HARDCORE, a term applied in the building and contracting trades to any clean hard material, other than gravel, suitable for making up roads, pathways, the solid ground floors of buildings, etc. Thus broken bricks or stone, broken up concrete, etc., are all used as hardcore. Material for good work should be clean and entirely free from organic matter. The rise of wages since 1913 has greatly increased the cost of hardcore, as so much labour has to be expended in preparing and transporting it. In 1928 a cubic yard of clean hardcore in London cost six shillings delivered.