MASONRY: THE WASTE FACTOR QUESTION
Brick and block waste from cuts, breakage, and pattern complexity sits between 8 and 10 percent on standard work and up to 15 percent on complex patterns or repairs. Estimate at 5 and build at 12 and the material line eats the margin.
This page covers one problem. The full picture for this trade, including the other places margin leaks, is on the masonry operating system page.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES.
Covered in full in the quick answer above. The sourced numbers and what controls it are below.
THE COST, SOURCED.
"Most contractors allow 8% to 10%. Complex patterns or repairs require up to 15%." (Design Estimation brick cost guide, 2026)
THE NUMBER TO MEASURE IT AGAINST.
Masonry 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 22%, 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.
