recovery schedule

PURPOSE

This recommended practice (RP) for recovery scheduling is intended to provide a guideline, not to establish a standard. As a recommended practice of AACE International, this document provides guidelines for the project scheduler to create a professional recovery schedule or assess the reasonableness of a recovery schedule necessary due to a change of project status and progress that forecasts late completion. This recommended practice is associated with the Total Cost Management (TCM) Framework sections 10.2 – Forecasting, and 10.3 – Change Management[5].

OVERVIEW

This recommended practice provides guidelines to assist construction entities submitting the recovery schedule (the contractor) and the entity reviewing the recovery schedule submittal (the owner or client) to develop and respond to the recovery schedule in a fair and reasonable manner. The use of the term, owner, also includes the work performed by their agents such as architect and/or construction manager. Overall these participants are responsible for the complete, accurate, and timely submittal, review and approval of the project recovery schedule in order to benefit the project as a whole.

Progress on a project does not always proceed as planned. Occasionally, the project schedule may indicate that the project is ‘behind schedule’ and based upon the current work plan, a late project completion is anticipated. This late completion may adversely affect the owner of the project. Given a situation where there are no existing contractual or other legal issues to the contrary, the contractor is entitled to complete late, provided that compensating damages (if any) are paid at the appropriate time to the owner.

Many contracts limit the amount of time that the project schedule may indicate as the current prediction beyond required substantial completion. Should the current schedule indicate that the project is behind an amount greater than the allowable time, the owner and/or its agents may direct the contractor to recover lost time and return the prediction of project completion to the needed date. In addition, the owner may always decide to simply direct the contractor to recover lost time even if such a clause does not exist in the contract or that the specified limit has not been reached. We will consider the issue of responsibility for costs and other damages later in this recommend practice.

Once directed to recover lost time, the contractor is normally required to create and submit a schedule plan that describes how this recovery of time will be accomplished. We call this schedule a recovery schedule. Recovery schedules are an important aspect of timely project completion and this is a major reason that requirements for recovery schedules are included in most construction contracts for large projects. They are important as a planning tool as well as a vital medium of communication from the contractor to the owner about changes to be made to the schedule to bring the forecast for project completion back to an on-time, or at least acceptable, basis.

There is no industry established protocol for the best way to recover a schedule, and the different parties involved normally have different motivations driving their very different recommended solutions. This recommended practice provides a structured approach that attempts to reduce construction time at the least cost and while minimizing claims opportunities. This practical approach starts with a schedule program, and includes a prioritized checklist, organized by project controls and project management suggestions, with benefits and risks to all parties identified so an approach assessment can be made whenever recovery is needed. This approach contributes to teamwork, providing least cost solutions with reduced conflict, and suggestions to be used whether updating or reviewing a schedule.

Copyright 2009 AACE International, Inc. AACE International Recommended Practices

(PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT) AACE International Recommended Practice No. 54R-07

RECOVERY SCHEDULING—AS APPLIED IN ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT, AND CONSTRUCTIONTCM Framework: 10.2 – Forecasting, 10.3 – Change Management

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APPLICABILITY

This recommended practice is oriented to critical path method (CPM) schedule analysis and is applicable only to recovery schedules that take place during execution of the work, and are used to attempt to regain lost time and to cause the project to complete earlier than the current schedule update predictions. This recommended practice does not address acceleration schedules which are designed to provide earlier completion than contractually required or used to gain time on a project which is not running behind contractual completion.

Current status in schedules on projects that require recovery may indicate negative float or may show late completion. Neither condition matters in the recovery effort, and in both cases the goal is to eliminate the negative float or bring the predicted completion date back to the earlier, contractual date, or at least reduce that delay to a reasonable minimum.

OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES

The ability of a professional scheduler to produce a reasonable and achievable recovery schedule that will plan for and allow a project to regain lost time is dependent on a number of things: a project management team that is involved with the schedule development; a schedule-driven culture on the project; a reasonable and fair assessment of the project status; knowledge of the capabilities and commitment of the task workers and tradesmen; and a willingness to participate in the schedule management through monitoring and control of the project schedule, in this case the recovery schedule.

The recovery plan must be shown in the schedule, with clear and well-thought out steps for recovery. Just as each schedule update should ensure that the schedule provides a good model of the means and methods employed to progress the work, it is essential that the recovery schedule is based on a good knowledge of the project progress and provides a reasonable and attainable approach to regain lost time.

In this recommended practice, the use of the term, “contractor” does not indicate whether it is a prime contractor or subcontractor as both are contractors and the issues may be applicable to either or both.

Fairness

The fact that a contractor submitted a recovery schedule does not imply or require that contractor to execute the planned changes at no cost to the owner. The fact that the owner accepted a recovery schedule does not indicate owner responsibility for time, cost, quality, or material issues arising from the execution of the plan change. The circumstances and responsibility for the project being late (as well as the contract language) must be considered and documented before responsibility may be assigned. A separate document detailing the assumptions and responsibilities incurred should accompany a recovery schedule before any such understandings can be assumed.

Responsibility

The recovery schedule should be a reflection of the contractor’s intent to take steps to improve progress so as to achieve earlier project completion than currently predicted. Generally this earlier progress than predicted is the contractually agreed upon completion date. If there are requested time extensions that are under review by the owner that would eliminate the need for a recovery schedule, and the owner still requires the preparation of a recovery schedule, the contractor should notify the owner that the recovery schedule might become an acceleration schedule, either directed or constructive, with the associated risks to the owner. Since a recovery schedule is the formulation of the contractor’s plan to recover time, the recovery schedule is created by the contractor. As with the approved progress schedule, the recovery schedule is created and managed by and is the responsibility of the contractor. The owner indicates his willingness to accept the recovery schedule as an acceptable plan by accepting the submitted revised


(Public Review Draft) Recovery Scheduling—As Applied in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction

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schedule, but the acceptance does not imply owner participation or direction in the contractor’s means and methods, only that the owner agrees that the plan seems reasonable and the schedule appears to represent the contractor’s plan. Owner acceptance of the recovery schedule does indicate that the owner agrees to work within constraints on owner-responsible activities shown in the recovery schedule. There are alternative methods of developing a recovery schedule, but the process should honor this basic procedure. Acceptance first requires reaching agreement on the project status. On some projects, the construction manager may develop the recovery schedule and when this is the case, it is vital that the contractors affected by the schedule must participate and collaborate with the recovery schedule development. This is also true in the case of multiple prime contracts, where all contractors that are affected by the schedule should participate and whose needs and abilities should be taken into account during the recovery schedule development.

Involvement

Arriving at a plan to regain lost time while minimizing or mitigating the cost or unnecessarily increasing the consumption of resources is difficult and is best achieved with involvement by the entire project management team. Failure to arrive at a reasonable, lowest cost, recovery schedule raises the risk of potential loss of time and/or money on the project. A lack of timely agreement on the steps used in the recovery schedule could result in contractor acceleration, cost overruns, late project delivery, and disputes that frequently last well past project completion. It is important to keep in mind that when a recovery schedule is required, project status and situations already exist that have raised the risk of completion for the project, so development and approval of a recovery schedule must be carefully thought out.

Assessment of the recovery from the impacts of trends, deviations, changes, etc. on project schedules usually involves the project team. If the participants agree that the recovery schedule submittal meets the specified standards and represents the current status and the revised forecast using logic for the project is reasonable and achieves the goals of recovery, it is understood that both the contractor and owner are in agreement on approval of the recovery schedule submittal and that both will cooperate in the actions necessary to meet the project recovery schedule.

Timing

Generally, a recovery schedule is requested when the project schedule has slipped enough that it does not appear possible to regain lost time through ordinary project management techniques within the project schedule. The first step when the owner considers the need to require a recovery schedule is to review the contract and specifications for any language that dictates the use of recovery schedules. Absent that pertinent language, a reasonable approach to timing suggests several factors to consider to make the decision: extent of slippage of contractual milestones; amount of time remaining to complete the project; availability of resources; existing resource consumption on the project; and costs of project delay. Since a recovery schedule is always developed at a time when the project is struggling with progress, it is vital that the development of the schedule is proactively approached and advances to completion as soon as possible. If it appears that the development may take some period of time, it might be worthwhile to provide a short interim recovery planning schedule to put some changes in field operations in place right away. The sooner the field employees see a recovery effort, even if it is the short interim plan, the more successful the recovery will be.

RECOVERY SCHEDULING

Identify the Need

When a recovery situation arises, the schedule should first be treated as if the same conditions exist that might require a time impact analysis (TIA) to be provided (see: AACE International Recommended Practice No. 52R-06 Time Impact Analysis—As Applied in Construction[2]). Just as the value of a TIA is dependent



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on the quality of the schedule prior to analysis, the value of a recovery schedule is dependent on the quality of the schedule prior to recovery. This means that the schedule needs to be a good, accurate model of the current state of the project, including accurate dates, complete scope of work, and represents the project management team’s plan using their means and methods of construction.

It must be stressed that a recovery schedule is separate and distinct from a time impact analysis[2]. The requirement for creating one does not imply the requirement for creating the other.

Create the Plan

The recommended practice for recovery scheduling in general is to involve all the team members under the leadership of the project manager with support from the planner/scheduler. For example, on a construction project, key team members might include the construction manager, project superintendent, engineering manager, quality assurance manager, safety representative, estimator, procurement representative, key or affected subcontractor management, and of course the planner/scheduler. For contractor schedules, an owner representative may attend the planning sessions when appropriate. Likewise, appropriate government agency representatives, key vendors and equipment suppliers, and other third-party representatives (such as utility companies) also could participate as needed.

As this recovery schedule is the responsibility of the contractor, unless otherwise specified in the contract, the contractor has the final say as to the membership of the team members to be involved in its creation. The Contractor may feel that the benefits of maintaining proprietary information, internal cohesion, and actual cost figures may outweigh the benefits of full inclusion of all project participants.

Team meetings and/or workshops are excellent forums for brainstorming ideas and suggestions for recovery scheduling. The meeting is best held early in the project, well before any need for recovery arises, and could be part of the risk management planning during schedule development. Since risk includes both threats and opportunities, this evaluation process can provide excellent issues that can be investigated once there is a need to recover.

The basic recovery schedule pre-planning meeting could follow an agenda such as is outlined later in this document. The next steps to take once a project is in need of recovery are:

Document existing project condition and status Develop historical data statistics

Project wide Critical path slippage Near-critical path slippage Non-critical path slippage

Engineering issues Late IFC drawings, IFC drawings with holds, revisions to IFC drawings Late specifications, revisions to specifications Voluminous and/or significant requests for information

Procurement issues Submittal and approval status Future delivery constraints Long lead time procurement concerns

Trade specific Production Efficiency Trades at risk of further slippage Trades performing better than planned

Look for opportunities for improvement/gain Efficiency Parallel critical path work



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Out-of-sequence work Inaccurate calendars Soft logic potential changes

Resources Preferential Space

Verify requirements or redefine requirements for milestones and substantial completion Make appropriate changes to schedule Obtain project approval Check recovery success Repeat cycle if necessary Document changes

RECOVERY SCHEDULE SUBMITTAL

Components of a Recovery Schedule Submittal

At a minimum, the recovery schedule submittal consists of a schedule narrative and a copy of the schedule’s native electronic database in a form consistent for archiving and transference to other project participants such as the owner. Just as in a schedule update, additional schedule submittal components may also include printed CPM reports and graphics, data tables to substantiate the claimed progress, early/actual/late progress and budget curves (S-Curves,) and related progress and resource graphics, as required by the contract.

Typically the recovery schedule submittal consists of the following components: A written narrative describing changes made to the schedule and the overall impacts to the project, A complete electronic copy of the schedule update database, Printed reports, as required by scheduling specification, and Graphics, as required by scheduling specification.

Schedule Narrative

The recovery schedule narrative adds and supports understanding of the schedule revisions. The narrative describes changes made to the schedule, current issues, problems, and defines any project management requirements, which might include specific additional responsibilities due to the recovery schedule, to the owner and other members of the project team. It is a universally important document as the narrative is understandable by all project shareholders, not just the scheduler.

A narrative may include the following items, as appropriate, some just as required with a schedule update, previously identified in AACE International Recommended Practice No. 53R-06 Schedule Update Review— As Applied in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction[3]:

Identification of significant reasons for the slippage that forced requirement for the recovery schedule, Status of progress against contractual milestones to date, showing gains from the recovery schedule, Review of the critical path activities showing in the recovery schedule, The status of engineering deliverables (drawings, specifications, etc.), The status of major project material and equipment procurement, Assumptions used to create the recovery schedule, A list of all changes made to the logic or planned durations during the development of the recovery

schedule,



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Project risk analyses, especially addressing any additional risks (threats or opportunities) that are exposed or resolved by the recovery schedule,

Project schedule concerns and issues, and Expectations of actions required by the owner in order to achieve the recovery plan.

Because a narrative supports and adds to the understanding of the submitted recovery schedule, review and use of an incomplete recovery schedule submittal is inefficient and possibly misleading. The reviewer may be confused or overlook important issues that a Narrative would have quickly clarified. For this reason, a partial schedule submittal usually does not constitute a contractual submittal. It is vital that the project team understands all the steps being taken in the recovery schedule that are necessary to regain lost time and the narrative will help with this understanding. In addition, it is just as important that the recovery schedule is reviewed at the same level of scrutiny that a full baseline schedule deserves in order to affirm the quality of the recovery schedule.

RECOVERY SCHEDULE PROCESS

The program should include development of a strategy for dealing with slippage, well before the first schedule slips. First, take a look at strategy that can be implemented by the project management team outside of the schedule. The first step in this process can happen with a company project management team meeting and can be done in conjunction with a lessons learned session. A portion of the meeting should be dedicated to brainstorming on project management solutions to time slippage, encouraging all ideas, without criticism, and recording those ideas including soliciting every solution developed in the past for similar situations. The prime deliverable expected from this session is a good project management time recovery check list. This checklist would be used at the inception of the project, and then whenever slippage occurs. It also generates a list of good project management suggestions.

The time slippage problems to anticipate are due to four broad categories: design clarity, planning, project management, and change management. Managing the risks associated with these areas of the project takes a program, dealing with each area using a unique set of predetermined checklist topics. Design clarity problems include incomplete, unclear, or inaccurate contract documents, creating uncertainty in scope of work. It is not the contractor’s responsibility to anticipate design clarity problems beyond the norm, so generally the owner is responsible to provide a complete and error free design prior to contract award. Planning problems include poorly conceived or designed schedules, slow buy-out and management of the procurement process, resulting in blown budgets, but more importantly, in delays due to missing or late contractors and materials availability. Project management problems are resource misappropriations as well as general failure to manage the critical path and non-critical path work. Change management problems include everything from undisclosed conditions to owner requested changes.

The first item to address is the major source of slippage in projects; the design and contract documents. It has been said that as much as 75% of the changes that affect projects are generated from the drawings, with incomplete, inaccurate, confusing, or conflicting details. The brainstorming list could look something like this:

Design and Contract Drawing Source Slippage Recovery

a. Start the formal process for dealing with problems, the RFI system, and use it exhaustively. Keep an RFI log, and take it to meetings and discuss time frames of any RFIs that are late. All RFIs and the log should include references to the relevant schedule activities so they can be monitored, and when an RFI has potential cost and/or schedule impact, this should be documented in the log. This will keep the project team focused on monitoring the effect on the critical path from delays due to issues that require clarification. It is also important to verify specified RFI response times, monitor and document them; watch for patterns of delay.

b. Add up all the strings of dimensions on every sheet of the drawings, and resolve issues before shop drawings and construction start. Although the owner may be responsible for quality control of design, this step will enhance the opportunity for success in recovery.



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c. Perform a thorough constructability review and follow up to ensure that all discovered issues are resolved. If there already is a constructability review for the project, verify that it is reflected in the final drawings. Although the owner may be responsible for quality control of design, this step will also enhance the opportunity for success in recovery.

d. Prepare and use a standard scope of work list for each trade that identifies scope holes and assigns them, so contractor bids and subcontracts can help eliminate missing or unclear scope. See a partial example of one such list below:

SUBCONTRACTOR: Ron Stephens Hudgins T&RSCOPE DESCRIPTION INCL INCL INCL

BASE BIDEngineeringTestingCurb/walk demolitionClearing and grubbingErosion controlMaintenance of EC while onsiteSlope protection – temp seedInlet protectionTree protectionConstruction entranceMaintenance of CETraffic control and planTraffic barricadesStrip topsoil and stockpileRemove excess topsoil offsite

Table 1: Example of Standard Scope of Work List

e. Make a determination about the quality of drawings; if they are substandard, start documenting that immediately and be aware that this will require an elevated attempt to provide constructability review before construction begins.

f. Make the same determination about the quality of reissued and changed drawings. Use this information when starting time impact analyses to include necessary activities for clarification of change directives.

Planning Source Slippage Recovery

a. Create a schedule for the buyout process; incorporate it if possible into the construction schedule, but schedule it and follow the schedule. Too many times, failure to release contracts causes progress slippage. It also removes the responsibility for progress from the superintendent and hurts field motivation. The author uses a series of buy-out activities, starting with critical procurement, and then running through several tiers of less critical procurement items.

b. Evaluate or re-evaluate the sequence of buy-out; make sure that all efforts are made to award contracts based on the schedule priorities.

c. Do not allow buy-out to proceed based on what is easy; follow up with the critical path buy-out. This means don’t write the painting contract when the structural steel contract is on your desk, even if it only takes a few minutes to write the painting contract.

d. Evaluate open buy-outs against the schedule. Resolve the critical ones.e. Provide a clear area designation plan (ADP) for the schedule and communications; make sure that it

mirrors the contract documents. The ADP is a vital document for explaining the areas that are referenced in the recovery schedule and help make the sequencing clear to all schedule stakeholders. If the workmen do not understand the plan or if it conflicts with the contract documents, it is a bad plan. It is amazing how many times the scheduler has produced an ADP that is clear to no one except the scheduler, but the scheduler takes the position that it is up to the workmen to understand his or her ADP. This is nonsense; if it is not easy to understand, it will cause problems.



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f. Manage the submittal process the same way as the buy-out; chase the critical submittals, and don’t get sidetracked just because of the arrival of a flurry of what appear to be easy submittals to process.

g. Evaluate open submittals against the schedule and follow up with those contractors and expedite submittals. This means monitoring the preparation of submittals by subcontractors who are out of sight and out of mind, and usually not monitored.

h. Make sure that the schedule monitors and tracks materials; follow up to see that critical materials are on hand.

i. Get involved with the contractors, if necessary, and expedite delivery of critical materials. Do not assume that the contractor is actually monitoring deliveries, and recognize that they are rarely as driven to expedite as the general contractor. This may involve talking with the contractors’ suppliers, and this step has often worked well. If a subcontractor or supplier tells you that the item is in stock or in their warehouse/storage, make a point to go out and physically verify that the materials are in fact there and labeled with your project’s name.

j. Evaluate open approvals and follow up with the designer or owner’s representative. Check the history of approvals to identify any trends of slippage. Make this a part of the project meetings so that the designer or owner’s representative is accountable. In addition, make sure that the contractor’s staff is processing the submittals in a timely manner. It is helpful to add separate activities for submit, review and approval by contractor and another for review and approval by the designer or owner’s representative so that any slippages can be tracked to the responsible party.

k. Watch and evaluate submittal/approval cycles; often the designer uses the approval process to finish or modify the drawings. Recognize that the architectural/engineering communities are struggling with tighter and tighter budgets, shorter and shorter time frames required by the owner, and less available experienced resources for design.

l. Look at the option of shortening approval times.m. Make it a priority to sequence the production of shop drawings and fabrications; ensure that it matches

the schedule and do not allow out of sequence delivery to affect production. Ensure production of critical path work first in all cases.

n. Track the owner furnished equipment (OFE) in the schedule and assign responsibility of tracking/collecting status updates from the owner to a team member. Clearly communicate needed schedule delivery dates with the owner.

Project Management Source Slippage Recovery

a. Review historical data for the administration process and identify any delay sources for resolution.b. Follow up with owner responsibilities such as permanent utilities and telephone. If the owner issues are

not in the schedule, it is much harder to monitor and avoid problems.c. Look at the historical data for the contractors and determine if there are any weak players; if so, focus

on those trades so that the additional scrutiny will force better performance from those contractors. This is a part of the risk management process used during schedule development, whether it is a baseline or a recovery schedule.

d. Resources, resources, resources. Compare actual resources to planned resources to see if there is a pattern of understaffing in any trades. If the schedule is not resource loaded, at least get a commitment from each contractor for a crew size and loading. Do this at contract time, not after the contractor is in trouble. Ensure that the scheduler understands the quantities and production rates used to estimate activity durations, along with crew sizes required to meet the production.

e. React immediately to under-staffing and don’t allow situation to continue.f. Do not allow contractors to switch workers, especially management personnel. This will minimize

learning curve losses from new faces on the job getting into the flow of the work. Do remove and replace any personnel, including management, that are contributing to problems.

g. Hold a specific recovery meeting to discuss ways to recover with the appropriate contractors. Make it mandatory for contractors that are behind.

h. Discuss the urgency of working the critical path with all management and team members.i. Explain the difference between activity completion slippage and critical path delay, and the concept of

total float.



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j. Treat dry-in, on facilities projects, as a major milestone, and take any steps necessary to make the scheduled date.

k. Create a plan that shows the location of all stored materials, equipment, and travel corridors on the project, if there isn’t one. This plan is typically called a lay-down plan. Assess the layout of the lay-down plan on a regular basis for efficiency and appropriateness of storage locations, paying attention to providing priority to critical work and storage of critical materials.

l. Revisit the field storage and lay-down areas; make sure that the critical contractors are not wasting time in transport of their materials and equipment.

m. Adjust lay-down areas as necessary to match construction areas.n. Emphasize sequenced materials storage, so materials can be pulled in an orderly fashion.o. Look at the site; if there is material scattered all over the site, inefficiencies are rampant. Force

organization on all contractors.p. Discuss the use of a materials distribution crew who can keep the project stocked ahead of the

experienced workmen.q. Make sure that there is adequate supply of helpers/laborers so that experienced workmen are not

functioning as labor rather than performing skilled work.r. Look out for competition for access to site or storage areas. Give priorities to work activities that are

critical or near-critical.s. Review condition of exterior travel corridors. Maintain roads, minimize mud, and keep free of storage.t. Review condition of interior travel corridors, stairs and hallways. Keep clean, lighted and accessible.u. Keep the entire project clean. Evaluate possibility of off-hour clean up so project is clean when

workmen arrive. This will help with attitudes. Discuss with major contractors and work out an arrangement to team up.

v. Review locations of stairs, especially temporary stairs. Watch traffic flow at lunch and quitting time to get an indication of how busy and inconvenient the current ladder/stair system can be.

w. Consider locations of temporary toilets and drinking water to minimize lost time.x. Label floors and column locations as soon as possible, especially at the travel corridors.y. Keep moisture out of the building if at all possible. Close penetrations with temporary protection.z. Provide safe and convenient tool storage.aa. Look at equipment flow on site, and minimize competing traffic.bb. If cranes are shared, especially tower cranes, develop a crane schedule and assign every major

contractor (every user) to a regular daily time period. This assigned contractor will have priority in that time period. This forces planning on the contractors, and will quickly make a difference in efficient use of the tower crane.

cc. Look closely at pre-assembly component opportunities:i. Weld, tie, prefabricate, or assemble as much as possible on the groundii. Ensure that pre-assembly is performed in compliance with the schedule sequencing.iii. Set up assembly locations that can be used in adverse weather.

dd. Maintain constant communications with the contractors about the sequencing of their deliveries, fabrications, prefabrications, and workmen to ensure that they are in compliance with the schedule.

ee. Make sure that quality control is ongoing; make completion punch lists and follow up. Do this on an area-by-area basis. This will recover time at the end of the project.

ff. Consider worker bonuses for short-term production improvements. $100/worker for 20 workers is cheap if they pick up 5 days on a project with $10,000 per day liquidated damages. If possible and allowable by the contract and accounting requirements, do this in cash and make a ceremony of the payout for maximum psychological impact.

gg. Consider the use of overtime or six day workweeks for the critical path contractors and workers. Don’t over-estimate the benefits of overtime; this is a short-lived advantage. After about three weeks, production rates will slip such that there is minimal advantage. Preferably, bring in additional workforce and add supervision so the workweek can be productive longer.

Change Management Source Slippage Recovery

a. Produce a rigid change management procedure and follow it.



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b. Clean up change ramifications as soon as possible; follow up paperwork and always run a time impact analysis on any potential delay event. Refer to AACE International Recommended Practice No. 52R-06 Time Impact Analysis – As Applied in Construction[2] and follow it.

c. Have a team meeting and define changes so the project management understands.d. Identify the contract scope of work, and always evaluate changes against the contract scope of work.e. Review the contractual responsibility for the owner to review and respond to cost and time change

requests. Ensure that the required time is including in the recovery schedule, and discuss the possibility of reducing that time with the owner. Monitor to ensure that the owner meets that required time frames for approvals.

f. Close out changes with each schedule update.

SCHEDULE STEPS FOR RECOVERY

The potential for recovery suggestions by the scheduler is very important. Not only are there legal ramifications, but good schedule maintenance and analysis can provide much insight into potential recovery efforts. For instance, identify whether the recovery effort is needed due to contractor problems (inexcusable delays), or is actually an acceleration effort that is due to problems outside the contractor’s control (excusable delays). If inexcusable delay recovery is not required, then there is a vital process of notification and involvement of the owner in the discussion that must happen. Recovering excusable delays without notification or permission will just build up total float that is available for the project to use without cost and perhaps move simple delay to disruption with all the complications of analysis and proof. In addition, if recovery is necessary due to inexcusable delays, it is better not to attempt to recover more time than needed to get back on schedule (recover to TF=0).

Taking advantage of the schedule and schedule historical information requires good records, with accurate start and finish dates for all activities. With this information in hand, it is possible to use the history of the project to provide opportunities to recover time that do not increase the cost of the project. It is legitimate and prudent to suggest using the historical data to provide recovery efforts at minimal cost.

Again, prior to starting a project, a good checklist and process can be developed through a brainstorming session with the scheduling professionals and project management team. Discuss how schedule data can provide these opportunities and identify the desired deliverable for this session as a good checklist to be used whenever the project needs to pick up lost time. Here are some examples of the type of information that would normally be on this checklist:

Clean Up Issues and the Schedule

a. First, upon recognition that recovery is necessary, verify the current schedule accuracy in data and logic. Make sure that it reflects the current project delivery management.

b. If possible, clean up any outstanding claims or potential time impact issues before starting on the recovery effort, however, any lingering disputes should follow dispute resolution procedures outlined in the contract. This will keep from mixing and confusing legitimate time extensions with recovery gains.

c. Determine the causal activities for the current delays. Do this monthly so there are no old issues and old delays. It is important that potential concurrent delays are identified and analyzed.

d. Identify the trades that have contributed to any delays; put them on notice that they have caused delays and need to recover their own delays, but be very careful that the recovery effort does not count on contractors that have demonstrated an inability to meet their company commitments in the baseline schedule. Very often, the trades that have contributed to delay are the trades that are needed to recover, however, reliance on those trades to perform at a more efficient rate than they have been able to demonstrate will contribute to failure of the recovery schedule effort. If recovery is to succeed, alternate approaches to relying on these trades will need to be used.

Review Efficiency of Work



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a. Hold a recovery meeting with the major contractors and solicit their input to identify areas of inefficiency. Involve the foremen and superintendents, and discuss practical crew sizes, breakdown of crews, materials and equipment flow and availability, and isolate problems that might cause delay.

b. Identify disruption issues between trades which impact one trade’s completion. Is the electrician routinely hanging conduit before the sprinkler and ductwork, causing rework or additional shifting of sprinkler and ductwork? Sometimes it is the trade that appears to be ahead of schedule that is taking advantage of open space but may really be creating conditions that will impede later progress. Make sure that this is reasonable; there was some rationale to the original sequencing and if that sequencing changes, the rationale is subject to be reviewed.

c. Check the historical data for slipped start dates; this might be an indication of project management difficulties. Find out if the slippage is due to a specific trade that needs more mobilization time and use this information to analyze the rest of the schedule. Often the superintendent has not done a great job of making sure the jobsite is really ready for the next trade. This is generally an area that can yield improvement.

d. Review progress on the project and compare to the baseline schedule. Identify all basic changes in sequencing and determine rationale (if there is any) for the changes. Often the workmen perform work that is off-schedule without making any decision to do so.

e. Take a fresh look at the sequencing for the entire project; determine if there is any potential for parallel critical paths. Separate out the potential parallel string of activities and verify that there is opportunity for concurrent work.

Review Durations

a. Take a hard look at the limitations and priority of recovery based on the length of paths. Looking at multiple paths with the same total float values, the paths with the least number of activities will highlight the more important activities to focus on for recovery because there is more opportunity; they are the more likely to carry the most individual activity risk. This addresses the problem with total float; TF is a path value, not an activity value and as such, long paths will expose too many trades to the available total float.

b. Check the historical records to see which trades routinely complete work (actual durations) in less time than planned (original durations); these are the areas to chase.

i. This is the old “tipper” report; producing a total performance ratio (TPR) for each trade, with TPR = AD/OD.

ii. This report will also indicate which trades are routinely not performing (TPR > 1) as planned and perhaps causing problems. This reporting is dependent on accurate actual dates in the schedule and may even require that calendars are actualized to maintain as-built data accuracy.

iii. Most schedulers will generally build some amount of coordination time, not to be confused with risk adjusted contingency planning, into the schedule that is designed to deal with mobilization, demobilization, site access and site cleanup, as well as materials distribution for individual trade contractors. This is smart scheduling unless it is consumes so much time that it is really sequestering float, but only a foolish scheduler would produce a schedule that has no contingency for internal coordination issues. Using any of this available coordination time across the board can be a part of any recovery effort; now is the time to take advantage of the excess time that results from both conservative coordination planning and more effective project management. This is done by review of the historical record to see if any trades are typically operating at lower durations than planned due to increased efficiency, and entering into a discussion with any trade that experiences this increased efficiency for that trade to be instrumental in the recovery schedule.

Review Logic

a Identify all out-of-sequence work that has occurred. b. Identify and separate all hard (physical constraints) and soft (resource, preferences, and space

constraints) logic.



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Review Resources

a. If the schedule is resource loaded, run reports to compare planned resources against actual resources. If critical path activities are under-manned in particular, put these contractors on notice, and monitor improvement. Use this information to evaluate durations as well; if the resource usage is lower than planned and the actual durations less than planned, there is contingency time built into the durations.

b. Filter the schedule by areas, and look at the total resource table for each area. Consider whether the quantity of workers in each area is reasonable. Look at a specific time period; can 22 workers actually work on the same day in the mechanical room of this project? This allows decisions about resource allocation to be made based on critical path activities.

c. Load activities with crews if the schedule is not resource loaded. Run a resource table for at least the three week look-ahead schedule, and visually see where there are conflicts with the numbers of crews for each trade. This is a source for slippage: discuss this with the contractors.

i. First, identify conflicts where the over-manning requirements can be met by simple manual leveling; move the activities which have reasonable TF values out of the problem time zone.

ii. Second, discuss bringing in additional resources specifically for those activities that are stacked beyond the current total crew count capacity, but are critical. Have this discussion in a targeted and short-term manner, not just to have the contractor add manpower.

d. Identify the soft logic that is related only to resources and determine if there is an opportunity to remove some of those relationship ties, especially for the critical path trades. This normally would involve concurrent work so it could take additional resources.

e. Take a serious look at any strings of repetitive tasks and see if those areas could be handled by setting up crews that follow each other, keeping the same crew members. This can minimize learning curves and add some pressure on each crew from the succeeding crew, as with excavation, pile cutoffs, formwork, rebar and pouring pile caps, letting the crews compete and chase each other around the job in sequence.

f. If the schedule is cost or resource loaded, use the earned value calculations to help identify trades that need to increase production; any trade that has earned value metrics less than planned values is likely to have a problem with over-stacking of workmen at the end of the project.

Scheduling Actions

a. Review sequencing and activities required for substantial completion, verify that they are correct. Revise logic if required. This is the opportunity to redefine substantial completion in order to re-sequence work that might not have to be done for substantial completion, and the same is true for interim milestone definitions.

b. Working with the critical path (longest path and TF less than the update period), start at the data date, and look at every relationship.

i. Identify any possibilities to work out-of-sequence and adjust the schedule to allow concurrent work. For example, a typical example would be a FS to relationship between drywall finishing and its painting successor. If it is a large room (area), the painting could start on the portions of the room where the drywall is complete. In this case, a SS relationship w/ a lag (in addition to a FF relationship w/ a lag) would be possible.

ii. Focus on dissimilar trades when adjusting to allow concurrent work. This can help to prevent ramping up manpower. Watch overloading specific project areas, such as commercial kitchens.

iii. Compare out-of-sequence work with soft logic and see if the out-of-sequence work has actually changed the plan. If this new plan works, then use the out-of-sequence work as a precedent to continue with this revised logic (remove soft logic in future work). If the plan called for 2 weeks of metal stud framing on the first floor before starting the plumbing rough-in, and the plumbing rough-in started after 1 week, then modify the schedule to follow this same process in future areas.

iv. When changing FS to SS or FS with negative lags, be sure to terminate the relationships with a FF relationship to control which activity will finish first, if the software platform supports it, as identified in the example presented above.



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c. Add another workday; go from a 5 day workweek to a 6 day workweek for the critical trades, without going to overtime. See if they can bring in outside resources to fill the additional time.

d. Finally, put the critical trades on overtime, but this should be one of the very last resorts. Remember that unless that trade has proven their ability to perform within their original durations, this won’t work. Also, be aware of the risks and inefficiencies of overtime work in general.

General Scheduling Techniques

a. Print schedule reports with the free float column showing; if every contractor works within the FF values, then there most likely will be no disruption and no slippage unless there is a space crowding issue that was not taken into account in the schedule development.

b. Review all the different types of disruption and ensure that those issues are not happening on the project. This includes lack of productivity, trade stacking (important issue to review if the recovery schedule contains a lot of SS w/ lag relationships that were formerly FS relationships), dilution of supervision, inefficient work flows, and a number of other problems that typically occur on jobs that are running behind. If the project does not suffer from disruption, there is a much greater likelihood of regaining lost time. Understanding disruption sources will help project management and schedulers avoid situations that could lead to disruption.

c. Provide interim milestones in the schedule to mark important events; dry-in, site close-in, completion of rough-ins, exterior façade completion. Celebrate the completion of each interim milestone; this is a psychological issue and can raise the production level of the entire project. Lack of motivation is a type of disruption and should be managed. All workmen want to be part of a successful and motivated project team so the more success can be celebrated and discussed, the better the attitudes and more cooperation on the job.

d. Review all calendars on the project, and assess non-work time. Verify that correct calendars are used appropriately. This is an opportunity to pick up time, especially if the use of weather calendars can be reduced.

e. Review job adverse weather history to assess risk, and check into possibility of reducing adverse weather non-work days.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS

Resource Leveling

As in update schedules, the use of automatic resource leveling software could become an issue. In the recovery schedule mode, the project is already in trouble with the production and resources, so adding any unknown automatic resource leveling to the process is very dangerous. It is imperative that the project team understands the available resource pool, analyzes the historical resource usage, and clearly commits the available resources to the priorities defined in the recovery process. In the schedule recovery steps listed above, manual leveling of resources is recommended, and this is the preferred method of planning the resource changes.

Cooperation

Once the recovery schedule submittal is approved, it is essential that all parties cooperate on the accomplishment of that plan. At the very least, the owner and contractor are both responsible for not hindering the application of the approved recovery plan, as this may constitute a breach of contract.

Actual Results



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A recovery schedule is just a plan and like the original construction plan, actual progress may deviate from planned progress. While the contractor may be required to attempt to execute their approved recovery plan, it is unusual to hold the contractor accountable for perfect completion of the plan. The contractor may later elect to modify their work plan based upon new events and issues. Actual damages may still be accessed for late project delivery, but the failure to accomplish a recovery plan does not constitute a failure to comply with contractual recovery requirements, so it does not constitute a breach of contract, unless so specified.

Projects with Multiple General Contractors

When the owner requests a recovery schedule of a general contractor on a multiple contractor project, the guidelines provided in this RP should be followed but additional emphasis should be given to the following topics:

How the schedule development is handled The contract language concerning scheduling and scheduling responsibilities The involvement and participation of the individual contractors related to scheduling

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Please note: Upon acceptance and final publication of this RP, these terms will be removed from this document and incorporated into AACE International Recommended Practice No. 10S-90 Cost Engineering Terminology[4].

AREA DESIGNATION PLAN –A drawing prepared from or included with the contract documents that serves as the basis to provide orientation and organize the work flow on the project, including communicating status for the convenience and reference of any of the status report recipients. It should include the site plan(s) to depict in general terms, any areas that are referenced in the schedule, including overall orientation, access, parking areas, , structures, facilities (new or existing) on the site and for structures (i.e. buildings) will show typical floor layout and possible an exterior elevations. Some of this detail may be covered in a separate document called a lay-down area plan (see definition below).

LAY-DOWN AREA PLAN –A drawing prepared from or included with the contract documents that serves as the basis to provide the locations of storage materials, travel corridors, parking, and site access for the convenience and reference of any of the project stakeholders. It may include contractually mandated locations for stock-piled materials or temporary locations for work. Generally this plan will also include locations of any tower cranes and/or concrete and masonry plants that are on-site.

REFERENCES

1. Carson, Christopher W., A Structured Approach To Least Cost Recovery Scheduling, 2007 AACE International Transactions, PS.02, AACE International, Morgantown, WV, 2007

2. AACE International Recommended Practice No. 52R-06 Time Impact Analysis—As Applied in Construction, AACE International, Morgantown, WV, USA

3. AACE International Recommended Practice No. 53R-06 Schedule Update Review—As Applied in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction, AACE International, Morgantown, WV, USA

4. AACE International Recommended Practice 10S-90, Cost Engineering Terminology (latest revision), AACE International, Morgantown, WV, USA

5. Hollmann, John K., Editor, Total Cost Management Framework: An Integrated Approach to Portfolio, Program and Project Management, AACE International, Morgantown, WV, 2006.



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CONTRIBUTORS

Christopher W. Carson, PSP (Author)Timothy T. Calvey, PE PSPRey F. Diaz, PEJohn W. DillonHannah E. Schumacher, PSPRonald M. Winter, PSP



August 31, 2009

recovery schedule

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