Labour shortage is one of the main problems of Ukraine’s recovery. For a client, “how many people do we need” matters as much as “how much does it cost”. We calculated it for a real project — a four-storey residential building with a basement that we designed for Latvia.
Input data
According to the project schedule and the BIM model, the building consists of about 400 precast concrete elements:
- 116 external sandwich wall panels (up to 6.3 t);
- 48 internal walls;
- about 208 floor and roof slabs;
- 21 balcony slabs;
- 16 stair flights and landings.
That is about 80 elements per floor.
Norms
We used two sources:
- KNU REKNb, collection 7 “Precast concrete and reinforced concrete structures” (Ministry of Regional Development Order No. 374 of 31.12.2021) — current Ukrainian estimating norms. They are comprehensive: erection together with filling the joints with concrete or mortar, and for slabs, balconies and stair landings also welding of embedded plates. In this building the joints use Peikko wire loops with grouting, without welding, so the KNU estimate is approximate.
- ENiR E4-1 — for reference, setting of elements only, by a team of 4 erectors and a crane operator.
The method follows a construction work plan under DBN A.3.1-5:2016: labour is divided by crew size, crane work by shift length, and the longer of the two durations is taken.
Result
| Erection with grouted joints (KNU) | Setting only (ENiR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | ≈1,470 man-hours | ≈400 man-hours |
| Crane work | ≈20 shifts | ≈13 shifts |
| Crew | ≈8 people, ≈23 shifts | 4 people, ≈13 shifts |
So the frame of such a building is erected by one crane and a crew of about 8 in 4–5 weeks of single-shift work. For comparison: a two-storey sandwich-panel house built to our design in 2025 was erected by a crew of 3–4 with one crane.
What is not included
Surveying, sealing of external joints, crane installation and removal, downtime due to wind and weather, preparatory works and foundations. This is a calculation by norms, not a schedule for a specific site: real durations depend on the plant, logistics and site organisation.
What it means for the recovery
For a building with several dozen apartments, one small crew and one crane are enough, and most of the work is done in the plant. That is what makes precast concrete a realistic solution for municipalities facing a shortage of workers.
Want a calculation for your project? Contact us — we will estimate the number of elements, duration and crew at the sketch stage.
More about our approach: Precast housing for Ukraine’s recovery. To discuss a project: contacts.
Discuss your project
Tell us about the building or the task: building type, number of apartments, site and funding programme. We reply within one working day.