Concrete is the one trade where the material starts a clock you cannot stop. A standard mix reaches its initial set in roughly 90 minutes in normal temperatures, and hot weather shortens that window, so the price is not really about the pour, it is about having enough crew, enough access and enough contingency that the pour never waits. Everything that can go wrong on a pour day goes wrong at once, and the cost of it lands on you. Here is what that means for a number.
Start with the stack
Labor, payroll burden, materials, a share of overhead, then profit as its own line: How to price your work so you actually make money and What Should I Actually Charge?. This page is the concrete and masonry part.
The clock is the cost driver
Once the truck is turning, the job cannot be paused. That single fact reorganizes the whole price.
Crew size is not a variable on pour day. You need enough hands to place and finish inside the window, and being one person short does not make the job slower, it makes it worse. So the labor on a pour is priced to the window, not to the total hours the work "should" take.
Access decides the method, and the method decides the price. Whether a truck can reach the pour, whether you need a pump, whether it has to be barrowed, and how far, is often a bigger cost swing than the concrete itself. Walk the access before you price it. Pump availability has to be booked, and a pump that does not turn up is a lost day for a full crew.
Delivery arrangements have their own charges. Ready-mix suppliers price around full loads and typically add charges for short loads and for keeping a truck waiting. Those are real line items and they are the ones that get forgotten in a first estimate.
Contingency is not padding. A truck stuck in traffic, a pump that fails, a sudden change in weather. On most trades a bad hour costs an hour. Here it can cost the pour.
Weather is a pricing input, not an excuse
Concrete has a temperature range in which it behaves, and outside it the job needs measures that cost money. Hot weather shortens the working time and can need retarders, cooling, shading or an earlier start. Cold weather can need blankets, heaters, enclosures and a longer cure before anything can be loaded. Both are real costs that belong in the price of a job scheduled in that season, and neither is a reason a fixed price should quietly absorb them.
Say in the quote what weather assumptions the price is built on and what happens if conditions require protection measures. Working through the seasons: heat, cold, and storms is the wider picture.
Quantities, and why the arithmetic must be right
Concrete is sold by volume and ordered before it is needed, so an error in the quantity is either a short pour, which is a serious problem, or wasted material you paid for. Getting it right is not optional and it is not something to do in your head on site. How to figure out how much concrete and material to order is the method, The trade math you actually use is the underlying arithmetic, and Material Quantity Sanity Check is the check before you order.
Masonry works the same way with different units: a count per thousand units, mortar quantities, and a waste allowance that is real rather than optimistic.
What is under the slab is the other half of the job
The price of flatwork is usually decided by things that are not concrete: excavation, spoil removal, subgrade preparation and compaction, base material, forms, reinforcement, vapor barrier, and any drainage. On a remodel or a replacement, add demolition of what is there and getting it out.
Two of those deserve naming in the quote because they are where surprises live:
- Subgrade. Your price assumes soil of a certain quality. Unsuitable ground, soft spots or fill that has to be dug out and replaced is a change order, not a bad day.
- Excavation depth and safety. Any meaningful excavation brings trenching and excavation rules with it, including protective systems and a competent person on site. That is time and equipment, not a formality. Trenching and excavation safety and What is a "competent person" and why every job needs one are the rules, and they cost money to follow properly.
Silica is this trade's defining exposure, and compliance is a real cost
Cutting, grinding, drilling and mixing concrete and masonry release respirable crystalline silica, and OSHA regulates it directly. Following the standard properly means water or vacuum dust controls, the right equipment, and in some cases exposure assessment and monitoring, plus training and recordkeeping. Every one of those is a cost that belongs in the price of the work that creates the dust.
It is also a long-term health question rather than a paperwork one, which is why this site treats it as both. The silica standard: Table 1, the PEL, and when you need air monitoring is the rule, Silica Exposure Checker checks a task against it, Dust Control On Site Checklist is the site version, and Is the dust from cutting concrete or quartz countertops damaging my lungs? is why it matters.
The credential that opens commercial work
The ACI Field Testing Technician Grade I certification is the one commercial jobs typically expect for concrete testing and documentation. It is not a license to place concrete, and on structured commercial pours the general contractor and the specification will expect somebody certified to be doing the testing. Treat it as a credential that opens a class of work rather than one that permits you to trade, and carry its cost in overhead.
The license question otherwise is the usual one: in many states concrete and masonry fall under a general contractor license or a specialty flatwork or masonry classification, and many states require no standalone license below a project-value threshold. Do I Need a Contractor License? has your state.
Labor burden and the comp class
Employer FICA at 7.65 percent, unemployment tax, general liability and workers comp put labor burden in the normal construction range of 30 to 50 percent above the wage. Comp is a rate per $100 of payroll by class code times your experience mod, and concrete and masonry sit toward the heavier end of the range: the work is physical, the loads are heavy, the dust exposure is regulated, and excavation adds its own hazards. A clean claims record is one of the few levers that genuinely moves the number. Workers' comp for contractors and Workers' Comp Estimator have the mechanics, including the year-end payroll audit.
What belongs in a concrete or masonry quote
- The subgrade assumption, and that unsuitable ground is excluded.
- Access, including whether a pump is included and what happens if one is needed.
- Weather assumptions, and who pays for hot or cold weather protection.
- The finish specified, because a broom finish and a polished or stamped one are not the same job.
- Control and expansion joints, where they go, and the plain statement that concrete cracks and joints control where.
- Cure time before loading, so nobody drives on it on day two.
- Demolition, spoil removal and haul-off.
- Reinforcement, specified rather than assumed.
- Testing and documentation on commercial work, and whose scope that is.
- Short-load and standby charges passed through if the schedule slips for reasons outside your control.
Where to go next in this section
- How to price your work so you actually make money, the stack underneath.
- How to price flooring and tile work, because a slab that is not flat or not dry becomes the tile setter's problem and then yours.
- How to price carpentry work, the trade that usually follows you.
- Materials: who supplies, who pays, and getting it in writing, for ordering and waste.
- How to become a concrete finisher or mason, for the certification picture.
- How to figure out how much concrete and material to order, which has to be right before anything else is.
Common questions
Why is a concrete pour priced differently from other trades?
Because the material starts a clock. A standard mix reaches its initial set in roughly 90 minutes in normal temperatures, and hot weather shortens that, so the work cannot be paused once the truck is turning. That changes what you are pricing: enough crew to place and finish inside the window rather than the hours the job theoretically takes, the access method including a pump if one is needed, and genuine contingency for a delivery that is late or a pump that fails. On most trades a bad hour costs an hour. On a pour it can cost the pour, and that risk has to sit in the number.
What is usually missing from a concrete estimate?
Almost everything that is not concrete. Excavation, spoil removal, subgrade preparation and compaction, base material, forms, reinforcement, vapor barrier and drainage are frequently the larger half of the price, and on replacement work you have demolition and haul-off on top. Ready-mix suppliers also add charges for short loads and for truck standby time, which are easy to forget in a first estimate. Then there is silica compliance on any cutting or grinding, which needs real dust controls and real time. Price the whole operation, not the pour.
How do I handle bad ground in a fixed price?
Exclude it and price it by change order. Your quote should state plainly that the price assumes soil of a stated suitability, and that unsuitable ground, soft spots, or fill that has to be dug out and replaced is priced separately when found. Excavation also brings its own rules: any meaningful depth requires protective systems and a competent person on site, which is equipment and time rather than a formality. A fixed price that silently assumed good ground and no shoring is a fixed price that loses money the moment the digger finds something.
Does silica compliance really change the price?
Yes, and it should. Cutting, grinding, drilling and mixing concrete and masonry release respirable crystalline silica, and OSHA regulates the exposure directly. Following the standard properly means water or vacuum dust controls, the right equipment fitted and maintained, training and recordkeeping, and in some cases exposure assessment. All of that is real cost and real time, and it belongs in the price of the work that creates the dust. A contractor who has left it out is not cheaper than you, they are running an exposure that catches up with them and with their crew.
Do I need certification to do commercial concrete work?
Usually not to place it, but commercial jobs typically expect ACI Field Testing Technician Grade I certification for the concrete testing and documentation. It is not a license to work; the general contractor and the specification will simply expect somebody certified to be doing the testing on a structured pour. The separate licensing question is the ordinary one: in many states concrete and masonry fall under a general contractor license or a specialty flatwork or masonry classification, and many states require no standalone license below a project-value threshold. Check your own state before you take contracts.
The honest bit
- No dollar figures appear here, per yard, per square foot or per hour. Ready-mix pricing, delivery charges and labor rates all vary by market and by season.
- The roughly 90-minute initial set is the working figure this site publishes for a standard mix in normal temperatures. Real set time depends on the mix design, admixtures, temperature and humidity, and your supplier is the authority for the mix you ordered.
- OSHA silica requirements, including when exposure assessment is needed, depend on the task and the controls used. Check the standard for your specific work rather than relying on a summary.
- Whether concrete and masonry need a license, and the project-value threshold, are state questions and sometimes local ones.
- Workers comp class codes and rates are set per state and per carrier. The trade ranking is the point here, not a number.
- This is general guidance, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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