How to price an SCA bid: a worked example

The mistake this page exists to prevent

A wage determination says a Janitor in Anderson County, Texas must be paid at least $15.53 an hour. It is easy to read that number, multiply by hours, add a margin, and submit.

Everything below is the gap. None of it is optional, all of it is your cost, and a bid built on the wage alone is short by roughly the same amount again.

The contract we are pricing

Three positions in Anderson County, Texas, priced against wage determination 2015-5811, revision 31 (issued 12 August 2026). Two full-time roles at 2,080 hours and one half-time at 1,040.

This is the same example the pricerloads when you press “See an example”, so you can follow along against live data rather than take these figures on trust.

Step 1 — find the binding base rate

The base rate is not simply the determination rate. Per FAR 22.1002-5 it is the highest of three numbers:

• the rate the wage determination publishes for that occupation;
• any higher wage you have decided to pay;
• the applicable Executive Order minimum, currently $13.65.

Two of our three positions are above the floor, so the determination governs. The third is the interesting one:

The Food Service Worker’s determination rate is belowthe Executive Order floor. Price that line off the determination and you have underpaid, on a real contract, from day one. This is not a hypothetical edge case — it is sitting in a live determination today, and it is the reason the rule is a maximum rather than a lookup.

Step 2 — add the fringe you owe

On top of the wage, the determination obliges you to provide benefits. These are costs, not courtesies.

Health & welfare. This determination publishes two rates: $5.92 an hour, and $5.42 where Executive Order 13706 paid sick leave obligations apply, because part of the benefit is being delivered as leave instead. The example uses $5.42. Picking the wrong one moves a full-time position by about $1,000 a year.

Vacation and holidays. This determination gives 2 weeks of paid vacation after a year of service, rising with tenure, plus 11 paid holidays. Paid time off is time you pay for and receive no work in return, so it loads onto every productive hour. Here that is $1.10 to $1.38 an hour depending on the wage.

Payroll taxes and insurance. FICA, federal and state unemployment, and workers’ compensation, all charged on what you actually pay. $1.53 to $1.92 an hour across these three positions.

Step 3 — apply your indirects

Everything so far is direct cost. Your own overhead, G&A and fee then sit on top. The example uses ordinary assumptions — 10% overhead, 8% G&A, 7% fee — which you should replace with yours.

The whole thing, one line at a time

What the wrap actually tells you

Between 1.92 and 2.02 across these three lines. The rule of thumb that falls out of it is blunt and useful: the wage is about half of what the hour costs. Your own number will differ — it moves with your overhead and fee, and the fringe is a flat dollar amount so it loads more heavily on cheaper labor, which is why the Food Service Worker carries the highest wrap of the three despite the lowest wage.

Then the option year arrives

A typical SCA contract is one base year plus four option years. At each anniversary the determination current at that momentapplies — not the one you bid against. If it has risen, you owe more.

FAR 52.222-43 lets you recover that increase, with two catches worth knowing before you price: it reimburses only the movement in the minimum, not what you actually pay above it, and it explicitly excludes overhead, G&A and profit on the adjustment. The $6.49 an hour of indirects in the Janitor line above does not come back on the increase.

Do this for your own county

The pricerdoes every step above against the determination for your county, with your own indirect assumptions, free and with no account. If you want to see it move first, press “See an example” and you will land on exactly the numbers on this page.

These figures come from determination 2015-5811 revision 31. Determinations are revised through the year, so check the current one before you rely on anything here — how the data is collected and checked explains what that involves.

Questions

How do you calculate a fully burdened labor rate for an SCA contract?

Start from the binding base rate, which is the highest of the wage determination rate, any higher wage you plan to pay, and the applicable Executive Order minimum. Add the health and welfare fringe, the cost of accrued vacation and holidays, and payroll taxes and workers’ compensation. That gives the direct cost. Then apply your overhead, G&A and fee. The result is what an hour actually costs you.

What is a typical wrap rate on an SCA contract?

In the worked example above the wrap lands between 1.92 and 2.02 times the wage, using ordinary indirect assumptions. The exact figure depends on your own overhead, G&A and fee, but the shape holds: the wage is roughly half of what the hour costs.

Does the wage determination rate always govern?

No. The binding rate is the highest of the determination rate, your planned wage, and the Executive Order minimum. In the example above a Food Service Worker has a determination rate of $13.38, which is under the $13.65 Executive Order floor, so the floor governs that line and the determination does not.

Why are there two health and welfare rates on a determination?

Many determinations publish a standard H&W rate and a lower one that applies where Executive Order 13706 paid sick leave obligations apply, because part of the benefit is being provided as leave instead. The determination used here lists $5.92 and $5.42.

What happens to the price in an option year?

The determination current at the anniversary or option exercise applies, not the one you bid against. FAR 52.222-43 lets you recover the movement in the minimum, but only the minimum, and it excludes general and administrative costs, overhead and profit on the adjustment.