DRYWALL: BACK-CHARGE TRAFFIC IN BOTH DIRECTIONS
Drywall sits in the middle of the damage economy. Other trades cut into finished board for rework and the repair gets back-charged to them; drywall crews gouge finished floors moving board and get back-charged themselves. Untracked, both directions leak margin invisibly.
This page covers one problem. The full picture for this trade, including the other places margin leaks, is on the drywall operating system page.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES.
Covered in full in the quick answer above. The sourced numbers and what controls it are below.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
From the other side:
I will use box extenders to complete my job and back charge the General Contractor. A couple bills with labor at $70/hr for fixing screw ups gets attention immediately.
Mike Holt forums, electrician on drywall damage
THE SAME PROBLEM, WRITTEN UP.
Your drywall sub gouges the finished hardwood floors while moving material. That repair cost gets backcharged to the drywall sub.
Projul back-charge guide, 2026
THE NUMBER TO MEASURE IT AGAINST.
Drywall contractors run about % net profit at $1M to $5M, rising to roughly 9% at $5M to $10M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is10%, set at 10 percent before taxes or 3.5 points better than your trade's average at your revenue, whichever is higher. A problem like this one lives in the distance between those two figures rather than in a loss on any single job.
Gross margin over the same bands runs % to 21%, against a CFOS target of 10%.
THE SYSTEM THAT FIXES THIS.
Cost codes built against the estimate, so a job can be read while it runs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
