LARGE DEVELOPMENT CASH GAP: THE DEVELOPER'S CALENDAR
Sitework frequently contracts directly with developers, not GCs, and developer draws ride construction-loan disbursement schedules. When the lender's draw stalls, the sitework contractor's receivable stalls with it, at whatever stage the dirt happens to be.
This page covers one problem. The full picture for this trade, including the other places margin leaks, is on the sitework 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.
subcontractors average 56 days from pay application to payment (Billd 2025); retainage 5 to 10 percent.
THE NUMBER TO MEASURE IT AGAINST.
Sitework contractors run about % net profit at $1M to $5M, rising to roughly 6% 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 20%, against a CFOS target of 10%.
THE SYSTEM THAT FIXES THIS.
The 13 week forecast, and a funding decision made before the week starts.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
