Construction glossary
What is a LEM in construction?
Also called L.E.M., labor equipment materials ticket, field ticket.
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.
What goes on a LEM
A complete LEM names the project, the date, the scope or extra, the people and their hours, the equipment and its hours, and any materials. Classes and charge-out rates should match the project rate sheet. If the ticket is missing a class or a rate, the invoice fight starts later. SubTrack structures those three columns on every ticket so the field is not inventing lines.
LEM versus a timesheet
A timesheet answers who was paid. A LEM answers what the client can be billed. The same hour can be payroll-straight-time and ticket-overtime, or payroll on one cost code and billable on a scope break. Do not paste a payroll export onto an invoice and call it a LEM.
LEM versus a daily report
A daily report covers progress, conditions, visitors, and delays. It is operational. A LEM is commercial: billable labor, iron, and materials for an extra or force-account line. Crews often write both on the same day. They are not interchangeable documents.
Where the rate lives
The rate does not live in the foreman's head. It lives on the signed rate sheet for the project: labor classes, equipment classes, overtime rules, standby, portal-to-portal. Public charge-out ranges in Rates by SubTrack are benchmarks. The contracted sheet is what the LEM should bill.
LEM software versus the word LEM
LEM is the document format. LEM software is the product that captures, signs, and bills those documents. If you only need the definition, you are in the right place. If you need to run the workflow, see LEM software.
LEM FAQ
What does LEM stand for?
Labor, Equipment, and Materials. It is the standard T&M field-ticket format, not a brand name.
Is a LEM the same as a daily report?
No. A daily report is progress and conditions. A LEM is the billable record of labor, iron, and materials against a rate sheet.
Is a LEM the same as a T&M ticket?
Often yes in practice. LEM is the three-column format common in civil and utility work. T&M ticket is the broader name for the same kind of billable field document.
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.