The man hour rate is the number of man hours consumed in carrying out one unit of work activity. It is similar to the labour constant used in the UK and is common in North American practice.
Man hour rate = man hours required for the work ÷ quantity of work completed.
For example, excavation might have a man hour rate of 0.125 man hours per cubic yard.
The man hour rate is the inverse of the production rate multiplied by the number of workers in the crew performing the work. For example, a two person crew working an eight hour day and excavating 8 cubic yards per day gives 2 × 8 ÷ 8 = 2 man hours per cubic yard.
In UK practice the same calculation is normally carried out in metric units, such as man hours per m³.
