Guide
Daywork and T&M: what the contract decides
Daywork in the UK and time and materials in the US describe the same idea: work that cannot be measured or priced in advance is paid on the labor, plant and materials actually used, plus agreed percentage additions. Whether a piece of work may be valued this way, and at which rates, is set by your contract and the instruction for that work, not by the sheet.
On UK building contracts, daywork is commonly valued under the RICS Definition of Prime Cost of Daywork carried out under a Building Contract, now in its third edition (2007). The definition sets out what counts as the prime cost of labor, materials and plant; the contract or the contractor's tender then adds percentages for overheads and profit. According to a summary published by Building magazine, the third edition lets labor be priced either as prime cost plus a percentage addition or at hourly rates that already include overheads and profit. We describe the structure only and do not reproduce the definition.
In the US, a T&M ticket records the same three groups. Markups, who signs the ticket and how quickly it must be submitted come from the contract or its change order procedure; we do not cite rules or typical percentages. Our sheet is a daily ticket, not a time and material contract template: the contract itself has to come from your own agreement.
Australian contracts also use the term daywork sheet. Whatever the market, good practice is a written instruction before the work starts and a signed sheet before the next shift.
How to record daywork so it gets paid
Start with the instruction. Write its number and a short description of the work at the top of the sheet, so every sheet points to the instruction that authorized it.
Fill in the sheet on the day the work is done. List each trade with the number of workers, the hours worked and the hourly rate; each item of plant with its number, hours and rate; and each material with quantity, unit and unit price. Keep the delivery tickets for the materials.
Enter the percentage additions from your contract for each group. The calculator starts with example figures of 15 % on labor, 10 % on plant and 10 % on materials and marks them as contract parameters: change them before you rely on the total.
Enter the VAT or sales tax rate if the sheet should show tax. The English pages have no default rate, because tax differs between the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and Ireland and between types of work.
Get the sheet signed by the client representative who instructed the work, ideally the same day. A signed sheet records the resources used; on its own it is not agreement that the work is a variation, so keep the instruction with it.
Additions, rounding and common mistakes
Each labor or plant line is number × hours × rate, and each material line is quantity × unit price. Lines are rounded to cents and added up per group, and the group addition is applied to that subtotal. In the worked example, 568.00 of labor at 15 %, 325.00 of plant at 10 % and 440.00 of materials at 10 % give 1,333.00 plus 161.70 of additions, 1,494.70 before tax.
- Adding the percentage twice: if your hourly rates are all-in rates that already include overheads and profit, set the labor addition to 0.
- One percentage for everything: your contract may set different additions for labor, plant and materials, so the calculator keeps three fields.
- Tax before the additions: tax applies to the total of all groups including additions.
- Large additions: the calculator accepts additions above 100 % and does not judge whether a percentage is reasonable; that is for the contract.
- Mixing currencies: the symbol you pick is a label, and amounts are never converted.
Questions about daywork sheets
What is a daywork sheet?
A daywork sheet records work that is paid on the resources actually used instead of a measured price: the workers and their hours, the plant and its hours, and the materials. It is filled in on the day, priced with the rates and percentage additions in the contract, and signed by the client representative who instructed the work.
Is daywork the same as time and materials?
They follow the same logic. Daywork is the usual UK and Australian term, and in the UK it is commonly valued under the RICS definition of prime cost. Time and materials, or T&M, is the US term for the ticket and for contracts paid this way. Both price labor, plant and materials with agreed additions, so one sheet works for either.
Are the default percentage additions a standard rate?
No. They are example inputs so the calculator shows a result, and the page marks them as contract parameters. Replace them with the additions in your contract, daywork schedule or tender. We do not publish typical percentages, because we have no source for one figure that would fit every contract, trade and market.
When should a daywork sheet be signed?
As soon as possible, ideally on the day and before the next shift, while the client representative can still see the work and check the hours. Your contract may set a deadline for submitting sheets; follow it. A sheet submitted weeks later without a signature is much easier to dispute than one signed on site.
Can I add VAT or sales tax?
Yes. Enter the rate that applies to your work and the calculator adds tax to the total of all groups, rounded to cents. There is no default rate on the English pages, because the tax that applies differs between the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and Ireland, and sometimes between types of work in the same country.