Excavation contractor software, shown on a fictional excavation and site work company

Open the demo and you are inside Gravelwhit Earthworks, a fictional excavation and site work company running the real product: click anything, nothing changes.

See pricing — it's public · Why SelfConstruct

What works today for an excavation company, and what is not available yet

The demo's welcome card says the same. The names, people, jobs and prices in this demo are illustrative.

The excavation jobs in the demo

Each with what its estimate covers and how it is billed:

• Sorensen basement dig and 120 LF sewer trench — Basement dig, 120 LF sewer service and rough grade (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Locate ticket 4471-30926: every utility answered marked or clear. The old shop's private power line is not marked; pothole by hand before trenching near it..
• Pemble driveway and access road — Access road, 340 ft, with culvert and road base (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Clear the brush line and strip topsoil → Set the culvert at the swale → Road base in two lifts, rolled → Fine grade and seed the shoulders.
  Daily log: “Cleared the brush line and stripped topsoil for the new road. Set the culvert at the swale with flared ends.”
• Larkmoor Custom Homes Lot 7 septic system — Septic tank and leach field, Lot 7 (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Subcontract to the builder. Locate ticket 4471-28815 answered clear. Septic design by the builder's engineer; the county inspector walks the system before cover..
  Schedule: Dig and set the septic tank → Leach field trenches and chambers → County inspection before cover → Cover, backfill and rough grade.
  Daily log: “Tank set yesterday; laid the leach field chambers today to the engineer's layout. Called the county to book the inspection before cover.”
• Ackerly pole-barn building pad — Building pad, 40 by 60 ft, structural fill and base (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Strip topsoil and cut the pad → Structural fill in lifts, with density tests → Base course and final grade.
  Daily log: “Pad cut to grade. A soft spot pumped under the roller at the north end; Wendell signed the extra-work ticket and we undercut it and filled it (CO-1).”
• Tansywold Builders Lot 3 utility trench — Lot 3 water, sewer and dry utility trench (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Water, sewer and dry utilities from the street to the house pad. The builder's superintendent wants the services stubbed inside the lot line. Locate not called in yet..
  Schedule: Locate and street-cut permit → Trench and lay water, sewer and conduit → Backfill and compaction tests.
• Rudnick lot clearing — Clear and grub 1.2 acres for a cabin site (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Silt fence along the creek side → Clear, grub and haul the stumps.

Walk through one excavation job: Sorensen basement dig and 120 LF sewer trench

Its schedule, in order:

1. Locate called in and permit picked up
2. Silt fence along the street
3. Mobilize the excavator and the track loader
4. Strip topsoil and dig the basement
5. Sewer trench and pipe, 120 LF
6. Trench inspection
7. Backfill and compaction tests
8. Rough grade and demobilize

Change orders on this job: “Break out a buried concrete footing (extra-work ticket)”; “Rock excavation”.

Purchase orders on this job: “Trucking, export off the Sorensen dig”; “Sewer pipe, fittings and tracer wire, Sorensen”.

To-dos on this job: “Send the Sorensens the photos of the rock ledge with CO-2”; “Book the compaction tester for the backfill days”.

From its daily log:

• Moved the excavator and the track loader in on the lowboy. Checked the locate marks against the ticket; all visible. Stripped topsoil to the stockpile behind the garage pad. Weather: Clear and cool.
• Dug the east half of the basement to the grade stakes. 17 loads of export to the transfer station. Weather: Sunny, light wind.
• Finished the basement dig. An old concrete footing was buried at the west wall; broke it out and hauled it on a signed extra-work ticket (CO-1). Weather: Partly cloudy.
• Started the sewer trench at the house. Trench inspection logged before anyone went in: sandy clay, trench box set, spoil pile kept back from the edge, no water. Hit a sandstone ledge about 40 ft out; wrote up CO-2 for the rock. Weather: Sunny. Delays: Waiting on the Sorensens' answer to CO-2 before hammering the ledge.

An excavation proposal in the demo: Basement dig, driveway and septic system

Gravelwhit Earthworks sent it to a lead. The scope reads:

Dig and backfill the basement and export the spoils, build a 320 ft gravel driveway with a culvert, and install the septic tank and leach field to the engineer's design. Silt fence first, rough grade last.

The notes on that lead:

• Needs a basement dig, a driveway and a septic system for a new home
• Walked the lot: good lowboy access, rock outcrops on the upper slope, septic design from the engineer in hand
• Sent the proposal with the rock clause and the export limits

Other excavation leads in the demo

• Parking lot expansion site work: Asked for a price to grade and base a 40-space parking addition; Walked it with the owner; the drainage swale needs a culvert
• Sewer line repair dig: Sewer line backing up; a camera found a broken pipe about 30 ft from the house
• Private road grading and dust control: The board asked for a price to grade and gravel the two private roads in the spring

What goes on an excavation estimate in the demo

From Gravelwhit Earthworks's price list, without the prices:

• Lowboy move, per machine
• Permit and locate fees
• Silt fence, installed
• Rock construction entrance
• Clearing and grubbing
• Topsoil strip and stockpile
• Building pad cut and fill
• Basement and foundation excavation
• Hydraulic hammer add-on
• Imported structural fill
• Export haul-off, per load
• Dump fee, per load
• Backfill and compaction
• Fine grade
• Aggregate road base
• Water service trench and pipe, 1 inch
• Sewer service trench and pipe, 4 inch
• Culvert pipe, 18 inch, installed
• Dry utility trench for power and communications
• Septic tank set, 1,000 gallon
• Leach field chambers, installed
• Topsoil respread and final grade
• Seed and straw
• Tandem dump truck with driver
• Compaction testing, per visit

Excavation cost codes in the demo

Gravelwhit Earthworks's own cost codes:

• Mobilization & demobilization
• Permits, locates & fees
• Survey & staking (coordination)
• Erosion & sediment control
• Clearing & grubbing
• Topsoil strip & stockpile
• Demolition & removals
• Mass excavation / cut & fill
• Basement & foundation excavation
• Rock excavation
• Dewatering
• Import & structural fill
• Export, haul-off & dump fees
• Backfill & compaction
• Subgrade prep & fine grade
• Aggregate base / road base
• Water service & mains
• Sanitary sewer
• Storm drainage & culverts
• Dry utility trenching
• Septic / onsite wastewater
• Retaining walls & rip-rap
• Driveways & access roads
• Final grade & topsoil respread
• Seeding & stabilization
• Trucking
• Outside equipment rental
• Testing & inspection
• Snow removal
• Supervision
• Contingency
• Overhead - shop repairs
• Overhead - fuel
• Overhead - idle and down time
• Overhead - yard

Questions about SelfConstruct for excavation work

Is there an excavation version of SelfConstruct?

Not as a separate product. Gravelwhit Earthworks opens with the business type “Excavation & site work”, so its menus are set for that trade. In a customer's company today, the menus are the same whatever the trade.

How are the excavation jobs in the demo billed?

Every one of Gravelwhit Earthworks's jobs in the demo is a fixed-price job.

Does SelfConstruct have “Your own equipment fleet” for excavation companies yet?

Not yet. It is on the list the demo's welcome card shows under “Not available yet for your trade”.

See it working right now

Pricing is published on the site: $299/mo per company before sales tax, unlimited users, 50 GB of storage included.

Book a walkthrough · Construction Software by Trade

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