Vance Asbestos Removal Company removes potentially toxic asbestos insulation and related products from buildings. The company's estimator has been involved in a long-simmering dispute with the on-site work supervisors. The on-site supervisors claim that the estimator does not adequately distinguish between routine work such as removal of asbestos insulation around heating pipes in older homes and non-routine work such as removing asbestos-contaminated ceiling plaster in industrial buildings. The on-site supervisors believe that non-routine work is far more expensive than routine work and should bear higher customer charges. The estimator sums up his position in this way: "My job is to measure the area to be cleared of asbestos. As directed by top management, I simply multiply the square metres by $4,000 per thousand square metres to determine the bid price. Since our average cost is only $3,000 per thousand square metres, that leaves enough cushion to take care of the additional costs of non-routine work that shows up. Besides, it is difficult to know what is routine or not routine until you actually start tearing things apart."

To shed light on this controversy, the company initiated an activity-based costing study of all of its costs. Data from the activity-based costing system follow:

Activity Cost PoolActivity MeasureTotal Activity

Removing asbestosThousands of square metres500,000 m2

Estimating and job setup Number of jobs200 jobs*

Working on non-routine jobsNumber of non-routine jobs25 non-routine jobs

Other (costs of idle capacity and

organization-sustaining costs) Not applicable; these costs are

not allocated to jobs

*The total number of jobs includes non-routine jobs as well as routine jobs. Non-routine jobs as well as routine jobs require estimating and setup work.

Wages and salaries$200,000

Disposal fees 600,000

Equipment depreciation 80,000

On-site supplies60,000

Office expenses 190,000

Licensing and insurance 370,000

Total cost$1,500,000

Distribution of Resource Consumption

across Activity Cost Pools

Estimating Working on

Removing and JobNon-routine

Asbestos SetupJobsOther Total

Wages and salaries40%10%35%15%100%

Disposal fees 70%0%30%0%100%

Equipment depreciation50%0%40%10%100%

On-site supplies55%15%20%10%100%

Office expenses10%40%30%20%100%

Licensing and insurance50%0%40%10%100%

Activity Cost Pool Total Activity Total Cost Activity Rate Removing asbestos 500,000 777,000 1,554.00 per thousand square metres Estimating and job setup 200 105,000 525 perjob Working on non-routine jobs 25 499,000 19,960 per nonroutinejob Other (costs of idle capacity and n/a n/a n/a organizationsustaining costs}