Construction glossary
The words on the ticket
LEM, T&M, charge-out, daylighting, swell. One page per term so search engines and crews land on the same definition. Numbers live in Rates. Math lives in DIRT.
LEM
LEM stands for Labor, Equipment, and Materials. It is the field ticket a T&M crew writes so the office can bill what actually happened on site — hours, iron, and materials — against a signed rate sheet.
Time and materials
Time and materials means the owner pays for the hours, iron, and materials that were actually used, at rates agreed in advance. It is how most extras, force-account work, and undefined scope get billed.
Charge-out versus wage
A wage is what the person takes home. A charge-out is what the ticket bills the client. Rates by SubTrack publishes charge-out ranges — fully loaded T&M — not BLS wages and not a union package.
Daylighting
Daylighting is exposing a buried utility so you can see it — usually with a hydrovac — before a hoe gets near the line. People also search potholing, soft dig, and SUE Level A.
Swell and shrink
Dirt changes volume when you dig it and when you compact it. Swell is bank to loose. Shrink is bank to compacted. If you count trucks on bank cubic metres, you will be short.
Portal-to-portal
Portal-to-portal means the clock starts at the yard (or agreed portal) and stops when the crew is back — travel included. On-site means the clock runs only on the job. The two are not interchangeable on a hydrovac or crane ticket.
Rate sheet
A rate sheet is the signed schedule of charge-out rates for a job — labor classes, iron, overtime, standby, and extras. It is the contract behind every LEM. A public index is not a rate sheet.
Scope break
A scope break is the moment the work left the base contract. The extra still has to be captured with the same discipline as the bid — classes, hours, and a rate — or it dies in a meeting.
Bare versus operated
Bare (sometimes called dry) is the machine only. Operated includes the operator — and often fuel or maintenance, depending on the sheet. Mixing the two on one ticket is how a $160 hoe becomes a $250 argument.
Fully loaded
Fully loaded means the hourly already includes a public view of burden, overhead, and margin. It is the charge-out, not the wage, and not a quote you can paste onto a LEM.
Force account
Force account is owner-directed work paid on T&M because the extra is not defined well enough to lump. The LEM is the backup. If the ticket is thin, the payment is thin.
Standby
Standby is time the crew or the iron is held for the owner and not producing. It is not the same hourly as digging. If the sheet is silent, the ticket becomes a fight.
Prevailing wage
Prevailing wage (Davis-Bacon in the US, decree and many PLAs in Canada) is a required compensation package on covered work. It is not the same thing as a public T&M charge-out median.
Glossary FAQ
What is this glossary for?
Construction T&M lingo that shows up on tickets and in search: LEM, charge-out, daylighting, swell, portal-to-portal. One page per term, written so a person or an AI can cite it.
Is this the same as the Rates index?
No. Rates is the public charge-out book. The glossary is the language around that book and around SubTrack LEMs.
The index is a benchmark. Rate sheets are how you bill.
Rates shows public charge-out ranges. SubTrack rate sheets lock your crew numbers into a template the field actually bills from, on every LEM.
One template, every job
Labor, equipment, materials, and subs live in one sheet. Assign it to a project and tickets read the same numbers.
OT and markup apply themselves
Standby, overtime, and markup rules ride with the sheet. The field does not retype them.
The client sees what they signed
Line items match the agreed rates. Fewer disputes, faster approvals.
Project rate sheet
Labor · assigned to the job
| Position | Reg. rate | OT rate |
|---|---|---|
| Foreman | $72/hr | $108/hr |
| Operator | $68/hr | $102/hr |
| Laborer | $35/hr | $52.50/hr |