General Conditions
General Conditions (GC) definition. Learn the indirect project costs like management, site cleanup, and temporary utilities.
Calculation Formula
General Conditions Cost = Project Manager Salary + Site Trailer + Port-a-john + Dumpsters Real Contractor Example
A 6-month commercial build requires $50,000 for a site supervisor, $3,000 for temporary power, and $8,000 for waste hauling.
What General Conditions Include
General conditions are the indirect field costs of running a job that do not belong to one trade: site supervision, temporary power and toilets, dumpsters and waste hauling, site protection, project-specific permits and insurance, small tools, equipment rental and daily cleanup.
In the example above, a 6-month build carries $50,000 for a supervisor, $3,000 for temporary power and $8,000 for waste hauling. That is $61,000 in total, or about $10,167 a month.
Why Remodelers Under-Price Them
General conditions are driven by time, not by quantities. A job that runs two weeks longer carries two more weeks of supervision, dumpsters and temporary facilities, so delays cost far more than the extra trade labor.
Price them as a monthly rate multiplied by the expected duration, and keep them separate from company-wide overhead such as office rent. Job-specific costs belong on the job so your job costing shows the true profit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are general conditions the same as overhead?
No. General conditions are indirect costs of a specific job, such as the site supervisor and dumpsters. Overhead is the cost of running the company, such as the office, insurance and accounting. Both need to be recovered in your price.
How are general conditions different from a general contractor?
General conditions are a category of cost. A general contractor is the company that manages the project. The general contractor usually carries and bills the general conditions.
How do I price general conditions?
Estimate the job duration, multiply it by the monthly cost of supervision, temporary facilities and site services, and add that as its own line in the estimate.
Related terms
Put This Into Practice
Knowing the definition is step one. RemodelFin tracks this in real time on every job — no spreadsheets.