MLIT Creates Guide and Template for Labor Cost Breakdown in Estimates, Promotes Use Among Small Subcontractors
November 19, 2025 – Administration & Organizations
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has prepared a “How-to Guide” and template for estimates with labor and related costs broken down, based on the revised Construction Business Act. The guide is intended for specialized subcontractors submitting estimates to general contractors. Templates are in Excel format, allowing easy editing for each company’s convenience. They can also be used to create or revise “standard estimates” by trade-specific industry associations.
The guide and templates are attached as a “supplement” to the draft operational policy for the Standard Labor Cost Guidelines, which is open for public comment and will be published in early December.
The goal is to promote proper estimation practices even among small- and medium-sized construction companies, which previously lacked a culture of itemized labor and expense breakdowns. The templates specifically require separate amounts for:
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Material costs
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Labor costs
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Statutory welfare costs (employer portion)
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Construction industry retirement mutual aid contributions
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Safety and health expenses
Two types of templates are provided: simplified and detailed.
The How-to Guide clearly explains how to prepare estimates using the templates and how to calculate labor and necessary costs. As a “estimate creation support tool,” the Excel sheets allow users to input units, unit prices, and quantities to generate estimates. The tool facilitates comparison between initial and final estimates and enables easy data accumulation, encouraging electronic creation.
Trade-specific industry associations are encouraged to customize the templates for their standard estimates. Existing standard estimates showing welfare and safety costs should be updated, and associations without such templates are encouraged to create new ones.
Vietnamese Version
