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Types of Allowances |
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NOTE-- We retired MacNail Spec Writer and the MacNail construction software 2000. It has been replaced with Goldenseal, an integrated software program for Macintosh and Windows that handles contract writing, plus accounting, construction estimating, and project management, In Goldenseal, you don't need to distinguish between different types of allowances, since you can split construction assemblies into labor and material portions, and you can assign any expenses to an allowance (or not) when you enter job costs. Types of Construction Allowances The MacNail construction management software allows you to choose between two different types of allowances. A Labor and Materials allowance will cover both the cost of materials, and the labor required to install them (whether the labor is provided by a subcontractor, or by your own crew). A Materials Only allowance covers just the cost of materials. The cost of any installation labor will still be a part of the overall project cost, but it will be included in the bid as one of your hard costs, rather than showing up in the allowance. When you create your own contracts, you can use whichever allowance type makes the most sense for each item. *
If different materials will take different amounts of time to install, it's best to use a Labor and Materials
allowance. When bidding competitively, use whichever allowance type is called for on the blueprints or specs. A 'carpet installation allowance' will include both labor and materials, while a 'carpet allowance' generally will be materials only. HINT: In many cases the plans will be vague about the exact type of allowance to be used. If you aren't able to clarify the type of allowance to use, choose whichever method seems most logical. In the actual contracts created by the MacNail project management software, each allowance is clearly specified as 'labor and materials' or 'materials only', so there won't be any confusion about the type of allowance being used. |
