated.
Vacuum lifters, curtain wall dollies, and specialized glazing equipment used on specific jobs should be allocated to those jobs via internal rates. When this equipment cost sits in overhead, large curtain wall jobs look more profitable than they are.
Glazing quality control — air and water infiltration testing, thermal performance verification — and warranty program administration create overhead that most glazing contractors undertrack and underprice in bids.
Shop drawing preparation, engineering review, and submittal coordination for specific glazing projects are coded to those jobs in ControlQore — not to overhead. Engineering labor that directly supports a specific curtain wall or storefront installation belongs in that job's direct cost.
Vacuum lifters, curtain wall dollies, and specialized glazing equipment costs are allocated to specific jobs in ControlQore via internal rates. Large curtain wall jobs with high equipment utilization reflect their true equipment cost.
Air and water infiltration testing, thermal performance verification, and warranty program administration costs are tracked as a dedicated overhead category — supporting accurate QC cost pricing in glazing bids and revealing the true cost of maintaining premium quality standards.
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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