Bulletin No. 1404

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary

document collection

J

labor and materi 

requirements 

for private

one-family hou 

construction

L 2 . 3 ►

m o^4

Dayton & Montgomery Co.

Public Library

JU L 2 7 1964

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Ewan Clague, Commissioner

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
labor and material

requirements

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

W. Willard W irtz, Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Ewan Clague, Commissioner

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U .S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2 0 4 0 2 - Price 30 cents

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Preface

This study of total labor and material requirements for the construction of private, nonfarm, one-family houses is one of a series of such studies

for various types of construction that might be affected by governmental action.

Previous studies have been made of labor requirements for schools, highways,

Federal office buildings, hospitals, civil works activities of the Army Corps

of Engineers, and public housing. Currently in various stages of preparation

are studies of college student housing and sewage disposal works.

The studies are being conducted in the Bureau's Division of Productivity Measurement under the general direction of Leon Greenberg, Assistant

Commissioner for Productivity and Technological Developments. This bulletin was prepared by Herman J. Rothberg, who also directed the collection

and tabulation of the statistical data, under the supervision of James F. Walker.

The Bureau is indebted to the Federal Housing Administration, a constituent of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, and its personnel in the

various regional offices throughout the United States, for the generous cooperation and invaluable assistance given the Bureau's field representatives in

the selection of specific sample projects and the furnishing of some of the

basic data. The Bureau also appreciates the cooperation of the many builders

and construction contractors who supplied the on-site man-hour and wage rate

data and the materials information on which the estimates for indirect requirements are based.

111

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CONTENTS

Page

Introduction............................................................................................................... 1

Nature of s t u d y .................................................................................................. 2

General survey findings and ch a ra cteristics.............................................. 4

Characteristics of the houses surveyed...................................................... 6

Structural features............................................................................................. 10

Costs: Total and square f o o t ....................................................................... 11

On-site man-hour requirements....................................................................... 13

Regional group c o m p a riso n s....................................................................... 13

Requirements by occupation........................................................................... 18

Builder or general and special trade contractors’ s h a r e .................. 20

Construction t i m e .................................................................. 22

The cost of direct w a g e s ................................... . ....................................... 22

Off-site employment............................................................................................. 25

Builders' off-site employment....................................................................... 26

Employment in transportation, trade, and service............................... 27

"Last manufacturing stage" employment................................................. 27

Employment in secondary a ctiv itie s.......................................................... 27

Materials u s e d ...................................................................................................... 28

Appendix A. Scope and method of survey..................................................... 33

Characteristics of the universe and selection of the sample .... 33

Man-hour e stim a te s......................................................................................... 34

On-site man-hours............................................................................................. 35

Off-site m a n -h o u r s ......................................................................................... 35

Primary distribution industries em ploym ent........................................ 35

Primary manufacturing employment.......................................................... 36

Secondary employment in all in d u str ie s................................................. 36

Total man-hour requirements....................................................................... 36

Tables:

1. Number and construction price of surveyed private one-family

houses, by selected characteristics and region, 1962 . . . 8

2. On-site man-hour requirements per $ 1,000 of construction

price for surveyed private one-family houses, by selected

characteristics and region, 1962 ..................................................... 14

3. On-site man-hour requirements per $ 1,000 of construction

price of surveyed private one-family houses, by proportion

of lower skilled labor'employed and region, 1962 17

4. Distribution of surveyed private one-family houses, by

number of on-site man-hours required for each $ 1,000 of

construction price, by region, 1962 17

v

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
CONTENTS - - Continued

Tables - - Continued: Page

5. On-site man-hour requirements per $ 1,000 of construction

price for surveyed private one-family houses, by occupation and region, 1962 ...................................................................... 19

6. Percent of total on-site man-hour requirements for surveyed

private one-family houses, by type of contractor and

region, 1962 21

7. Average number of contractors per private one-family house,

by cost group and region, 1962 ...................................................... 23

8. Average number of weeks required for construction of

surveyed private one-family houses, by cost group and

region, 1962 23

Average on-site straight-time hourly earnings and wages

9. as a percent of construction price on surveyed private

one-family houses, by region and metropolitan or

nonmetropolitan location, 1962 .................................................

10. Cost of material components for each $ 1,000 of construction

price of surveyed private one-family houses, by region,

1962 ...................................................................................................................... 29

Charts:

1. Distribution of man-hours for each $ 1,000 of one-family

house construction price, 1962 5

2. Percent distribution of on-site wages, materials, and other

costs, used for each $ 1,000 of one-family house construction price, 1962 ..................................................................................... 7

v i

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
LABOR AND MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR

PRIVATE ONE-FAMILY HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

Introduction

New construction is a major component of the Nation*s output of goods

and services and an important source of employment. Jobs are created not

only at construction sites but also in the many manufacturing, trade, and

transportation industries which make, sell, and deliver materials required

in construction processes. Because of its far-reaching impact, a vigorous

construction industry is regarded as a significant stimulus to employment

and sometimes as an aid in countering cyclical unemployment.

To measure the labor requirements of various types of construction,

the Bureau of Labor Statistics has undertaken a series of studies. This

study of the labor requirements for private, nonfarm, new, one-family

house construction is the first in the series in which the construction is

financed entirely with private funds; in the preceding studies, all or part of

the construction was either financed directly with Federal funds or federally

assisted through loans or grants. However, the Federal Government has

played an important role in fostering private home construction.

The significance of private, new, one-family house construction is

evident from the following: Annual expenditures for the construction of such

houses exceed those of any other type of construction; homebuilding activity

exerts an important influence on many other kinds of construction, particularly as suburban areas mushroom and create the need for schools, hospitals, and other public and private facilities; new home purchases engender

considerable activity in the industries manufacturing and selling home furnishings and appliances; the need for housing is a continuing one and is expected to become greater in the last few years of the 1960*s and through the

1970fs as the young adults of the World War II ’’baby crop" create an increased demand for new housing.

In 1962, expenditures for the construction of private, nonfarm, new,

one-family houses amounted to approximately $14 billion, and accounted for

about 75 percent of all private nonfarm new housing construction and 23 percent of all construction.1 About two-thirds of the 1.43 million private, nonfarm, new dwelling units started for the year were one-family dwelling units.

Although these one-family houses are financed entirely with private

funds, the Federal Government, through some of its programs, has had a

profound effect upon the homebuilding industry since the passage of the first

1U.S. Department of Commerce, Construction Review, June 1963.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
z

National Housing Act (1934). This act provided for government home loan

insurance and established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to

administer the program. It was enacted to awaken a depressed industry,

to provide construction workers with jobs, to enable more people to become

homeowners, and to stimulate the economy generally.

Subsequent amendments and other legislation resulted in the extension of the home mortgage insurance principle to veterans housing under the

Veterans Administration (VA). FHA insured mortgage loans and VA guaranteed mortgage loans were involved in the private financing of approximately

25 percent of the private nonfarm new one-family houses started in 1962.

While neither agency makes loans or builds houses, they have had a significant impact on home purchases and, therefore, on homebuilding. In order

to make home buying easier as economic conditions have varied, the FHA

has liberalized downpayment requirements, raised maximum insurable

mortgage amounts, and extended mortgagfe maturities.

Nature of Study

This report is based on a survey of selected private, new, one-family

houses constructed in various localities of the United States, exclusive of

Alaska and Hawaii. Data were collected for 101 houses chosen as a representative sample of new one-family houses constructed between the latter

part of 1961 and the first quarter of 1963. Most of the construction, however, occurred during 1962. The effective sample is actually larger than

indicated, as some of the reports for individual houses represented the

average man-hours and expenditures for many similar homes within a large

housing development. The sample, stratified by price, broad geographical

area, and degree of urbanization, is considered adequate for measuring

labor requirements and other information, on the average, which was the

objective of this survey. However, the sampling error is larger for specific

types of houses, methods of construction, or material requirements, particularly subgroups of materials components.

Selection of the specific sample houses studied was made through the

use of the facilities of FHA regional offices. As a result, the sample houses,

with few exceptions, were either FHA appraised or mortgage insured. Reasons for the use of FHA sources are indicated in appendix A. 2

The survey was designed primarily to determine the number of manhours utilized for each $1,000 of one-family house construction. For this

study, the $1,000 or other dollar volume figures refer to "construction

pricen-- i .e . , the construction cost to the purchaser. This was determined

2For a more detailed description of method and for a list of States

included in each region, see appendix A.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3

to be the FHA estimated replacement cost of the property or the actual (or

asking) sales price, whichever was lower, less the FHA estimated market

price or value of the improved lot on which the house was built.

Man-hours as defined by the survey, include both on-site construction employment and the off-site employment required to produce and deliver

materials used in the construction and to sell the house. Data for on-site

labor include total man-hours for the supervisory, engineering, clerical,

and custodial employees at the site, as well as those for workers in each

construction trade. Data for off-site labor include employment in the offsite (e.g. , office and warehousing) activities of builders and construction

contractors; in the activities resulting from expenditures for builders' or

contractors' overhead for such items as real estate commissions and other

sales expense, rent, bonds, insurance and financing, utilities and business

services, legal and professional services, repair services, and office supplies; in building materials and equipment manufacture and distribution

(including household appliances and furnishings covered by the construction

price); and, finally, employment in all the other industries which are affected

directly or indirectly by the production and distribution of home building materials from raw material to the final manufacturing stage.3

Certain types of employment are not covered by the survey. Excluded

from the man-hour requirements estimates is the labor time involved in inspection by government employees during construction, in the installations by

public utility employees, as well as any site preparation, landscaping, and

street work not covered by the construction price as defined. Also excluded

is the labor generated by the money expended by builders or contractors for

taxes (including payroll taxes) and welfare payments. These payments are

believed to generate relatively little direct employment. Employment created

by the respending of wages and profits of the workers and their employers--

the multiplier effect--was not considered within the scope of the study.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
4

G eneral Survey Findings and C h a ra cteristics

F or ev ery $ 1,000 of construction p rice con cern ed with the building 

of private on e-fa m ily houses in 1962, 204 m an-hours of em ploym ent w ere 

created . Of these, 72 w ere fo r em ploym ent at the construction site and 

132 w ere required for various o ff-s ite a ctiv ities. (See chart 1 .) The latter 

included all labor needed to produce and d eliver m aterials and equipment 

used by the on -site w ork ers; em ploym ent by the con stru ction builders and 

con tra ctors in adm inistrative, w arehousing, and other o ff-s ite operation s; 

and m an-hours generated by hom e selling and the other b u ild er-con tra ctor 

overhead costs noted p reviou sly. Total m an-hours w ere allocated as follow s:

M an-hours per $ 1 ,0 0 0 

of construction p rice

Total m a n -h o u r s .................................

C onstruction:

O n -s it e ......................................................

O ff-site ...................................................

M anufacturing ............................................

T ransportation, trade, and se rv ice s 

Other industry em ploym ent ........

Numbe r P ercen t

204 100

72 35

12 6

58 29

49 24

13 6

In 1962, approxim ately $14 billion was spent fo r the construction of 

on e-fa m ily h ou ses. On the basis of the average o n -site and o ff-s ite hours 

required per $ 1 ,0 0 0 of construction p rice fo r the 101 sam ple houses studied, 

this would indicate that on e-fa m ily house construction was respon sible fo r 

about 1.5 m illion job s that y ea r--a p p rox im a tely 575 thousand on -site and 

925 thousand o ff-s it e .4

The survey d isclosed wide ranges of m an-hour and m aterial re q u ire ­

m ents among individual house p ro je cts , reflectin g among other fa cto rs, d ifferen ces in construction p rice and size, geographical location , annual builde r s 1 volum e, and lo ca l p referen ces and p ra ctice s . There w ere also m arked 

variations in such related m atters as average hourly pay rates and site wages 

as percentages of construction p r ic e . On the a verage, h ow ever, 48 cents of

4The annual em ploym ent estim ate of con stru ction w ork ers is based on 

50 tim es the 1962 average w orkw eek in general and sp ecia l trades contract 

building construction w ork of 35. 6 and 36. 3 hours a w eek, resp ectiv ely , as 

reported in the Bureau*s Earnings and Hours s e rie s . F or other than co n ­

struction w ork er s , 2,000 hours w ere con sidered a year*s em ploym ent.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Chart 1. Distribution of Man-Hours for Each $1,000 of

One-Family House Construction Price, 1962

P3

Off-site

Construction

On-site

Construction

t

Transportation, 

Trade and Services 

(inc. Real Estate)

I

v

PRIMARY

MAN-HOURS

Other

Manufacturing

Last Manufacturing 

Stage

> k,

> ■

Transportation,

Trade and 

Services

\

s

,13]

All Othei /I

Industries

SECONDARY

MAN-HOURS

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
6

the construction d ollar was spent fo r the purchase of m a teria ls, supplies, 

and equipment and 22 cents for wages to on -site w ork ers. (See chart 2 .)

The d ifferen ce between the total construction p rice and the sum of the m a teria ls and w ages, i .e . , 30 p ercen t, represen ts overhead costs such as adm inistrative o ff-s ite sa la ries, central office and yard operation expen ses, 

sales expen ses, insurance and taxes, plus other overhead and p rofit. An 

estim ate of the various overhead costs was made to com pute the o ff-site 

m an-hours attributable to such co sts.

This study of labor requirem ents also provided severa l types of in fo rm ation relating to the kinds of m aterial used, the types of em ploym ent gen ­

erated, and the share of total em ploym ent used by the various sp ecia l trades 

con tra ctors. These are d iscu ssed in later sections of this rep ort.

C h a ra cteristics of the H ouses Surveyed

The size and cost of the 101 houses surveyed averaged as follow s:

F lo o r space (calculated area5) .......................................... 1,240 square feet

C ost per square f o o t ............................................................... $11.76

M arket value (including land6) ............................................. $17,712

C onstruction p r i c e ................................................ .................. $ 14, 585

The size and cost (m arket value and construction) of individual hou ses, 

of cou rse , varied con siderably and reflect regional and lo ca l area p referen ces 

and needs in design and type of structural m aterials used. (See table 1. ) 

H ow ever, despite the d ifferen ces in costs and house plans and m a terials, 

there was a "ty p ica l11 house which predom inated. It was a detached, on estory house with three bedroom s and at least one and on e-h alf bathroom s.

It was w ood fr a m e d ,7 had a d ry -w a ll in terior, was w a rm -a ir heated, and had 

a garage or ca rp ort.

5Calculated area is the area of living spaces in the m ain building above 

the basem ent or foundations, m easured at the outside su rfaces of ex terior 

w alls. Garage sp ace, finished spaces in attics when le ss than 50 percent of 

the ground flo o r area, and areas with ceiling heights of le ss than 5 feet are 

excluded.

6M arket value was either the actual or p rop osed selling p rice of the 

house or the FHA estim ate of replacem ent cost of the p roperty, w hichever 

was le s s .

C on stru cte d with a supporting fram ew ork of w ooden studs, usually 

connected by an outer sheathing of w ooden b oa rd s, plyw ood or other m aterial, 

which serv es as a bracing to the structure and provides a solid surface to 

which one or m ore of a variety of outer facing m aterials can be attached.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Chart 2. Percent Distribution of On-Site Wages, Materials,

and Other Costs, Used for Each $1,000 of One-Family

House Construction Price, 1962

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b ic 1 . N u m b e r a n d C o n s t r u c t io n P r i c e o f S u r v e y e d P r i v a t e O n e - F a m i ly H o u s e s , b y S e le c te d C h a r a c t e r is t i c s a n d R e g io n , 1 9 6 2

C haracteristic

United States Northeast North Central South West

Number

Construction 

price per--

Number

Construction 

p rice p er- -

Number

Construction 

price per--

Number

Construction 

price per--

Number

Construction 

price per--

Square

foot House Square

foot House Square

foot House Square

foot House Square

foot House

All h o u s e s ............................................ 101 $ 11.76 $ 1 4 ,5 8 5 18 $ 12. 54 $ 16, 143 24 $ 12. 63 $15, 004 34 $ 1 1 .2 4 $ 1 3 ,5 6 5 25 $11.12 $ 14,449

In m etropolitan a r e a s .......................... 81 $11.61 $ 1 4 ,6 5 6 15 $ 12. 51 $ 16 ,5 1 1 19 $ 12. 29 $ 15, 102 26 $ 1 1 .0 8 $ 1 3 ,5 9 7 21 $ 1 0.99 $ 14, 240

In nonmetropolitan a r e a s .................. 20 12.45 14,296 3 -- -- 5 14. 15 14,630 8 11.79 13,461 4

Construction price group:

$ 18, 000 and o v e r ............................. 14 12. 76. 21,949 3 4 4 3

$ 1 5 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 ............................. 26 12. 23 16,328 7 12. 94 16,407 5 14. 03 16,419 8 11. 36 15,919 6 11.44 16,706

$ 1 2 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 4 , 9 9 9 ............................. 32 11.64 13, 537 5 13. 00 1 3 ,6 1 2 9 11. 67 13, 514 8 11.53 13,557 10 11.11 13, 505

U n d e r $ 12, 000 .................................... 29 10.54 10,623 3 -- --

6 11. 30 1 0 ,5 7 8 14 1 0 .4 8 10,336 6 9. 60 10,808

A verage wage rate paid (on-site):

$ 3 .5 0 and over .................................. 39 11. 50 14,765 5 11.64 15, 249 12 12.45 15,049 22 10. 99 14,501

$ 2 .5 0 - $ 3.4 9 ....................................... 38 12.60 15,274 12 12. 86 16,689 11 13. 20 15,068 12 11.88 14,351 3 --

U n d e r $ 2. 5 0 .......................................... 24 10.90 13, 200 1 -- -- 1 - - -- 22 10.89 13,136 --

Number of square feet:

1,400 and over .................................. 25 11. 19 18,895 5 11.49 20,921 5 11.92 20,348 7 10.53 17,975 8 11.11 17, 524

1 , 2 0 0 - 1 , 3 9 9 .......................................... 17 11.74 15, 156 2 2 -- 6 12.05 15,209 7 11. 26 14,619

1 , 0 0 0 - 1 , 1 9 9 .......................................... 37 12.47 13, 554 8 13. 34 1 4 ,3 5 3 9 14. 07 15,388 12 11.97 12, 862 8 10. 56 11,731

U n d er 1 , 0 0 0 .......................................... 22 11.59 10,980 3 - - 8 12. 02 11,178 9 10.41 9, 976 2 --

One s t o r y .................................................... 85 11.53 13, 807 13 13. 08 1 5 ,0 3 5 18 11.57 1 3 ,4 6 4 31 11. 39 13, 290 23 10. 90 14,077

Tw o s t o r i e s ............................................... 4 - - 2 -- -- 2 -- --

S p l it l e v e l .................................................... 12 14.08 18, 944 3 -- - -

6 15. 55 19,621 1 2

2 b e d r o o m s ................................................. 2 - - 1 -- 1 -- --

3 b e d r o o m s .................................................. 82 12. 06 13, 917 14 12. 97 1 4 ,9 8 4 21 1 3. 04 14,617 29 11.41 2, 882 18 11. 31 13, 938

4 b e d r o o m s ................................................. 17 10.78 18,118 4 -- -- 3 - - -- 4 6 10. 61 16, 357

1 b a t h r o o m .................................................... 34 11 .9 6 11,992 8 13.12 13, 852 9 12. 20 11,6 5 5 12 11.21 11,167 5 11. 37 11,599

1-1/2 b a th ro o m s .................................... 24 12. 77 14,963 4 11 12. 97 15,178 8 12.51 14,062 1 --

2 b a t h r o o m s ............................................... 34 11.04 15,436 1 3 -- -- 12 10.77 15, 271 18 11. 10 1 5 ,0 6 6

2-1/2 b a th ro o m s .................................... 9 11.74 20,160 5 11.15 18,769 1 - - -- 2 - - 1

B a s e m e n t o r p a r t i a l b a s e m e n t . . . 47 12. 96 1 5 ,7 9 2 16 12. 87 1 6 ,1 6 0 17 13. 23 13, 229 9 12. 81 15,956 5 1 2. 73 15, 929

No b a s e m e n t ............................................... 54 10. 75 13, 534 2 -- -- 7 11. 28 14,238 25 10.65 12, 704 20 10. 73 14,079

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 1. N u m b e r and C o n stru c tio n P ric e of S u rv e y e d P r iv a t e O n e - F a m ily H o u s e s , by Se le c te d C h a ra c te ris tic s and R e g io n , 1 9 6 2 - - C o n tin u e d

C haracteristic

United States Northeast North Central South West

Number

Construction 

price per-- Number

Construction 

price per-- Number

Construction 

price per-- Number

Construction 

price per-- Number

Construction 

p rice p er- -

Square

foot House Square

foot House Squarefoot House Square

foot House Squarefoot House

G a r a g e ............................................................ 64 $ 1 1.67 $ 1 5 ,1 0 8 14 $ 1 2 .6 6 $ 16,790 13 $ 12. 30 $15, 999 16 $ 1 0 .8 9 $ 1 3 ,5 2 3 21 $ 1 1 . 1 8 $ 1 4 ,6 4 2

C arport ......................................................... 16 11. 35 13, 103 - - 1 - - 12 11.02 12, 371 3

Neither garage nor carport . . . . . . 21 1 2.40 14,122 4 -- - - 10 12.64 13, 370 6 12. 52 16,067 1

Type of framing:

Wood ......................................................... 87 11.88 14,713 17 12.48 15,533 24 12. 63 1 5,004 25 11.41 13, 935 21 11. 18 1 4 ,6 4 2

M asonry1 ................................................. 14 1 1 .0 2 13, 792 1 “ “ -- -- - - -- 9 10.73 12, 539 4 --

Exterior wall m aterial:

M a s o n r y .................................................... 33 11.70 14,777 2 -- -- 7 12. 38 17,647 20 11. 38 13,4 7 8 4 --

W o o d ............................................................ 17 11.98 12, 786 6 13. 34 13,735 3 4 4

Stucco ......................................................... 14 1 1 .1 5 1 4 ,9 4 0 - - 4 10 11.06 14,593

Other2 ......................................................... 37 1 1 .9 8 1 5 ,1 0 6 10 1 1 .9 0 1 6 ,4 6 5 14 1 3. 35 1 4 , 4 7 2 6 10.72 13, 762 7 10.96 15,585

Interior wall m aterial:

D r y w a ll .................................................... 82 11.63 14,099 13 1 1.98 1 5,746 22 1 2. 25 14,133 24 11.38 13,259 23 11.11 14,012

P l a s t e r ....................................................... 19 12. 28 16,6 8 2 5 14. 08 17,172 2 -- 10 10.93 14,301 2 -- --

Type of heating system :

W arm a i r ................................................. 85 11.60 14,363 9 1 2 .4 8 1 6 ,4 4 7 21 12. 68 14,814 30 1 1 .0 2 13, 350 25 11. 12 14,449

Hot w a te r ................................................. 13 12. 74 16, 702 9 12. 60 15,838 2 - - 2

E l e c t r i c .................................................... 3 -- -- -- — - - 1 - - -- 2

Type of floors:

W o o d ............................................................ 67 12. 36 15, 244 18 12. 54 1 6 ,1 4 2 17 13. 25 15,301 18 11.82 14,744 14 11.8 2 1 4 ,6 6 2

R e s i l i e n t t i l e .......................................... 25 10.55 13, 342 - - -- - - 6 11. 23 14, 924 9 1 0 .0 5 1 1 ,2 4 6 10 10. 53 14,280

Other3 ......................................................... 9 1 0 .7 5 1 3, 131 1 " "

7 11.10 13,514 1

i n c l u d e s 1 c o m b in a t io n w oo d and m a s o n r y f r a m e d h o u se .

i n c l u d e s 8 h o u s e s with e x t e r i o r w a l l s of a s b e s t o s , 5 with a lu m in u m , an d 24 with a co m b in a tio n of m a t e r i a l s , 

i n c l u d e s 7 f l o o r s c o v e r e d with t e r r a z z o and 2 u n c o v e r e d s l a b f l o o r s .

N o t e s : D ata not sh own w h e r e l e s s than 5 p r o j e c t s a r e in d ic a te d . D i f f e r e n c e s in a v e r a g e p r i c e s by type o r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a r e a l s o in flu en ced by the p r e s e n c e of other 

fa c to r s determ ining cost; consequently, the data shown cannot be utilized to a s s e s s the p r e c is e influence on a v e r a g e p rice per square foot of a given ch a ra c te ristic .

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
10

Structural Features

E xcept for variations in the types of ex terior w all m aterials used, 

there was con siderable uniform ity in m ost of the house plans and co n stru ction featu res of the on e-fa m ily houses studied, as evidenced by the nty p ica ln 

house d escrib ed above.

With regard to house plan and layout, 84 p ercen t of the houses w ere 

o n e -sto rie d , 12 percent w ere sp lit-le v e l type. E ighty-tw o percen t of the 

houses had three bedroom s and tw o-thirds had one and on e-h a lf or m ore 

bathroom s. Eighty percent had either a garage or ca rp ort. B asem entless 

houses com p rised 53 percent of those surveyed. They w ere predom inant in 

the South and W est. Sixty percent of the o n e -sto ry houses w ere without 

basem ents and m ost sp lit-le v e l hom es had partial basem ents.

E ig h ty-six percent of the houses w ere fram ed with w ood. The r e ­

m ainder w ere m ason ry fram ed. The fram es w ere faced with a num ber of 

different ex terior w all m a teria ls. O ne-third of the houses had m ason ry 

ex te rio rs with about fou r-fifth s of these using b rick (veneer, m ainly). 

A pproxim ately 24 percent of the houses w ere fa ced with two or m ore types 

of ex terior con stru ction m a teria ls, each of which cov ered substantial p o r ­

tions of the outside w all a rea s. F or the m ost part, these involved the use 

of b rick veneer in conjunction with wood (shingles, siding or pan els), a s b e s ­

tos shingles, or stu cco. About 17 percen t w ere cov ered with w ood in various 

fo rm s . Stucco was the ex terior w all for about 14 percent of the houses and 

these w ere confined to the W est and the South. In the W est, the stucco was 

applied to w ire m esh on w ood fra m es. In the South, sthcco cov ered con crete 

block fra m e s. A sb estos shingles or aluminum siding cov ered the w alls of 

the rest of the h ou ses.

Interior w alls w ere of d ry -w a ll construction in over fou r-fifth s of 

the h ou ses. The balance w ere of p la ster. W a rm -a ir heating system s w ere 

used in about 84 percent of the h ou ses.

W ood flo o rs on jo ists w ere present in all of the houses with b a se ­

m ents and about 16 percent of those without basem ents. The rem aining 

houses without basem ents, about 40 percent of the houses studied, had co n ­

crete slab flo o rs which w ere cov ered m ainly with resilien t tile (asphalt or 

vinyl) or te rra zo .

A ll of the houses had roofs with wood bases (plyw ood, gen erally). 

About 80 p ercen t of the roofs w ere covered with asphalt shingles.

A pproxim ately 11 percent of all the houses surveyed w ere substantially fa ctory produ ced "p refa b ricated or package" h om es. A ll but two of 

these houses w ere located in the North Central region . "S h ell" houses w ere 

not included in the survey.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
11

C osts: T otal and Square Foot

H ouses built in m etropolitan a re a s--a b o u t 80 percent of the houses 

stu d ied --v a ried rela tiv ely little in total construction p rice and general design from those erected in nonm etropolitan loca tion s. H ow ever, basem ents 

w ere featured to a greater extent in the houses built in the nonm etropolitan 

areas and their square foot floor area was not included in the calculated 

area of the houses studied. A s a resu lt, the construction p rice per square 

foot was higher in the nonm etropolitan areas than in the m ore urbanized 

a rea s. On the other hand, houses in m etropolitan areas w ere generally 

la rg er in size in term s of calculated area, averaging 1, 262 square feet, as 

com pared with houses in nonm etropolitan area s, which averaged 1, 149 square 

feet. Consequently, although the houses in m etropolitan areas had a low er 

construction p rice per square foot, the average total construction p rice for 

houses in m etropolitan areas was slightly higher than in the le ss populated 

a rea s.

The exclu sion of basem ents from the calcu lated area provides an 

explanation for other seem ingly incongruous per square foot cost data. F or 

exam ple, in table 1, houses in the study without garages or ca rp orts are 

shown as having a higher average per square foot cost than those with such 

fa cilitie s. When this house ch a ra cteristic is exam ined in relation to the 

presen ce or absence of basem ents, the follow ing is revealed:

H ouses with 

full or partial 

basem ents

Houses

without

basem ents

Number C ost per 

square foot Number C ost per 

square foot

Garage .......................................... 26 $ 1 2 .9 3 38 $ 1 0 .8 3

C arport ........................................ 4 ( i /) 12 10. 28

Neither ca rp ort nor garage . 17 12. 63 4 (I/)

in s u fficie n t covera ge

Without exception, exam ination of a structural feature or ch a ra cte ristic of the houses in relation to the existence or nonexistence of basem ents 

indicated that those houses with basem ents had a higher per square foot cost. 

This re fle cts , m ainly, the inclusion of costs invested in the construction of 

a basem ent without a com pensating allow ance for its square foot area.

Thus, while there was uniform ity in m any structural features of the 

houses studied, analysis of the square foot cost data m ust be m ade with an

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
1 2

aw areness of the m any p ossib le com binations of features which m ay affect 

this cost, in addition to regional influences.

F orty -tw o p ercen t of the houses studied w ere built by builders with 

an annual building volum e of 100 or m ore hom es. The num ber of houses 

studied, the average per square foot cost and con stru ction p rice , by annual 

builder volum e, was as follow s:

Annual volum e of builder Num ber 

of houses

C ost per 

square foot

C ost

per house

200 and o v e r ............................... 19 $ 1 1 .0 9 $ 13,487

100 to 199 ................................... 23 11. 28 13, 647

50 to 99 ........................................ 16 11.83 15,309

Under 50 ...................................... 43 12. 28 15, 302

A s noted p reviou sly, the estim ates of cost (and m an-•hours required)

are related to the construction p rice of the h o u s e --i. e. , the m arket value 

le ss the im proved land or lot value. F or all the houses studied, the average 

m arket value and im proved lot value as a percen t of m arket value, by degree 

of urbanization, w ere as follow s:

A verage m arket value P ercen t lot value

A ll h o u s e s .......................................... $ 1 7 ,7 1 2 17.7

In m etropolitan a r e a s ................... 17, 923 18.2

In nonm etropolitan a r e a s ............ 16,860 15.2

R eal estate com m ission s and other sales expense in connection 

with sale of the houses averaged about 3. 5 p ercen t of the m arket value and 

4 .5 percent of the construction p rice .

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
13

On-Site M an-H our R equirem ents

M an-hours at the construction site, obtained by dividing total m anhours by total construction p rice, averaged 7 2 per $ 1 ,0 0 0 of construction 

p rice , for all the houses studied.

A lm ost half of the individual houses ranged from 60 to 80 m an -h ou rs. 

H ow ever, the ov era ll range was m uch w ider, reflectin g special circu m stan ces 

a ssocia ted with the houses which tended to d ecrea se or in crease their unit 

labor requ irem en ts. The survey d isclosed the existence of m arked d iffe rences in group averages when the data w ere analyzed by various criteria 

such as construction p rice , location, annual b u ild ers1 volum e, and co n stru ction ch a ra cte ristics. (See table 2.) C om parisons are affected by d ifferen ces 

in design, m aterials and relative co sts, p articu larly between region s.

O n -site m an-hour requirem ents per $ 1,000 of construction p rice in ­

cre a se d as the construction p rice of the houses in crea sed . This re fle cts, in 

part, the inclusion at each su ccessiv ely higher construction p rice lev el, additional, m ore expensive, cu stom -bu ilt luxury features which the m ore affluent 

hom ebuyer seeks. G en erally, the inclusion of these features req u ires m ore 

exacting craftsm anship, a higher degree of quality con trol, and, consequently, 

m ore on -site tim e per $ 1, 000 of construction p rice .

H om es built in m etropolitan areas requ ired 70 m an-hours per $ 1, 000 

of construction p rice and those in nonm etropolitan a rea s, 81. The higher 

m an-hours requ ired for the houses built in the latter area appear to re fle ct 

several fa cto rs. These involved som e d ifferen ces in structural features and 

som e regional influ ences. Structurally, the p resen ce of a la rg er p roportion 

of houses in the nonm etropolitan areas with m ason ry facing and with b a sem ents contributed to the in crea sed requirem ents for these a rea s. F o rty -fiv e 

percent of the houses in the le ss urbanized areas w ere fa ced with m asonry. 

Only 30 percen t of the m etropolitan area hom es had such e x teriors. A nalysis 

of the m an -h ou rs by type o f ex terior w all revealed that houses with m ason ry 

outer w alls had the highest m an-hour requirem ents per $ 1,000. Sixty p e r ­

cent of the nonm etropolitan area houses had basem ents while only 43 percent 

of those in m etropolitan area w ere built with this featu re. B asem ents in ­

volve excavating and flo o r and wall finishing.

G en erally, for m ost houses surveyed, low er m an-hour requirem ents 

w ere a ssocia ted with greater than average use of skilled craftsm en . Higher 

proportion s of la b orers and help ers w ere usually related to higher m an-hour 

requirem ents per $1,000 of construction p rice (table 3).

R egional Group C om parisons

O n -site m an-hour requirem ents per $ 1, 000 v a ried by region . (See 

table 4 .) C om pared with the average fo r all the houses studied, they w ere

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T able 2. O n-Site M an-H our R equirem ents per $ 1,000 of C onstruction P ric e for Surveyed

P rivate O n e-F a m ily H ouses, by S elected C h a ra cteristics and R egion, 1962

Characteristic United

States Northeast North

Central South West

A ll h o u s e s ............................................ 72. 1 73.5 61.4 91.4 56. 8

In m etropolitan a r e a s .......................... 70. 0 74. 5 59. 8 87. 7 55. 2

In nonm etropolitan a r e a s ................... 80. 6 0/) 68.0 103. 6 o/)

Construction price groups:

$ 18, 000 and over ............................ 77. 7 (1/) 0/) (1/) (1 /)

$ 15, 0 0 0-$ 17, 999 ............................ 72. 8 74. 8 63. 5 8E. 9 60.0

$ 12, 0 0 0-$ 14, 999 ............................ 70.0 72.0 55. 6 106. 8 52. 5

Under $12,000 ................................... 68.4 0 7 ) 57. 9 80. 7 54.0

Annual volume of builder:

200 and o v e r ........................................ 55. 7 (1/) 54.0 0/) 51.4

100-199 .................................................. 67. 7 0 7 ) 51.4 87.6 55. 5

50-99 ...................................................... 67. 6 68. 5 (1/) 0/) 59.0

Under 5 0 ............................................... 82. 2 73. 9 75. 5 93.9 64. 8

Construction price per square foot:

$ 1 3 .0 0 and over ............................... 72. 9 74. 5 68. 1 (1/) 0/)

$ 12. 0 0 -$ 12. 99 ................................. 83. 5 (1/) (1/) 115.7 0 7 )

$ 1 1 .0 0 -$ 11.99 ................................. 65. 7 59. 1 07) 89.8 52. 8

$ 1 0 .0 0 -$ 10.99 ................................. 67. 0 (1/) 07) 76. 6 51.9

Under $ 1 0 . 0 0 ...................................... 72. 1 ( I / ) ( I / ) 88.0 56. 8

Average wage rate paid (on-site):

$3.50 and over ................................. 55.9 57.8 55.0 55. 9

$ 2. 50 -$ 3. 49 ...................................... 73. 3 77.4 68. 2 75.9 07)

Under- $ 2 .5 0 ........................................ 99. 2 07) 07) 100.6

See footnote at end of table.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T able 2. O n-Site M an-H our R equirem ents per $ 1,000 of C onstruction P ric e for Surveyed

P rivate O n e-F a m ily H ouses, by S elected C h a ra cteristics and R egion, 1 9 6 2 --Continued

Characteristic United

States Northeast North

Central South West

Number of square feet:

1,400 and o v e r ................................... 73. 3 79. 5 64. 8 89.7 59.9

1 ,2 0 0 -1 ,3 9 9 ........................................ 63. 6 (1/) (1/) 78.0 53. 5

1 ,0 0 0 -1 ,9 9 9 ........................................ 77. 5 72. 3 64. 3 106. 1 56. 3

Under 1,000 . . . ................................. 67. 5 (1/) 56.9 82. 3 an

One s t o r y .................................................... 69. 9 69.9 56. 3 89.4 55. 2

Two s t o r i e s ............................................... a / ) (1/) (1/) - -

Split level ................................................. 77. 9 (I/) 71.9 an an

2 b e d r o o m s ............................................... (1/) ____ — — an an

3 b e d r o o m s ............................................... 73. 2 74. 6 62. 8 91.9 57.0

4 b e d r o o m s ............................................... 66. 9 (I/) (1/) (I/) 55.0

1 b a t h r o o m ............................................... 70. 8 74.4 60.0 82. 2 57. 3

1-1 /2 bathrooms ................................... 76. 8 (1/) 60.4 110.6 (1/)

2 bathroom s ............................................ 67. 1 (1/) (1/) 84.4 57. 1

2-1 / 2 bathroom s ................................... 80.0 77. 6 (I/) an an

Basement or partial basement . . . . 75.4 72. 3 62. 8 108. 2 67. 0

No b a sem en t............................................ 68. 7 (1/) 57. 8 83. 8 53. 9

G a r a g e ........................................................ 66. 8 74. 1 60.7 80. 3 55. 9

C a r p o r t ...................................................... 86. 0 (1/) 92. 5 (1/)

Neither garage nor c a r p o r t.............. 79. 3 (1/) 58. 9 114. 6 an

Type of framing:

W ood ........................................................ 72.0 73. 3 61.4 96. 1 55. 9

M a son ry 2 ............................................... 72. 6 (1/) - - 76. 9 an

See footnotes at end of table.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T able 2. O n-Site M an-H our R equirem ents per $ 1,000 of C onstruction P ric e for Surveyed

P rivate O n e-F a m ily H ouses, by S elected C h a ra cteristics and R egion, 1 9 6 2 --C ontinued

Characteristic United 

State s Northeast North

Central South West

Exterior wall material:

M a s o n r y ............................................... 82. 7 (1/) 61.3 96.7 (1/)

W o o d ...................................................... 70. 9 71.9 (I/) (1/) 07)

Stucco .................................................... 59.9 07) 53. 7

Other3...................................................... 67. 8 73. 1 61.6 88. 6 55.4

Interior wall material:

D ry w a ll............................................. .. . 68.7 70.8 59.6 87.6 57.5

P la ster .................................................. 84. 3 80.0 (I/) 99.9 07)

Type of heating system:

W arm air ............................................. 71.5 75.4 63. 1 89.9 56. 8

Hot water ............................................. 74. 6 71.6 (1/) 0/)

E l e c t r i c .................................................. (I/) do do

Type of floors:

W o o d ...................................................... 76. 5 73.5 62. 8 105.0 61.4

R esilien t tile ...................................... 59.0 59.4 71.4 49. 8

Other4 .................................................... 70. 6 - “ (1/) 74. 8 07)

insufficient coverage to warrant presentation, 

in c lu d e s 1 com bination wood and m ason ry fram ed house.

in clu des houses with exterior walls of asbestos shingles or aluminum siding and houses 

w h ere a com bination of m aterials w ere used.

4T e r r a z z o and uncovered slab.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
17

Table 3. On-Site M an-Hour Requirem ents per $ 1,000 of Construction 

Price of Surveyed Private One-Fam ily Houses, by Proportion of Lower 

Skilled Labor Employed1 and Region, 1962

Percent lower M an-hours per $ 1,000 of construction price

skilled workers 

of total

United

States Northeast North

Central South West

All workers . . . . 72. 1 73. 5 61.4 91.4 56. 8

20.0 and under . . . 64.0 70. 7 62. 7 87. 2 56. 1

20. 1 and over . . . . 82. 8 76. 0 61.4 92.4 61.7

*For purposes of this comparison, laborers, helpers, and tenders 

were considered lower skilled.

Table 4. Distribution of Surveyed Private One-Fam ily Houses, by 

Number of On-Site M an-H ours R equired for Each $ 1,000 of Construction

P rice, by Region, 1962

Percent of man-hours 

required

United

States Northeast North

Central South West

Average man-hours for

all p r o je c t s ..................... 72. 1 73. 5 61.4 91.4 56. 8

Man-hour range Percent of projects

Under 6 0 .0 .......................... 32. 7 16. 7 54. 2 5.9 60. 0

60.0-69.9 ............................ 19. 8 22. 2 20. 8 11.8 28.0

7 0 .0-79.9 ............................ 21. 8 38. 9 12. 5 26. 5 12.0

80.0-89.9 ............................ 9.9 11. 1 12. 5 14. 7

9 0 .0 -9 9 .9 ............................ 3.0 5. 6 5.9

100.0 and over ................. 12. 9 5. 6 - - 35. 3 - -

Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not add

to 100.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
18

The higher m an-hours per $ 1, 000 of construction p rice in the South 

reflected som e of the following influences. A lm ost 60 percent of the houses 

in that region had exterior walls of masonry. The stucco-walled houses in 

the region, generally lower in man-hour requirements, had concrete block 

fram es. M oreov er, there was a m ore frequent use of la b orers and helpers, 

contributing to a higher m an-hour usage.

In the Northeast, a higher than average construction p rice, a greater 

admixture of different types of exterior walls, frequently in combination with 

brick, and the p resen ce of basements in clo se to 90 percent of the houses, 

seem to have contributed to the higher man-hours.

In the West, the region with the lowest m an-hour requirements, 40 

percent of the houses were built with stucco exteriors applied to wire mesh 

over wood fram es. Eighty percent of the houses were without basements.

F orty percent w ere built by builders with a homebuilding volume of 200 or 

m ore houses yearly. These builders represented almost half of all the 200- 

o r -m o r e volume hom ebuilders in the study.

In the North Central region, the m ost important factor contributing 

to its low er m an-hour requirem ents was the presen ce of over 80 percent of 

the substantially ’’prefabricated or package” houses in the sample. In these 

hom es, a considerable amount of the time which would usually have been devoted to on-site activity would obviously have been perform ed off-site. This 

region was second to the West in the number of hom ebuilders with an annual 

volume of 200 or m ore h o u s e s --a lm o s t a third of all such builders studied.

Requirements by Occupation

W orkers in the skilled trades accounted for 73 percent of the total 

on -site m an-hours. Sem iskilled and unskilled w ork ers accounted for 24 p e r ­

cent of the hours and nonproduction employees (supervisors, engineers, 

clerk s), 3 percent (table 5).

Within the skilled trades, the w orkers in four predominant c r a ft s -- 

carpenters, painters, bricklayers (and masons), and plum bers--accounted 

for 75 percent of all the skilled m an-hours. Carpenters w ere by far the 

largest group of skilled workers employed at the site. They were responsible for 47 percent of the skilled hours and 35 percent of total on -site hours, 

exceeding the combined hours of work of the sem iskilled and unskilled w orkers. 

Painters w ere next in occupational im portance with 13 percent of the skilled 

hours; bricklayers and plumbers followed, each working about the same amount 

of t im e - - slightly over 7 percent. Although there w ere variations among p r o jects in the proportion of hours worked by each of these crafts, as well as the 

others, there were relatively few exceptions in the order of skilled craft 

importance.

som ewhat higher in the N ortheast and substantially higher in the South; they

w ere con sid erab ly low er in both the W est and North Central region s.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 5. O n -S ite M a n -H o u r R eq u irem en ts per $ 1,000 of C o n stru ction P r i c e for S u r v e y e d P riv a t e O n e - F a m i l y H o u se s, by O ccu p ation and R egion, 1962

Occupation

United States Northeast North Central South We st

Man-hours

worked Percent Man-hours

worked Percent M a n -h o u r s worked Percent M a n -h o u r s 

worked Percent Man-hours

worked Percent

All o ccu p a tion s ............................ 72. 1 100.0 73.5 100.0 61.4 100.0 91.4 100.0 56. 8 100.0

Supervisory, professional,

technical, and c le r ic a l ............. 2. 1 3.0 1.7 2. 3 1. 3 2. 1 3. 1 3.4 2. 1 3. 8

C a r p e n te rs ........................................... 24. 9 34.6 22. 9 31.2 24. 7 40. 2 29. 1 31.8 21. 3 37.6

Painters ................................................ 6. 9 9.5 7.4 10. 1 4. 9 8. 0 8. 6 9.4 6, 2 11.0

B r i c k l a y e r s ......................................... 3. 9 5.5 4.5 6. 2 3.4 5.6 5.4 6. 0 2. 0 3. 6

P lu m b e r s .............................................. 3. 8 5. 2 4.4 6.0 4. 0 6. 5 3. 3 3. 6 3. 6 6. 3

Cement fin ish e rs .............................. 2. 8 3.9 3.4 4.6 3. 9 6. 3 2.4 2. 6 1. 8 3. 2

E l e c t r i c i a n s ......................................... 2.0 2. 8 2.0 2.7 2.0 3. 3 2. 1 2. 3 1.9 3.4

P lasterers ........................................... 1.4 2.0 1.4 1.9 .4 . 7 2. 2 2.4 1.4 2.5

Sheet-m etal w ork ers ....................... 1. 3 1.8 1. 2 1.6 2.0 3. 2 .9 1.0 1. 3 2.4

R o o f e r s ................................................... 1.0 1.4 1. 3 1 .8 . 7 1. 2 . 8 . 8 1.5 2. 6

Operating e n g in e e rs ....................... 1.0 1.4 1.5 2. 1 1. 2 1.9 . 8 . 8 . 8 1.4

T ile s e t t e r s ......................................... . 7 1.0 .9 1. 3 . 5 . 8 . 8 .9 . 6 1.0

Soft floor layers .............................. .6 .8 . 5 . 7 .6 1.0 . 5 . 5 . 8 1.4

A l l oth er sk ille d w o r k e r s 1 , . . . . 2.4 3. 3 1.5 2. 1 2.4 3. 9 Z. 9 3. 1 2. 3 4. 1

L a b o r e r s .............................................. 10. 7 14. 8 11.2 15. 2 7.0 11.3 17.0 18. 6 6. 0 10.6

Helpers and t e n d e r s ....................... 6. 1 8.5 7. 3 10.0 2. 2 3. 6 11. 3 12.4 2.4 4. 2

T r u c k d r i v e r s and w a tc h m e n . . . . 3 .5 . 3 .4 . 2 .4 . 2 . 3 . 6 1 . 1

Hncludes lathers, terrazzo workers, sheet rock installers and finishers, insulators, glaziers, and ironworkers. 

Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items m ay not add to totals.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
20

With w ood used so extensively to fram e, cov er (whole or in part), 

flo o r, and trim on e-fa m ily houses, it is not d ifficu lt to appreciate the reason 

for the im portance of ca rp en ters. M oreov er, ca rp en ters are used in m any 

areas to install dryw all in teriors and to p erform other tasks. With the use 

of paint indicated on som e part or all of the ex teriors and in teriors for all 

the sam ple h ou ses, the im portance of the painters is a lso rea d ily understood.

V ariations from region to region in ratios of m an-hours w orked by 

different trades r e fle ct d ifferen ces in regional design and con stru ction needs 

as w ell as w ork p ra ctice s. The p roportion of b rick la y ers used in each of the 

region s appears to re fle ct the p reviou sly noted substantially greater use of 

m a son ry ex teriors in the South and the N ortheast, as com p ared with the W est, 

and, to a le s s e r d egree, the North Central region . The con sid erab ly low er 

p roportion of p la sterers in the N orth Central region than in the other region s 

appears to be related to the m ore extensive use of substantially p refa brica ted 

or package hom es in that region . This would also account for the higher p e r ­

centage of ca rp en ters' hours in the sam e region , reflectin g an in crea sed use 

of these journeym en in assem bling such h om es. The higher p roportion of 

p la sterers used in the W est and South than in either the N ortheast or North 

Central region s re fle cts the p resen ce of the stucco houses in the fo rm e r.

The extensive use of dryw all in teriors obviously had its im pact on the extent 

of p la sterer m an-hours used in all the reg ion s.

In the m atter of w ork p ra ctice s, a num ber of fa ctors a ffect the r e ­

gional distribution by occupation, apart from the con stru ction requ irem en ts. 

F or exam ple, organization of w ork crew s and jo b cla ssifica tion m ay be 

a ffected by the relative participation of lo ca l unions. F oca l custom m ay in ­

fluence the opportunity of union m em bership and journeym an job s for m in o rity groups. Finally, lo ca l availability of low er paid labor m ay affect the 

extent to which labor saving construction m ethods or equipm ent are em ployed.

T hese fa ctors particu larly influence the d ivision between sk illed and 

unskilled w ork ers. In the South, unskilled and sem isk illed em ployees a c ­

counted fo r 31 percen t of the m an -h ou rs, com p ared with 16 percent in the 

W est; the percentages for sk illed trades w ere 65 and 81 p ercen t, re sp e ctiv e ly .

B uilder or G eneral and Special T rade C on tractors' Share

E m ployees of the builder (or developer or general contractor) and 

four sp ecia l trade con tra ctors, C arpentry, Plum bing and H eating, Painting, 

and M a son ry, accounted for 76 p ercen t of the total m an-hours requ ired for 

the con stru ction of all the houses surveyed. (See table 6 .) The bu ild ers' 

share, averaging 46 p ercen t of all the p ro je cts, was highest in the South 

(53 percen t). In the South, the builders assum ed a large share of the co n ­

struction duties, thereby lim iting the subcontracting need. With over 80 p e r ­

cent of the p refa brica ted or package houses studied loca ted in the North Central region , the 5 0 .6 percent on -site m an-hour share of the builders re fle cts 

a le s s e r dependence on subcontracting due to the amount of w ork p erform ed 

o ff-s ite by the m anufacturers of such h ou ses. In the N ortheast and W est, the

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
21

Table 6. P ercen t of Total On-Site M an-H our R equirem ents for Surveyed 

P rivate O n e-F am ily H ouses, by Type of C ontractor and R egion, 1962

Type of con tractor United

States N ortheast North

Central South W est

A ll t y p e s ............................ 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

G e n e r a l................................... 4 5 .6 32.4 50.6 53.0 38. 6

C a r p e n tr y ............................... 9 .4 15. 8 3.5 9 .5 9 .0

Plum bing and heating . . . . 8 .6 8. 5 10. 1 7 .5 9 .4

P a in tin g ................................... 6 .6 7 .4 6 .6 5 .5 7. 7

M a s o n r y ................................. 5 .6 5. 7 6. 7 5. 2 5. 1

C oncrete w o r k ..................... 4. 2 5 .0 5. 1 2.4 6. 1

E le ctrica l ............................... 2.8 2. 8 3. 3 2.4 3. 3

P la sterin g and lathing . . . 2. 6 3. 5 1. 1 2. 8 2. 7

R oofing and sheetm etal . . 2.0 3. 2 .9 1.5 2 .8

T ile and terra zzb w ork . . 1.6 1. 3 . 7 2. 3 1.8

E x c a v a t io n ............................ 1.6 3. 2 2.4 .4 1.4

W ood flo o r in g ....................... 1 .2 1.9 .9 .9 1. 3

Other f l o o r i n g ..................... .8 . 5 1.0 .5 1. 3

A ll other t y p e s ..................... 7 .5 8. 8 7 .0 6.0 9 .6

Note: B ecause of rounding, sums of individual item s m ay not add

to 100.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
22

builders used m ore special trades con tra ctors. Thus, on -site m an-hour 

percentages for each of the con tractor ca teg ories, by region, are affected 

by the extent to which the builder p erform ed any of the operations or p u rchased p refa brica ted com ponents which substantially lessen ed the need for 

the o n -site perform an ce of such operations.

The average num ber of con tra ctors for each house studied was 14. 

(See table 7.)

C onstruction T im e

A verage construction tim e requ ired for the on e-fa m ily houses su rveyed was about 15 w eeks. (See table 8.) One substantially p refa brica ted 

hom e took 1 w eek to build and be m ade ready for the p rosp ective buyer. 

Another house, which encountered a number of construction delays took 31 

w eeks to build. F or m ost of the hou ses, how ever, construction tim e ranged 

from 10 to 20 w eeks, and this is reflected in the relative closen ess of the 

averages by region . The average for the North Central region, the low est 

at 13 w eeks of construction tim e, indicates the influence of the p refa brica ted 

houses in that region.

The C ost of D irect W ages8

Wage paym ents to on -site labor averaged 22. 1 percent of the total 

construction p rice . (See table 9 .) The percentage reflects the com bined 

effect of m an-hour requirem ents and wage rates for individual houses. F or 

the individual hou ses, the percentage ranged from 14. 3 to 32. 5. G enerally, 

when con sid ered by cost cla ss, the percentage rose as the construction p rice 

of the houses ro s e .

T h ere was substantial variation am ong the houses studied, in the 

ratio of on -site w ages to total construction p rice . The range of w ages as 

a percent of construction p rice and the average wage rate, by range, for 

all the houses studied was as follow s:

P ercen t on -site wages 

w ere of construction p rice

A verage P ercen t of

wage rate houses studied

15.0 and under 

15. 1 to 20.0

20. 1 to 25.0 . , 

25. 1 to 30.0 . , 

30. 1 and over ,

$ 2 .5 2 3.0

3.05 31.7

3.03 4 5 .5

3. 22 16.8

3.08 3.0

8F or this study, ,ld irect w ages” w ere com puted by m ultiplying the 

hours w orked by the hourly wage rate. This was n e ce ssa ry in ord er to 

obtain inform ation for the sp ecific sam ple houses studied. E xcluded are 

vacation and holiday pay or other labor costs such as em ployer contributions 

to socia l secu rity, unem ploym ent insurance, w orkm en 's com pensation, and 

nongovernm ental em ployee w elfare and pension funds.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
23

Table 7. A verage Num ber of C ontractors per P rivate O n e-F am ily House,

by Cost Group and R egion, 1962

C ost group United

States N ortheast North

Central South W est

A ll g r o u p s ................... 14 16 11 12 19

$ 18, 000 and o v e r ............ 15 17 12 13 19

$ 1 5 ,0 0 0 - $ 17, 999 ............ 15 17 13 12 21

$12, 000-$ 14, 999 ............ 15 17 10 12 20

Under $12, 000 ................ 12 14 9 11 17

Table 8. A verage Number of W eeks R equired for C onstruction of Surveyed 

P rivate O n e-F am ily H ouses, by Cost Group and R egion, 1962

C ost group United

States N ortheast North

Central South W est

A ll g r o u p s ................... 15 15 13 16 17

$ 18, 000 and o v e r ............ 16 17 13 17 16

$15, 00 0-$ 17, 999 ............ 16 16 18 13 20

$ 1 2 ,0 0 0 -$ 14, 999 ............ 15 16 10 20 15

Under $ 1 2,0 00 ................. 14 11 12 14 19

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 9. A v e ra g e O n -S ite S tra ig h t-T im e H ou rly E arn in gs and W ages as a P e rce n t o f C on stru ction P r ic e

on S u rveyed P riv a te O n e -F a m ily H ou ses, by R egion and M etrop olita n o r N on m etrop olitan L oca tion , 1962

U nited S ta te s N orth east N orth C en tral South W est

A re a A v e ra g e

h ourly

W ages a s 

p ercen t of 

c o n s tr u c ­

A v erag e

hourly

W ages a s 

p ercen t of 

c o n stru c ­

A v e rag e

hourly

W ages a s 

p ercen t of 

c o n str u c ­

A v e rag e

h ourly

W ages a s 

p ercen t of 

c o n str u c ­

A v erag e

hourly

W ages a s 

percen t of 

c o n s tr u e -

w age tion p rice wage tion p rice w age tion p ric e w age tion p ric e w age tion p rice

A ll h o u se s .... $ 3 . 0 7 22. 1 $ 3 . 21 23. 6 $ 3 .4 2 21.0 $ 2 . 35 2 1 .5 $ 4 .0 5 23.0

In a m e tro p o litan

$ 4 .0 6 22. 5 a r e a ......................... $ 3 . 14 2 2.0 $ 3 . 22 2 4 .0 $ 3 . 54 21. 1 $ 2 . 37 20. 8

In a n o n m e tro ­

politan a r e a . . . 2. 85 2 2 .9 3. 11 ? 1 . 0 3. 00 2 0 .4 2. 30 23. 9 3 .9 9 25. 7

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
25

O ff-Site Em ploym ent

F or each m an-hour of em ploym ent p erform ed on the construction 

sites, an additional 1.8 m an-hours w ere requ ired to produce and distribute 

the n e ce ssa ry construction m a terials, supplies, and equipm ent used in co n ­

struction and to p erform those functions a ssociated with the selling costs of 

on e-fa m ily hou ses. These p ro je cts, thus, gave rise to 132 m an-hours of 

such o ff-s ite em ploym ent per $ 1 ,0 0 0 of construction p rice , com pared with 

7 2 hours on -site.

O ff-site em ploym ent is generated in m any p la ces, but can be c la s s ified in the follow ing ca teg ories:

1. Construction in d u s try --o ff-s ite : A dm inistrative, estim ating, and 

w arehousing functions.

2. M anufacturing activities producing raw m a teria ls, fabricated 

m a teria ls, and equipment.

3. Transportation, w arehousing, and distribution of fabricated and 

raw m aterials and equipm ent and all other related serv ice industries, in ­

cluding real estate.

4. A ll other industries d irectly or in d irectly affected by the p rod u ction of fabricated and raw m a terials. V arious interindustry transactions 

eventually affect all additional industries such as agricu ltu re, forestry , and 

m ining.

T here are, of cou rse, other people affected in types of em ploym ent 

which this study did not attempt to co v e r. Som e of these are m entioned on 

page 3. Of the w ork ers om itted, the m ost n u m erically im portant groups, 

who would be d irectly affected by construction of on e-fa m ily houses, w ere 

em ployees in utility com panies and loca l governm ents. These em ployees 

and their functions w ere excluded from the m an-hour estim ates. A large 

area of em ploym ent also excluded from the calculations of m an-hour effects, 

as m entioned e a rlie r, is that created by the respending and investing of 

wages and profits arisin g in various areas of econ om ic activity as a result 

of construction expenditures.

Although the ratio of on -site to o ff-s ite em ploym ent requirem ents is 

com m only used in analyzing em ploym ent requirem ents in the construction 

industry, another type of distinction based upon the econ om ic relations of 

the labor generating areas is also useful. T h erefore, em ploym ent re q u ire ­

m ents have also been divided into p rim ary and secon dary m an-hour needs. 

A s shown in the follow ing tabulation and chart 1, the p rim ary m an-hour r e ­

quirem ents, estim ated at 157, a rise in the activities at the site and those 

m ost d irectly related to the construction activity. Included in these, in

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
2 6

addition to on -site em ploym ent, are o ff-s ite con stru ction em ploym ent, 

em ployees of m anufacturing industries rep resen ted at the l,last stage of 

m anufacturing” for m aterials p rior to shipment to the site, em ployees in 

transportation, trade, and serv ice organizations dealing in m aterials used 

at the site, and em ployees in other related serv ice industries.

Secondary m an-hour requirem ents have been defined as those a s s o ­

ciated with all other requirem ents in d irectly related to the needs at the site. 

Such activities totaling 47 hours or 23 percen t of total m an-hour re q u ire ­

m ents a ffect all parts of the econom y as the im pact of p rim ary activity is 

reflected in demand for basic m aterials and related transportation, trade, 

and s e rv ic e s . The follow ing tabulation shows m an-hours of em ploym ent 

a ssocia ted with $ 1,000 of on e-fa m ily house construction.

T otal P rim a ry Secondary

activities activities

A ll industry g r o u p s ................................... 204 157 47

C o n s tr u c tio n ...................................................... 84 84

O n -s it e ............................................................... 72 72

O ff-site ............................................................. 12 12 —

M a n u fa ctu rin g ................................................... 58 38 20

T ransportation, trade, and serv ice . . . . 49 35 14

Other ...................................................................... 13 - - 13

Som e industries are rep resen ted in both the p rim ary and secon dary

se cto rs . F or exam ple, the flat glass industry furnishes m aterial d irectly 

to the construction industry and also to the m etal or w ood window fram e and 

sash industries which in turn sell p regla zed window fra m es to the con stru ction industry.

B u ild ers1 O ff-S ite E m ploym ent

An exact study of o ff-s ite em ploym ent of con tra ctors was not attem pted, 

since it was im possible to relate accu rately such em ploym ent to the houses 

being studied. B u ild ers1 o ff-s ite em ploym ent was occu pied not only with the 

p rojects studied but also with other current or future p rojects of the b u ild ers.

The estim ate of 12 m an-hours of such w ork for each $ 1 ,0 0 0 of co n ­

struction p rice is based on the d ifferen ce between construction w ork er em ­

ploym ent and total em ploym ent in the con tract construction in d u stry .9

A d m in istra tiv e , engineering, estim ating, and c le r ica l w ork ers a c ­

counted for about 14 percent of total em ploym ent in the construction industry. 

About on e-fou rth of this em ploym ent was involved at the site.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
27

Com bining this em ploym ent with on -site em ploym ent resu lts in an 

estim ate of 84 hours of em ploym ent in the construction industry for each 

$ 1 ,0 0 0 of on e-fa m ily house construction.

Em ploym ent in T ransportation, T rade, and S ervice

D istribution of construction m aterials from the producing industries 

requ ires em ploym ent of w ork ers in the transportation, w arehousing, trade, 

and serv ice industries. The estim ate of 35 hours of p rim ary em ploym ent 

per $ 1,000 of construction p rice includes labor tim e based on the differen ce 

between p ro d u ce r's value and d elivered value of m aterials used at the site. 

This co v e rs the distribution of m aterials from the p rodu cers to construction 

site but does not include the distribution of m aterials among industries p rior 

to shipment of the com pleted products. In addition, the estim ate includes 

labor generated by selling and other overhead co sts.

"E ast M anufacturing Stage" Em ploym ent

The sector of the econom y m ost affected by on e-fa m ily house 

construction, other than the construction industry, is m anufacturing. An 

estim ated 38 m an-hours w ere required for each $ 1,000 of construction 

p rice for production of construction m aterials used in the building of onefam ily hou ses. This estim ate includes the em ploym ent required in the last 

m anufacturing p ro ce ss of the m aterials and that created by expenditures for 

overhead cost. 0 E m ploym ent generate^ by these activities is distributed 

in m any industries d irectly affected by construction w ork. F or exam ple, it 

includes saw m ills cutting rough lum ber for form s, and establishm ents m aking m illw ork item s from lum ber, but does not include em ploym ent in saw ­

m ills producing lum ber for m illw ork products. The latter is included in the 

estim ate of secon dary em ploym ent d iscu ssed below .

E m ploym ent in Secondary A ctivities

In addition to the 38 m an-hours previou sly noted for p rim ary em ployment for each $ 1 ,0 0 0 of construction p rice, an additional 20 hours w ere 

required in secon dary m anufacturing activities.

T ransportation, trade, and serv ice industries as a group required 

14 hours of em ploym ent for each $ 1 ,0 0 0 of on e-fa m ily house construction 

p rice to m eet the needs of secondary business activity.

Other a ctiv ities, p rim a rily agricultu re, fo re stry , and m ining 

accounted for the rem aining 13 hours of secondary m anpow er requirem en ts.

10Included in the bill of m aterials w ere the supplies and the expended 

value of the equipment used by builders and other construction con tra ctors.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
28

M aterials U sed

C osts of m a terials represen ted 48. 2 p ercen t of the total construction 

p rice of all the houses surveyed. This includes depreciation charges or 

rental costs for construction equipment used and the sm all amounts of supplies consum ed, in addition to the m aterials in corporated in the h ou ses. It 

also includes distribution costs and rep resen ts m aterials cost delivered to 

the site. The m a jority of the houses w ere within 5 percent of the ov era ll 

average for m aterials costs:

P ercen t m aterials cost of 

total construction p rice P ercen t of houses

Under 4 0 ........................................................................................... 9

40 to 4 4 ............................................................................................. 22

45 to 4 9 ............................................................................................. 33

50 to 5 4 ............................................................................................. 22

55 to 5 9 ............................................................................................. 8

60 and o v e r ...................................................................................... 6

Table 10 p resents the costs of m a jor m aterials and groups of m a teria ls used in each $ 1 ,0 0 0 of construction p rice for all the houses studied, 

by region . The groups and the item s within the groups are ranked by amounts 

spent for the produ cts, on all the hou ses. Although the table presents the 

costs of m aterials in term s of their dollar value, the in dividual item s m ay 

readily be reduced to the fam iliar m agnitudes of p ercen tages. Thus, the 

sum of $115. 30 shown for the United States under stone, clay, and glass 

products would be 11.5 percent of the construction p rice .

The m ost im portant broad m aterials ca tegory, lum ber and lum ber 

produ cts, accounted for about 19 percent of the total construction p rice of 

all the houses stu d ied .11 Within the category, rough and d ressed lum ber 

rep resen ted 40 percent, m illw ork , 27 percent, and p refa brica ted or package 

houses, 17 percen t.

The la rg est single item am ong stone, clay, and glass produ cts, the 

next m ost im portant broad m aterials group, was rea d y-m ix ed con crete, 

which com p rised on e-th ird of the group.

u Each percent of the total construction p rice rep resen ts about $ 140 

m illion of annual expenditures at the current (1962) annual rate of new private 

nonfarm on e-fa m ily house construction (e. g. , $ 2. 7 b illion of lum ber produ cts, 

including p refa brica ted or package houses is rep resen ted by the 19. 3 p ercent).

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 10. C o st of M a te ria l C om ponents for E a ch $ 1,000 of C onstruction P r i c e of Surveyed P riv a te O n e -F a m ily H ou ses, by R egion, 1962

Selected products and product groups

United States Northeast North Central South West

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

A ll products1 .............................................................. $ 4 8 2 . 20 100 $ 5 0 4 .0 0 100 $ 5 01.6 0 100 $ 4 9 6 . 10 100 $427.80 100

Lum ber and lumber products ................................ $ 193.10 100 $ 2 0 6.00 100 $ 255.30 100 $ 183.40 100 $ 163. 10 100

Rough and dressed lu m b e r ...................... .. 77.40 94 85. 30 100 52. 30 71 80. 90 94 91.50 100

M i l l w o r k ......................................................................... 51. 30 95 6 7 .5 0 100 40. 70 75 57. 80 97 40.40 100

Prefabricated or package h o u s e s .................... 32.70 11 14. 80 6 112. 60 38 7. 30 3 (2/) (2/)

P l y w o o d .......................................................................... 11.40 70 16.00 89 8. 30 54 15. 30 79 Z . 00 60

F lo o r in g ........................................................................... 9. 10 62 15.50 100 7.00 54 8. 90 59 6. 30 48

Fabricated laminates, roof trusses . . . . . . . 8. 10 31 2. 70 11 4. 50 21 13. 20 41 9. 70 44

W o o d sh in g les ............................................................ 3. 10 14 4 . 30 28 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) 9. 30 36

Stone, clay, and glass p ro d u c ts ........................... 115.30 100 1 20. 20 100 109.00 100 127. 80 100 101.90 100

C em en t, c o n c r e t e , and g ypsu m p rod ucts . . 7 6 .4 0 100 78. 90 100 75. 30 100 81. 20 100 69. 30 100

R eady-m ix concrete .......................................... 38. 20 100 38 .00 100 41.70 100 37.00 100 36. 50 100

G y p s u m p r o d u c t s .................................................. 19.60 96 19.00 100 16. 20 88 19. 80 97 23. 10 100

Concrete block and b r i c k ................................ 9.00 51 8. 50 56 9.00 54 14. 50 71 2.50 20

C e m e n t ......................................................................... 5. 30 99 5.40 100 4.40 100 5. 90 97 5. 60 100

P r e c a s t c o n c r e t e p r o d u c t s .............................. 2.9 0 41 6. 60 78 2. 70 46 2.00 21 1.40 36

L i m e ............................................................................ .90 64 . 80 78 . 80 21 1.50 91 . 30 60

Concrete p i p e .................... .................................... .40 10 . 50 6 .60 17 . 50 15 (2/) (2/)

S tr u ctu r a l c la y p r o d u c t s ........................................ 19.70 98 19.90 100 16. 80 96 26. 80 100 13. 30 96

B r i c k ........................................................................... 12. 20 73 11. 20 78 10.50 58 18. 60 76 6. 70 80

C e r a m i c t i l e ............................................................ 5.60 83 7.40 100 3. 30 67 6. 70 88 4. 80 80

Clay sewer pipe and d ra in tile ...................... 1.90 61 1. 30 44 3. 00 88 1.40 35 1.80 84

Other stone, clay, and glass products . . . . 19. 30 100 21.50 100 16. 90 100 19. 80 100 19. 30 100

Sand and gravel .................................................... 3.80 93 3.40 94 3. 00 92 5. 60 97 2. 90 88

F ib e r g la ss in s u l a t i o n ........................................ 3.50 85 6.40 94 2. 70 71 3.00 91 2. 60 84

Asphalt t i l e .............................................................. 3.50 61 2. 60 72 4. 80 71 1. 50 26 5. 50 92

Vinyl and vinyl asbestos tile ......................... 2. 30 56 1.80 33 2. 30 46 2. 50 56 2. 60 36

M a r b le and oth er cut s t o n e ........................... 1.40 32 1. 30 44 . 80 21 2. 00 35 1.40 28

W in d ow g la s s .......................................................... 1.40 19 2. 50 11 1.50 12 1. 10 18 .90 32

Crushed rock and aggregate ......................... 1.20 32 3. 20 78 1. 30 33 . 70 18 . 30 17

Glass doors and e n clo su re s ........................... .90 21 .4 0 17 (2/) (2/) 1.40 21 1.70 40

M i r r o r s ...................................................................... . 80 10 U /) (2/) . 50 12 1. 30 6 1.00 20

See footnotes at end of table

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 10. C ost of M a t e r ia l C om p on en ts fo r E ach $ 1,000 of C on stru ction P r i c e o f S u r v e y e d P riv a te O n e - F a m ily H o u se s, by R eg ion , 1 9 6 2 - - Continued

Selected products and product groups

United States Northeast North Central South We st

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

M eta l p r o d u c t s (e x c e p t p lu m bin g and heating) . . . $ 5 2 . 80 100 $ 4 9 .4 0 100 $48. 00 100 $ 5 6 .60 100 $5 5 . 30 100

Fabricated metal p rod u cts ........................................ 34.80 100 27. 10 100 31. 30 100 40. 50 100 37. 30 100

M eta l w in d ow s ............................................................. 11.70 76 11.90 72 10. 30 62 11. 30 74 13. 50 96

Builders hardware .................................................. 7. 20 92 6. 70 100 5. 30 79 7. 70 91 8. 60 100

F a b r ic a t e d sh e e tm e ta l p r o d u c t s ....................... 5. 80 91 3. 10 78 5.00 88 8. 10 94 5. 90 100

Reinforcing bars, rods, etc ......................... .. 2. 70 50 . 90 17 2. 10 29 4. 30 68 2. 90 68

Metal doors, fram es, a ccessories ............... 2. 70 44 1.60 28 3. 20 33 2. 60 44 3. 20 64

S tru ctu ra l steel .......................................................... 2.00 35 . 70 22 4. 50 67 2. 10 35 . 60 12

W ir e m e s h ....................................................................... 1.40 52 .40 33 . 20 8 2. 30 76 2. 20 76

O r n a m en ta l m e ta l ..................................................... 1. 30 37 1.90 39 .60 17 2. 20 59 .40 24

Other metal products .................................................. 17.90 97 22. 30 100 16. 70 100 16. 10 100 18. 00 100

C o p p e r .............................................................................. 7.80 95 11.00 100 7. 10 96 7.40 94 6. 50 92

N a i l s ................................................................................... 4. 80 95 4. 60 100 3. 90 83 5. 60 97 4. 80 100

G a lv a n iz e d sh eet m e t a l ........................................... 2. 90 67 4. 20 78 2. 90 67 1.70 59 3.40 72

A lu m in u m sh eet m e t a l ........................................... 1.40 40 1.90 39 2. 30 25 . 70 41 1. 10 52

P lu m b in g p r o d u c t s ............................................................... 26. 80 100 22. 00 100 25.80 100 31. 10 100 26. 00 100

F i x t u r e s ................................................................................. 14.60 100 12.40 100 15.00 100 16. 60 100 13.40 100

C ast ir o n p i p e .................................................................... 5. 30 93 3. 90 83 3. 90 83 6. 90 100 5. 80 100

V a lv e s and s p e c ia lt ie s ................................................ 4. 30 100 4.40 100 3. 90 100 4. 30 100 4. 80 100

Steel and g a lv a n ize d p i p e ........................................... 2. 20 90 1.40 83 2. 70 92 2. 80 91 1.70 92

Heating and ventilating equ ipm ent ............................ 19. 60 100 26. 80 100 20.80 100 20.40 100 11.40 100

R a d ia t o r s , b o i l e r s , hot w a te r h e a te r s ............. 6. 80 85 14. 30 94 5. 80 79 6. 00 91 2. 90 76

W arm air furnaces ....................................................... 6 .6 0 71 5 .8 0 50 8. 00 83 5. 70 59 6. 80 92

Oil b u r n e r s 3 ....................................................................... 1.6 0 10 3.40 22 . 80 4 2. 00 12 . 60 4

E lectric heaters ............................................................ 1. 10 10 (2/) (2/) . 50 4 3. 00 24 (2/) (2/)

B lo w e r s and exhaust f a n s ........................................... .90 36 1.00 50 1. 10 38 . 70 21 . 80 44

A ir c o n d ition in g e q u ip m en t3 ................................... . 80 3 (2/) (2/) 1. 20 4 1. 50 6 (2/) (2/)

P u m p s ................................................................................... . 50 8 . 70 6 1.50 25 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/)

Unit h ea ter and v e n t ila t o r s ...................................... .50 8 (2/) (2/) 1.00 21 . 50 6 . 20 “ 4

E lectrical equipment, fixtures, and w i r e ............. 16. 50 100 13. 20 100 17. 90 100 16. 70 100 17. 70 100

L igh tin g fix t u r e s ............................................................. 4. 70 100 3. 80 100 5.60 100 4. 90 100 4. 30 100

W ir e and c a b l e .................................................................. 4. 60 100 3. 20 100 4. 90 100 5.40 100 4. 50 100

Switchboard and panels ............................................. 3. 60 100 2. 80 100 3. 90 100 3. 20 100 4 .4 0 100

Current carrying wiring devices ......................... 1.60 100 1. 30 100 1. 70 100 1.50 100 1.90 100

Noncurrent carrying d e v ic e s ................................... 1. 30 100 1. 10 100 1. 20 100 1. 30 100 1.40 100

See footnotes at end of table

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
T a b le 10. C o s t of M a t e r ia l Com ponents fo r E ach $ 1, 000 of C on stru ction P r i c e o f S u r v e y e d P riv a t e O n e - F a m i l y H o u s e s , by R eg ion , 1 9 6 2 --C ontinued

Selected products and product groups

United States Northeast North Central South West

Co st

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

Cost

Percent 

of units 

reporting

F ix e d hou se e q u i p m e n t .................................................. $ 13.70 72 $ 1 0 .8 0 78 $ 14.40 58 $ 14.10 71 $ 14.90 80

Ovens and r a n g e s ......................................................... 9. 10 65 7. 20 67 9. 30 54 10. 10 68 9.40 72

R e f r i g e r a t o r s ................................................................. 1.40 10 (2/) (2/) 2. 70 8 2. 30 21 . 20 4

Other kitch en a p p lia n c e s ........................................ 2. 90 34 3. 50 39 2. 20 29 1. 50 18 4. 90 48

Petroleum p rod u cts ......................................................... 11.10 100 13. 20 100 10. 10 100 11.90 100 9. 30 100

A sp h alt s h i n g l e s ............................................................ 7 .4 0 67 8. 30 94 7.90 79 8. 30 68 4. 90 36

A sp h a lt f e l t ...................................................................... 1. 30 59 . 20 22 . 90 42 1.90 79 1.90 96

Asphalt paving .............................................................. 1. 10 25 3. 50 61 (2/) (2/) . 50 9 1. 20 40

O il and f u e l ...................................................................... . 70 85 1. 20 100 . 60 75 . 50 76 . 70 80

A sp h a lt and tar p i t c h e s ............................................. . 60 32 (2/) (2/) . 60 25 . 70 29 . 80 56

P ain ts and other c h e m i c a l s ........................................ 10. 30 100 7.90 100 9. 30 100 11.70 100 11. 30 100

P a in ts .................................................................................. 8. 50 97 6. 70 94 7. 50 100 9. 50 97 9. 50 96

Adhesives ........................................................................ .90 97 . 80 100 1. 10 96 . 80 100 1.00 92

Putty and caulkin g c o m p o u n d s .............................. . 30 49 . 20 28 .40 54 . 50 71 (2/) (2/)

Construction equipment (depreciation) ............... 9. 80 91 16. 00 100 7.40 83 8. 00 85 9.40 100

T ractors and b u lld ozers .......................................... 2. 90 64 4. 80 89 2. 20 62 3. 00 44 1.90 76

Pow er cranes, backhoes, and s h o v e ls .......... 2. 30 50 5. 50 83 2. 00 62 1.40 24 1. 30 52

T r u c k s ..................................................... ..................... 1.90 55 1. 20 39 . 80 38 1.90 59 3. 30 80

S c r a p e r s , g r a d e r s , and r o l l e r s ......................... .9 0 34 3. 10 72 . 30 8 . 30 18 . 50 52

S m a ll c o n s t r u c t io n e q u i p m e n t .............................. . 70 40 (2/) (2/) 1.00 21 . 60 41 1. 10 72

T r e n c h e r s ......................................................................... .70 35 . 80 22 . 70 33 . 70 26 . 50 56

A ll oth er c a t e g o r i e s ....................................................... 13. 30 100 18. 50 100 13. 60 100 14.40 100 7. 50 100

N ursery products ......................................................... 3. 50 65 4. 20 83 3. 80 67 5.00 76 . 70 36

Laminated plastics .................................................... 2. 60 53 2. 00 39 2. 20 67 3.40 41 2. 30 68

A s b e s t o s sh in g les ....................................................... 2. 20 16 7. 30 56 1.60 12 1. 10 9 (2/) (2/)

L e a d ..................................................................................... 1. 10 99 1. 10 100 .90 100 1.60 100 . 70 96

C a r p e t ................................................................................ 1.00 7 (2/) (2/) 1. 30 8 1.60 12 . 60 4

W a llp a p e r ......................................................................... . 80 25 2. 30 44 . 30 17 .40 15 . 50 32

C o n s t r u c tio n p a p e r s .................................................. .40 59 . 30 50 . 60 46 . 30 53 . 60 88

P o ly e t h y le n e p la s t ic .................................................. .40 23 (2/) (2/) . 70 29 . 20 12 .60 40

O aku m ................................................................................ .40 98 . 40 100 .40 96 . 50 100 . 30 96

Insulating b o a r d ........................................................... . 30 5 (2/) (2/) .90 8 (2/) (2/) . 20 8

Nonmetallic pipe ......................................................... . 30 8 . 20 17 . 60 4 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/)

^In g e n e r a l, the c la s s if ic a t io n of m a te r ia ls w as d ir e c t e d tow ard in d u stry c la s s if ic a t io n rather than p rod u ct c la s s if ic a t io n . 

A m ou n t l e s s than 15 cents or cou ld not be sep a ra ted f r o m other it e m s .

In som e h om es, air conditioning was an integral part of the heating unit and is included with the value of the heating unit.

Note: Group totals include products not shown separately. Because of this and rounding, sums of components m ay not add to totals.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
32

M etal products m ade up 5. 3percen t ofthe construction p rice . F a b ricated m etal products accounted for tw o-thirds of this group. M etal windows; 

d oors, fra m es, and a c c e s s o r ie s ; and builders* hardw are rep resen ted about 

62 percent of the fabricated m etal produ cts. The broad group does not r e p ­

resen t the total contribution of the m etalw orking in d ustries, since it excludes 

the m etal products shown separately in the equipm ent ca teg ories.

Plum bing products totalled alm ost 3 percent of the total construction 

p rice ; heating and ventilating equipm ent, including air conditioning equipm ent, 2 percen t. The duct m a terials required for air-exch a n ge throughout 

a house w ere excluded from the latter equipm ent group. They are included 

in fabricated sheet m etal products or in galvanized sheet m etal under the 

other m etal products category. E le ctrica l equipm ent, fixtu res, and w ire 

used a little le ss than 2 percent.

M aterials requirem ents varied som ewhat by geographic area, r e ­

flectin g d ifferen ces a risin g from loca l p referen ces in house design and 

ch a ra cte ristics, and for certain m a teria ls. F or exam ple, in the North 

Central region , the average cost of lum ber and lum ber products per $ 1 ,0 0 0 

of construction p rice was higher than that for the United States and any of 

the other three region s. This was due to the substantially greater usage of 

p refa brica ted or package houses than in the other reg ion s. While included 

in the lum ber and lum ber products grouping, on an industry b a sis, this 

m aterials com ponent includes the cost of m aterial item s which are not m ade 

of lum ber. The m uch higher cost per $ 1,000 for b rick in the South re fle cts 

the predom inance of ex terior w alls of m ason ry in that region. H ow ever, 

despite som e regional d ifferen ces in m a terials requirem en ts, a relative 

uniform ity of m aterials costs and com ponent com p osition is indicated for 

on e-fa m ily house construction.

The ov era ll averages on m aterial requirem ents m ay not fully re fle ct 

industry p ra ctices in the purchase and use of building m aterials a ssem bled 

o ff-s ite . F or exam ple, expenditures for rough and d ressed lum ber do not 

include such m a terials consum ed in substantially p refa brica ted or package 

h ou ses. S im ila rly, expenditures for window glass do not include glass in 

purchased p regla zed window s. This resu lts from the fact that m aterials 

w ere generally cla ss ifie d on an industry rather than a product b a sis. The 

averages are also affected by variation of lo ca l p ra ctices in providing in ­

stalled appliances which are included in the construction p rice . E le ctric 

re frig e ra to rs w ere installed in rela tively few hom es as part of the p rice . 

Only a few hom es had a ir-con dition in g and som e of these had com bination 

heating and coolin g units. The averages, th erefore, do not rep resen t typ ical expenditures, for any particular hom e, of all the item s listed .

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 3

APPEN DIX A . Scope and M ethod of Survey

This study was designed to develop estim ates of m an-hour re q u ire ­

m ents a ssocia ted with the construction of private, nonfarm , new on e-fa m ily 

h ou ses. P ro je c t data obtained from or relating to activity at the con stru ction site, as w ell as inform ation based on secon dary data such as the Census 

of M anufactures, w ere u tilized.

C h a ra cteristics of the U niverse and Selection of the Sample

The selection of the sam ple for this study was in two distinct parts:

F irst, the num ber and value of the houses to be surveyed in each 

area was determ ined on the basis of Bureau of the Census data.

Second, the sp ecific houses to be studied in each area w ere selected 

from FHA re c o r d s .

The m ethods and sou rces used in each step w ere as follow s:

The basic sou rce of the universe for the study was Bureau of the 

Census construction re p o rts12 containing a sum m ary of residential building 

perm it area data for the year I960. These rep orts provided the m eans for 

selection of a sam ple of p rojects by location (four geographic r e g io n s ,13 by 

State, and locality) and by p resen ce in a m etropolitan or nonm etropolitan 

area as con trollin g fa cto rs. The sam ple ratio was approxim ately 1 out of 

each 7,400 private on e-fa m ily dwelling units. Selection was m ade separately 

in m etropolitan and nonm etropolitan areas by starting with a random number 

and counting to the sam ple area. One hundred and one units or house p rojects

12Bureau of the Census, Construction R eports, Building P e rm its , 

New Housing Units A uthorized by L oca l Building P erm its, Annual Sum m ary, 

1959-60, C 4 0 -2 8 , O ctober 1 9 6 l, and C onstruction R ep orts, Building P e r ­

m its, New R esidential C onstruction A uthorized in P erm it-Issu in g P la c e s , 

Calender year I960, C 4 2 -14 , August 1 9 6 l.

13The States included in each of the regions w ere as follow s: 

N ortheast--C on n ecticu t, M aine, M assachusetts, New H am pshire, New J e r ­

sey, New Y ork, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and V erm ont; North C entral- - 

Illin ois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, M ichigan, M innesota, M issou ri, N ebraska, 

North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and W isconsin; South--A la b a m a , A rkan ­

sas, D elaw are, D istrict of Colum bia, F lorida , G eorgia, Kentucky, L o u is iana, M aryland, M ississip p i, North C arolina, Oklahom a, South C arolina, 

T en n essee, T exa s, V irginia, and W est V irginia; and W est--A riz o n a , C a lifornia, C olorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New M exico, O regon, Utah, 

W ashington, and W yom ing.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
34

were selected for the sample. The selected sample units were then assigned sales price ranges on the basis of unpublished data furnished by the

Bureau of the Census showing price class distribution by region and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area.

Final selection of the specific or actual houses to be studied in the

sample areas were made by Bureau of Labor Statistics field representatives from records made available in the various regional offices of the

FHA. The field representatives, provided with location, area, and sales

price range information for each of the projects in their regions, called

upon FHA officials at the local offices and obtained assistance in locating

the most recently completed one-family house meeting the sample criteria,

from the records. Alternate projects were selected in like fashion, to

allow for required substitutions at the field data collection stage, in the

event of inadequate data or lack of cooperation from the respondents of the

originally selected projects. A substantial amount of project characteristics and cost data were also made available from FHA records.

Selection of the "most recently completed house” from FHA records

made possible the coverage of houses built during the different seasons,of

the year, as the field representatives proceeded with data collection which

extended over the period of a little more than one year.

Use of FHA records for sample project selections arose from the

need for a source of unbiased and relatively constant valuation data. It is

believed that these records provided such a source. Their use resulted,

with few exceptions, in the study of sample project houses either appraised

for valuation purposes or mortgage insured by FHA.

Although construction of the projects studied extended over a period

of less than 1 -1/2 years, most of the construction took place during the

calendar year 1962.

Man-Hour Estimates

The customary presentation of employment data for construction

projects includes estimates for on-site and off-site employment. Such a

presentation is followed by this study. In addition, however, there is an

economic distinction which can be made in analyzing man-hour requirements for construction. The basic grouping in this instance would be the

primary and secondary labor effects of construction expenditures.

Primary man-hour requirements, for purposes of this report, include, in addition to all on-site labor, the builders or construction contractor's office employment and the labor required in those manufacturing

industries which fabricate the construction materials used on the site--

that is., the "last stage of manufacturing" plus all trade, distribution, and

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
35

services involved in placing the construction materials at the site. They

also include the ’’selling11 employment (salesmen and real estate office

clerical employees) generated by real estate sales commissions.

Secondary employment includes all other labor requirements necessary to produce and transport the raw materials and semifinished products

to the factories which finally produce the items used at the site. For this

study of one-family houses, it also includes the indirect employment arising from such selling costs as newspaper and billboard advertising.

On-Site Man-Hours

On-site labor requirements data for the construction of the new onefamily houses in this study were obtained by field representatives from

builders (owners, developers, brokers), architects, contractors, and other

direct participants in the projects. Information for on-site man-hours and

occupational wage rate data were generally derived from payroll or labor

cost records, or daily work force reports. Only summary man-hour results, by occupation and wage rate, were requested. For some contractors

whose records could not be used to isolate the data for specific house projects, estimated hours and materials costs were substituted. The selfemployed contractor-journeymen on the projects also provided estimates of

their hours at the site in the absence of adequate records for the purpose.

Off-Site Man-Hours

From the builders, contractors, and subcontractors cooperating in

the study, a list was obtained of the value of each type of material used in

the sample house projects. These material listings were classified into

categories consistent with 4-digit Census of Manufactures product groups.

For each of these product groups, the average amount used per $ 1,000 of

construction price was determined. Once the average use was calculated,

each figure was reduced by a specific ratio to determine the difference between valuation by the purchaser and valuation by the producer.14 Since all

data reported by the builders or contractors were in purchasers1 value, reduction to producers' value made the figures consistent with Census data

published on these various components.

Primary Distribution Industries Employment

Primary man-hours in the trade, transportation, and service industries were estimated from the difference between producer and purchaser

value for each construction material. The value differences were allotted

14This ratio is based on data provided by U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
3 6

to trade and transportation, and primary man-hours for each component

of transportation and trade were then estimated from labor factors included in the 200-order interindustry analysis.

Primary Manufacturing Employment

Primary employment in manufacturing was considered to be that

required to produce items in the construction bill of materials in their

final stage of fabrication. In this stage, man-hours resulting from private one-family house construction were developed by multiplying average

value of each construction component by a ratio of manufacturing manhours to $ 1,000 of production. 5

Secondary Employment in All Industries

Secondary employment is defined as employment in all industries

involved in production and transportation of building materials and equipment, from basic extraction to, but not including, the final manufacturing

stage.

To calculate all secondary man-hours involved in construction materials and equipment, a 200-interindustry system of classification was used.

The 200-order was adjusted to I960 prices and productivity levels.16 The

200-order interindustry system is also constructed on a six-sector determination of associated employment needed to produce a given bill of goods.

Each of the six sectors--agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, trade, and all other--has an individual employment factor for each

product group. By multiplying the value of each component by the six individual employment factors, it was possible to determine employment required in agriculture, mining, and the other sectors to produce each given

material. Price and productivity adjustments were made to arrive at data

for the year consistent with the bill of materials.

Total Man-Hour Requirements

From each off-site stage (primary distribution, primary manufacturing, and secondary industry), man-hours per $ 1,000 of private onefamily housing construction were obtained. When these were combined

15This ratio was established by using the 1961 Survey of Manufactures

adjusted for price and productivity change to provide comparable 1962 data.

l6While updated to reflect I960 prices and productivity, the secondary

man-hours were estimated on the basis of the 1947 interindustry relationships study made by the Bureau. See W. Duane Evans and Marvin Hoffenberg, ’’Interindustry Relations Study for 1947, ” Review of Economics and

Statistics, Yol. XXXIV (1952), Cambridge, Mass.

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
37

with direct or on-site man-hours, the total employment effect, within the

definition used by the study, was determined. However, procedures used

in estimating employment generated by private one-family housing construction did not include all such employment. The technique used for

the off-site segment covers only employment generated by direct purchases

of materials and supplies and that implicit in depreciation of construction

equipment. The following areas of employment related to volume of construction activity were not covered: (1) Inspection by government employees during construction; (2) labor time involved in installations by public

utility employees; (3) labor generated by money expended by builders and

contractors for taxes (including payroll taxes) and welfare payments; (4)

the "multiplier11 effect of respending of wages and profits; and (5) the construction and equipment of new production facilities, if needed to supply

construction materials.

* U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1964 0 -7 3 5 -2 1 2

Digitized for FRASER 

http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ 

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis