BIDDING THE COST, AND STOPPING THE BLEED.
Sy Kirby had Josh on Blue Collar Business. It covers a lot, so this page puts each topic in writing in one place. True job costing, dirt-work estimating, labor burden, schedule of values for general conditions, WIP reporting, and holding general contractors accountable to the contract.
WHAT THE CONVERSATION TOUCHED, IN ONE PLACE.
Nothing below is held back and none of it needs the episode. If you heard something you wanted to try on Monday, this is where it lives.
True job costing, and labor burden
A wage is not the cost of the person. Job costing, explained for contractors walks a $28 carpenter to the $38 to $44 an hour that person really costs. Job cost setup starts with your estimate format, and your job cost is wrong until payroll feeds it.
Dirt-work estimating
For excavation and sitework the numbers live in production rates and quantities. See what iron economics cost an excavation sub and cut fill quantity variance. The bigger picture, the money lost between bid and books, is in estimating and finance.
The schedule of values and general conditions
The SOV and pay application template is the starting point. Your SOV can open a cash hole explains how a schedule that does not follow your cost leaves you funding the job, and negotiating it covers how to push back.
WIP reporting
The WIP schedule template is the one your bank or surety reads first. Real job profit shows why 22 percent gross on a $1M job works out to about 11 percent net.
Holding general contractors to the contract
Most of this is paper. Why a napkin sketch is not a change order, what twenty open change orders cost you, and cutting retainage before you sign are the three to read first.
Where can I listen to the Blue Collar Business episode with Josh Luebker?
On the show's own page, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It is episode 94, it runs 1hr 37min and it was released Jun 2026. Every link is at the top of this page and they all go to Sy Kirby's own feed, and not to a copy hosted here.
What is labor burden and why does it change a bid?
It is everything an employee costs above the wage: taxes, insurance and benefits. A $28 carpenter costs $38 to $44 an hour once those are loaded, so a bid built on the wage is short before the job starts. Job costing, explained walks the math.
What does a WIP schedule tell me that a profit and loss does not?
Whether the profit on the statement was earned or collected ahead of the work. The WIP schedule template is the one lenders and sureties read first.
