A crew is a group of operatives who work together to carry out a particular construction activity, such as a concrete pouring crew or a bricklaying crew.
In the UK the term gang is more commonly used for the same idea. Estimators make up a crew or gang of the trades and labourers needed for an activity, for example a number of bricklayers supported by a labourer, and calculate an hourly cost for the whole crew. The output of the crew, in units of work per hour, is then used to build up rates and to plan durations on the programme. Getting the crew make up right is important, because an unbalanced crew leads to lost time and higher costs.
- Crew cost is the sum of the all in rates of its members, plus any plant used by the crew.
- Crew output varies with site conditions, access and repetition.
Related terms: gang rate, crew hour, all in labour rate, output.
