jft1215,
Welcome, first if you could complete your profile, it would help us know a little about, what area you are working, and if you are an estimator. or contractor.
T&M, or contract, your cost basis will be your guide, some price guides, give labor hours, based on what it takes, to do a certin task, others, breake it down. to time and motion units, they may come from, an estimators, actuals record, or from detailed job reports, with all this information, you will still need, to know the job conditions, and skills needed, for each job.
"a book or disk that was a database for the standards broken down to the smallest function."
When tasks are broken down, into the smallest function, they become, time, and motion, which is good to study a workers efficency, but not much good to estimate a project.