CSLB Landscaping (C-27) Trade — All Questions

A landscape maintenance agreement is being priced for a full year. What is the most reliable basis?

• a.The square footage of the property multiplied by a published rate
• b.The price the previous contractor charged, reduced slightly
• c.The hours the crew spent on the last similar property in July
• d.A task-by-task schedule of visits with hours estimated for each season✓

Maintenance labor varies by season and by task, so building the year from a defined visit schedule with seasonal hours produces a price that holds. A single peak month overstates the year. Square footage alone ignores what is actually on the site. Undercutting the prior price prices the competitor's guess rather than the work.

A contractor wants to know whether a completed job made money. Which practice provides that answer?

• a.Comparing revenue for the year to overhead for the year
• b.Counting the days the crew spent against the calendar schedule
• c.Reviewing the deposit history against the contract price
• d.Comparing actual job costs to the estimate line by line✓

Job costing sets actual labor, material, and subcontract costs against the estimated figures and shows exactly where the job gained or lost. Annual revenue against overhead measures the company, not the job. Deposit history tracks cash flow. Days against schedule measures duration without saying what was spent.