WHY FRAMING CONTRACTORS MISPRICE MULTI-STORY WORK.
Framing labor productivity isn't constant across floors. Framing on floor 1 runs faster, with easier material staging, shorter lift distances, and simpler logistics. Upper floors slow down as staging complexity increases, crane time extends, and safety requirements add overhead. A framing contractor who tracks all labor in one code can't see the per-floor production rate, and can't build a defensible estimate for the next multi-story job out of actual cost history.
The typical increase from floor 1 to floor 5 is 15 to 25 percent on labor cost per square foot, and that's not a performance problem. It's what hoisting, staging, and fall protection cost. A blended rate hides it in both directions, because the lower floors look worse than they were and the upper floors look better, so nobody can say which part of the building the money went into. Two or three jobs tracked by floor ends the guessing, since the estimate then comes off the contractor's own numbers instead of an industry table.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Floor-by-floor job costing is a separate cost code for each level of a multi-story building, so labor hours, fully burdened labor cost, and square footage framed are tracked per floor instead of blended across the whole structure.
WHERE THE BLENDED RATE HIDES THE MONEY.
One labor line for all floors misprices every upper floor
A commercial framing contractor estimating a 6-story wood frame building typically builds a blended labor rate, an average across all floors that over-weights productivity on floor 1. In execution the upper floors take more time than the blended rate assumed while the lower floors finish faster, so labor runs over budget on the top half of the building. The PM then spends the final 8 weeks trying to recover it.
Upper floor logistics cost is buried in general conditions
Upper floor framing needs crane picks, material hoisting, staging platforms, extended setup and breakdown, and additional safety equipment. Those hours usually get coded to general conditions instead of framing labor, because the foreman has no dedicated code for them. When the PM reviews framing labor, the upper floor cost reads lower than it really was, since part of it's sitting under another heading.
You can't build an accurate multi-story estimate without floor-level actuals
A framing contractor with no floor-level tracking has to price upper floor work off industry tables or intuition, and both understate it. The visible frame erection looks the same from below while the hidden hours for staging, hoisting, and safety run higher on every level up. Margins on floors 3 through 6 come in under the estimate job after job, and without floor-level history there's nothing to correct it with.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
The typical labor rate increase from floor 1 to floor 5 is 15 to 25 percent per square foot. Floor-level variance becomes detectable in week 2 or 3 of framing a floor, which is early enough to change the crew size or the staging plan. The standard tracking method is 1 code for the entire building, which is why almost nobody sees it.
After 2 to 3 jobs tracked this way, a framing contractor has actual cost-per-floor data that makes the next multi-story estimate defensible. The advantage compounds, because every job adds another building to the history. Industry tables stop being the reference and your own closeouts take over.
FOUR THINGS THAT CHANGE ON THE NEXT JOB.
Every floor gets its own cost code for direct framing labor and framing-related logistics. When the foreman logs time, it goes to the floor currently being worked. At week end, labor cost and hours by floor are visible and comparable to the floor-level estimate.
Every week, square feet framed by floor gets recorded next to the labor hours logged, which produces cost per square foot by floor. That number is compared to the estimated rate. A floor running at 130% of estimated cost per square foot has a problem that's identifiable and still correctable on the remaining scope of that floor.
Every hour spent hoisting materials, rigging panels, staging lumber, or maintaining a pick zone on an upper floor is framing cost rather than a general conditions cost. CFOS creates a framing-logistics code for each floor, so the total cost of framing that floor sits in one place instead of being split across codes that make the floor look cheaper than it was.
At job closeout, CFOS produces a cost-per-floor summary with labor hours, fully burdened labor cost, and square footage by floor. That summary becomes the estimating reference for the next multi-story job. Actual floor-level data replaces blended industry tables and produces bids that price upper floor work correctly.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
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