Josh Luebker
Fractional CFO · The Construction CFO
Former commercial construction PM and master electrician. 150+ projects, $300M+. Fractional CFO for commercial subcontractors $1M–$12M. About Josh →
Blended paving job cost hides where the margin went. Course-type cost codes show it in week two when plant scheduling delays and mix substitutions are still actionable.
Total paving labor and equipment for the week divided by total tons placed gives a blended cost per ton. But base course ran at $58 per ton against an estimated $62 per ton. Surface course ran at $88 per ton against an estimated $72 per ton due to mix substitution and plant scheduling gap. The blended rate looks acceptable while the surface course problem compounds.
When the asphalt plant cannot deliver to schedule your paving crew and equipment sit idle at $4,200 per day in standby cost. Those costs hit the job whether you are paving or not. Without a plant delay cost code the idle crew cost disappears into blended equipment overhead and the job cost appears higher than it should for the tons actually placed.
Proof roll revealed soft spots in 18% of the paving area requiring lime stabilization not in the original scope. Remediation cost $38,000. The geotechnical report showed stable subgrade throughout. The remediation was absorbed without a change order because the proof roll was not documented as a differing site condition at occurrence.
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