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Units of Measureaka: labor houraka: person-houraka: MH

Man-Hour

In Plain English

One hour of work by one person, the basic unit for measuring and estimating construction labor.

Definition

A man-hour (also person-hour or labor-hour) is a unit of labor equal to one hour of work performed by one worker. Man-hours are the fundamental unit for labor estimating, productivity analysis, and workforce planning in construction. Labor productivity is expressed as man-hours per unit of output (e.g., man-hours per cubic yard of concrete placed), and total project labor hours drive direct labor cost estimates and scheduling.

Example

The labor estimate allocates 0.08 man-hours per square foot of drywall installation; for 15,000 SF of drywall, the labor budget is 1,200 man-hours.

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