SITEWORK CONTRACTOR WEATHER DELAY CASH FLOW IMPACT.
Weather delays on sitework aren't just scheduling problems. They're financial problems. Every rain day costs crew standby, equipment idle time, and erosion control maintenance against no billable production. When those costs aren't documented, not billed where the contract allows it, and not planned for in the cash forecast, they come straight out of net margin on every project that runs through wet season.
Most sitework contractors absorb weather delay costs without question because they assume the risk is theirs. Sometimes it is. But owner-caused delays, delays from other trades clearing areas, and delays caused by conditions materially different from the contract documents all carry potential cost recovery. The contractors who recover those costs are the ones with documentation systems that run automatically, because the claim gets built out of records nobody had to remember to keep. The ones who recover nothing usually knew the cause and never wrote it down.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Weather delay cost on a sitework project is the crew standby, equipment idle time, and erosion control maintenance a contractor carries on days when rain stops billable production.
WHAT WEATHER COSTS A SITEWORK CONTRACTOR, LINE BY LINE.
Crew standby, the largest single line item
A sitework crew on standby costs 60 to 80 percent of their active production rate, because foremen and superintendents are salaried or guaranteed. On a 6-person crew at $38 per hour fully burdened average, a full-day weather standby costs $1,824. Three weather standby days in a month is $5,472 against zero billable production. Across a 5-month wet season, that's a margin line that belongs in the cash forecast rather than being discovered after the fact.
Equipment idle time, where depreciation and insurance continue
Equipment on a wet sitework project doesn't stop generating ownership cost. A $180,000 excavator on a 6-year depreciation schedule generates $82 per day in depreciation whether it's running or not. A 10-day weather delay on a project where that excavator is committed generates $820 in idle depreciation cost before maintenance and insurance. When that cost isn't tracked and not in the cash forecast, it becomes a surprise margin erosion at project close.
Erosion control maintenance after weather events
Wet weather damages erosion controls. Silt fence fails under heavy rain, inlet protection fills and requires cleaning, and the maintenance and reinstallation is real labor and material cost. Whether it's your obligation or a billable event depends on whether the original scope included maintenance for the rainfall intensity that occurred, and on whether construction activity outside the original plan caused the damage. Most sitework contractors absorb those costs without asking the question. Document the cause before you send the crew.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A 6-person crew at $38 per hour fully burdened costs $1,824 for a full-day weather standby, so three standby days in a month is $5,472 against zero billable production. Add a committed $180,000 excavator generating $82 per day in idle depreciation, and a 10-day delay adds $820 more before maintenance and insurance. None of that carries a billing line unless somebody wrote down why production stopped.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE RAIN STARTS, IN THIS ORDER.
Rainfall amount, temperature, wind, and site conditions get documented every day, timestamped and attached to the project file. That log is the evidence base for every delay claim and change order conversation. It has to exist before the event, which is why it's a daily habit rather than a response.
Record the hours and headcount on site each standby day, with confirmation of why production wasn't possible. That record converts to a dollar figure when the delay claim gets built. Without it, the claim is an assertion instead of a calculation.
Send a same-day email when a weather event causes a delay that will affect schedule or cost. A notice like this preserves contractual rights, and it reads as procedure rather than grievance. No notice means no claim.
Determine which costs are billable once the event has passed. Damage caused by owner-directed scope changes, and rainfall exceeding the contract threshold, both carry potential recovery. Submit before the next billing cycle rather than at closeout, because a claim submitted at closeout is a claim you're negotiating from weakness.
Weather delay costs are predictable in aggregate. A sitework contractor in a market with 45 wet days per year should have those 45 days modeled in the 13-week cash forecast as reduced production weeks. That way the LOC draw in February is planned in November instead of discovered when payroll is due.
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.
Pricing
| 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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