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.
T&M ticket
A T&M ticket is the on-site record of time-and-materials work. It lists labor, equipment, and materials (often as a LEM), the rates that apply, and typically a client signature. It is the document. Time and materials is the billing method.
T&M ticket vs change order
A T&M ticket (or LEM, or field ticket) is the signed field record of what happened on site. A change order is the commercial wrap that adjusts the contract. Confusing the two is how offices wait for a CO before capturing hours - and lose the evidence.
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.
Field ticket
A field ticket is the signed record of extra or T&M work that happened on site. Contractors use it to document labor, equipment, materials, and approval so the office can bill or back a change order.
Daily report
A daily report is the operational log of a shift: progress, conditions, visitors, delays, and notes. Contractors use it to run the job. It is not a substitute for a T&M ticket or LEM when the extra has to be billed.
Cost code
A cost code is the label that tells accounting where hours and quantities belong. Contractors use cost codes to job-cost work. On T&M extras the code should follow the ticket's scope break, not a generic payroll dump.
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.
Use your agreed rates on every daily ticket.
These public ranges are a benchmark. SubTrack stores the rates you agreed with the client on a project rate sheet. Crews apply those rates to labor, equipment, materials, and subcontractors on the daily ticket. The same figures carry into reporting and the billing documents you send.