Insights | Adroit Consultants, LLC

A sustainable construction practice to avoid the risk of Legionnaires’ disease

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Adroit

Facility managers and many other stakeholders are increasingly interested to find out more about effective water management strategies in buildings and facilities to prevent Legionella Infection. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila. The bacteria may also cause a less serious illness that is referred to as Pontiac fever. Legionnaires’ disease is similar to other types of pneumonia, with common symptoms such as cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches, and headaches, or less common symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, and confusion. This bacteria is found in both potable and non-potable water systems (DOH, 2018a). The key question is how the risks associated with this infection can be managed.

Although the need for more effective water management strategies became more apparent in 2015 when the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) released Legionella standard, ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015, cases of Legionella infection are still being reported. For example, in a recent case, the New York State Department of Health announced that individuals who were guests at the Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel between July 16, 2018 and August 1, 2018 or those who were in proximity to the hotel’s pool and spa may have been exposed to Legionella bacteria (DOH, 2018b).

ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015 is one of the main standards that define the main considerations in building water systems to manage the risks associated with Legionella infection. To implement effective water management strategies, potential risks associated with the water management systems need to be identified, assessed, and managed properly. Although risks are typically classified into positive and negative risks, this article focuses on negative risks or threats. Negative risks are any potential events or conditions that may adversely impact asset management objectives. A proper application of risk assessment techniques makes facilities less vulnerable to potential risks arisen from Legionella bacteria. Addressing issues after the fact usually costs significantly higher compared to the amounts paid for implementing risk response strategies. Therefore, using risk management practices are important not only to protect facilities and water management systems from detrimental risks but also to ensure that facility owners, such as commercial buildings, do not incur costs due to unmanaged risks.

Risk management consists of the key processes of planning for risk management, identification, assessment, response planning (i.e., risk treatment), and risk control. To make facilities less vulnerable to potential risks arisen from Legionella bacteria, risk response strategies need to be identified for all potential risks that may arise. Risk response strategies are the actions that can be taken in case of a risk occurrence. In general, four classes of risk response strategies exist. As shown in Table 1, these classes include risk avoidance, risk transfer, risk mitigation, and risk acceptance:

Table 1. Risk-response strategies for managing negative risks

Risk response strategy	Description
Avoid	Eliminate the risk
Transfer	Transfer the risk to a third party
Mitigate	Reduce the probability or impact of the risk
Accept	Accept the risk by taking no actions or, at most, setting aside contingency to offset the adverse effect of the risk

Risk acceptance and risk transfer are not typically among the risk response strategies that facility managers can choose to treat the risks associated with Legionnaires’ disease; otherwise, facility managers will not be able to satisfy the requirements of various standards, codes, and regulations. As such, the only two viable risk response strategies that facility managers can rely on in managing the risks associated with Legionnaires’ disease are risk mitigation and risk avoidance. To implement risk mitigation strategies, they need to reduce the probability or impact of the risk by adopting proper building water management practices. These include strategies such as keeping water at an appropriate temperature and free of impurities and verifying the effectiveness of building water management plans.

To implement risk avoidance strategies, facility managers need to eliminate the risk. Some of the building water management strategies that, to a large extent, eliminate the risk of Legionnaires’ disease, can be classified under the risk avoidance (i.e., risk elimination) category. Although these risks cannot entirely be eliminated, these strategies can play important roles in minimizing the likelihood of the risk occurrence. One of the strategies that can be classified as a risk avoidance strategy is the use of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) in buildings. GHPs are also known as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps. Instead of using the outside air temperature as the exchange medium, GHPs use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium. During the winter, the ground is warmer than the air above it whereas, during the summer, the ground is cooler than the air. GHPs take advantage of this characteristic of the earth by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger (DOE, 2018). If geothermal exchangers are incorporated during the building design process and used in place of cooling towers in buildings, they can eliminate the need for a recirculated water system that uses evaporative cooling for rejecting the heat to the air. Other benefits of GHPs include high energy efficiency, durability, and high energy efficiency (EPA, 2018). Because cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and fluid containers have been identified as one of the main sources of dispersing water-dispersed diseases such as Legionellosis disease, eliminating the need for a recirculated water system can be an effective sustainable construction strategy to avoid the risk of Legionellosis disease.

For more information about building water, risk assessment, and Legionella services that Adroit provides, please visit the following page or contact us:

Building Water and Legionella Services

References:

Department of Energy [DOE] (2018). Geothermal Heat Pumps. Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-and-cool/heat-pump-systems/geothermal-heat-pumps

Department of Health [DOH] (2018a). Legionnaires’ Disease. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/

Department of Health [DOH] (2018b). New York State Department of Health Warns of Potential Exposure to Legionella Bacteria in Schuyler County. Retrieved from https://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2018/2018-08-09_legionellosis.htm

The United States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] (2018). Geothermal Heating and Cooling Technologies. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/rhc/geothermal-heating-and-cooling-technologies

Effective Water Management Strategies to Prevent Legionella Bacteria

Posted on August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 by Adroit

Government agencies, water management professionals, healthcare facility managers, and many other stakeholders are increasingly interested to find out more about effective water management strategies to prevent Legionella Infection. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila. This bacteria is found in both potable and non-potable water systems. The need for more effective water management strategies became more apparent in 2015 when the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) released Legionella standard, ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015 after a consensus was reached among government agencies and industry groups concerning the general approach to preventing and controlling Legionnaires’ disease.

ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015 identified some of the important considerations in managing water management systems to ensure proper strategies are in place to prevent and control Legionnaires’ disease. In 2015, an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease was identified as the cause of death for 12 individuals in the South Bronx in the City of New York. This outbreak also sickened about 120 people in the same area. Several cooling towers in the affected areas tested positive for legionella. In response to this outbreak, building owners and facility managers in New York are now required to register cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and fluid containers with the Department of Buildings. After this outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also reported about the increased number of Legionnaires’ disease cases and highlighted the importance of more effective building water management.

To implement effective water management strategies, potential risks associated with the water management systems need to be identified, assessed, and managed properly. Although risks are typically classified into positive and negative risks, this article focuses on negative risks or threats. Negative risks are any potential events or conditions that may adversely impact asset management objectives. A proper application of risk assessment techniques makes facilities less vulnerable to potential risks arisen from Legionella bacteria. Addressing issues after the fact usually costs significantly higher compared to the amounts paid for implementing risk response strategies. Therefore, using risk management practices are important not only to protect facilities and water management systems from detrimental risks but also to ensure that facility owners, such as commercial buildings and hospitals, do not incur costs due to unmanaged risks. Risk management consists of the key processes of planning for risk management, identification, assessment, response planning (i.e., risk treatment), and risk control. The following are some of the recommended practices to ensure risk management practices are properly used for water systems in buildings and facilities:

a) Establish water management program (WMP)

Many benefits can be gained by timely establishing a water management plan (also known as water management program [WMP]) even if an audit is not forthcoming. ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015 can be used as a guideline and a reference but other recommended practices need to be considered to determine the best strategies that can be used to protect the occupants and users of buildings and facilities against Legionnaires’ disease because cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and fluid containers have been identified as one of the main sources of dispersing water-dispersed diseases (e.g. Legionellosis).

b) Follow your WMP and improve as needed

Property owners and facility managers protect themselves against legal and non-legal risks and expenses if they, not only prepare but also implement water management programs to demonstrate they have exercised standards of care in preventing diseases associated with water systems. Any WMP needs to be reviewed on a regular basis to identify the areas for improvements and adjust the strategies as needed.

c) Compliance with rules and regulations

In New York, compliance with portions of ANSI/ASHRAE 188-2015 is mandatory. Other states have also started to adopt more measures in this regard to protect public safety. Therefore, it is good practice for property owners and facility managers to use proactive water management measures to ensure that their facilities meet and exceed the minimum requirements established by consensus-based standards and guidelines. Examples include ANSI/ASHRAE standard 188-2015, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, and NSF Standard 453-2016.

d) Use of proper liability insurance coverage

Another protective measure that property owners can adopt is to ensure that their liability insurance provides adequate coverage against the Legionella claims.

e) Use internal audits for quality assurance

Quality assurance and quality control are two aspects of quality management, and both are important to ensure proper tools, techniques, and practices are used to effectively manage water systems in buildings and facilities. Quality assurance has an important role, similar to the role of the quality control; however, it may be considered a more fundamental need because it focuses on providing confidence that requirements will be satisfied. In other words, quality assurance ensures that proper water management systems, practices, and procedures are in place and followed.

To implement effective water management strategies, potential risks associated with the water management systems need to be identified, assessed, and managed. A proper application of risk management techniques makes facilities less vulnerable to potential risks arisen from Legionella bacteria. This article identified some of the recommended practices to ensure risk management practices are properly used for water systems to prevent and control Legionnaires’ disease, especially because cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and fluid containers have been identified as one of the main sources of dispersing water-dispersed diseases (e.g. Legionellosis). These practices include establishing water management program (WMP), following WMPs and improving them as needed, compliance with rules and regulations, using proper liability insurance coverage, and using internal audits for quality assurance. Using risk management practices are important not only to protect facilities and water management systems from detrimental risks but also to ensure that facility owners, such as commercial buildings and hospitals, do not incur costs due to unmanaged risks associated with Legionnaires’ disease.

For more information about building water, risk assessment, and Legionella services that Adroit provides, please check out the following page or contact us:

Building Water and Legionella Services

Diagrams to illustrate repetitive construction activities

Posted on August 6, 2018August 7, 2018 by Adroit

Dr. Maryam Mirhadi, PMP, PSP

Project planning and scheduling professional may use different project scheduling methods and techniques for different projects depending on the type, size, and nature of projects. Repetitive scheduling techniques are used is in linear construction projects. In linear construction projects, the majority of the work is made up of highly repetitive activities. In these projects, a set of project activities are repeated in each location for the entire length of the work. Once a project activity is started and/or ended in one location, it is repeated in another location. Examples of linear construction projects include pipeline projects, highway construction, highway resurfacing and maintenance, airport runway construction and resurfacing tunnels, mass transit systems, and railroads. Because of the highly repetitive nature of the work, high-rise building projects are also often identified as linear in nature.

One of the important considerations in the planning of linear construction projects is to identify a location for the working crew to move to in a manner that its work does not interfere with the work of any other construction crew. Therefore, production rates have to be coordinated to prevent a preceding process from overtaking its succeeding process(s).

Traditional project planning and scheduling methods such as the critical path methods are typically inadequate for effective planning and scheduling of linear construction projects because these planning and scheduling methods do not account for work locations or spatial aspects and do not effectively model project activities that are repetitively performed. Due to such shortcomings, other methods such as line of balance (LOB), vertical production method (VPM), time couplings method (TCM), the repetitive project modelling (RPM), repetitive construction (REPCON), and the repetitive scheduling method (RSM) have been proposed in the literature to better satisfy the planning and scheduling needs of linear construction projects. The various repetitive scheduling techniques can be categorized into the two main classes of linear scheduling methods (LSM) and line of balance (LOB) techniques.

Line of balance techniques use three key types of charts to illustrate repetitive construction activities. These charts are objective chart, production plan, and progress chart. LOB was first used in the manufacturing industry. It starts with the end product and the ultimate output quantity and schedule in mind. This information is documented in the production plan and it is then used to establish a cumulative plan that delineates how much work ought to be delivered over time. This cumulative plan then becomes the objective chart against which the actual progress is measured using the progress chart. An example objective chart that is used in the line of balance method is shown in the figure below.

LSM schedules, however, use velocity diagrams representing each activity. The schedule format may provide the planned and actual production rates on a time-scaled format. A typical LSM diagram represents time along the X-axis (i.e., horizontal axis) and some measure of repetitive units along the Y-axis (i.e., vertical axis). This diagram also includes lines that represent all the linear activities that are involved in the completion of the repetitive units. A linear activity is a project activity that progresses along a physical path. This path is represented by the location axis in the LSM. Over the course of the project and at any point of progress along this path, the activity is completed up to that point. For instance, consider an activity that involves rough grading before finish grading in a road construction project. In this example, as the path is rough-graded, the rough-grading activity is complete up to that point of progress along the path. Once the path is rough-graded at any location, no need exists anymore to go back and rough-grade the location. Therefore, any location along the path that is behind the current work location is a work-front for succeeding activities (e.g., finish grading) to be performed. An example LSM diagram is shown in the figure below.

In a future article, further considerations in developing the linear scheduling and line of balance techniques will further be described.

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Schedule Activity Density Analysis

Posted on July 26, 2018October 31, 2018 by Adroit

Dr. Maryam Mirhadi, PMP, PSP | Principal Consultant

One of the tools that can be used to assess the time-phased projected number of activities scheduled over the course of a project is the schedule activity density analysis. A schedule activity density histogram represents the cumulative number of activities that are, partly or wholly, scheduled to be performed within each time unit over the course of the project. The schedule activity density can alternatively be measured by activity-workdays scheduled per time analysis period (if activity durations are defined in days).

For instance, if a 10 and a 20 working-day activities are supposed to start and complete in a particular month, the activity-workdays for that particular month will be 30 (i.e., 10+20). If a 10 working-day activity, a 20 working-day activity, and half of an 8 working-day activity are supposed to start and complete in a particular month, the activity-workdays for that particular month will be 34 (i.e., 10+20+8/2).

As such, if a schedule activity density is high within a particular time analysis period, it can be concluded that a high number of activities are in-progress within that particular time analysis period. Therefore, it is expected that delays influence schedule activity density histograms as well because delays change the number of activities that are scheduled to be undertaken within certain time frames. Delayed work typically results in the overlapping of planned future work; therefore, delays are expected to increase the schedule’s activity density during the time frames in which planned future work will be scheduled.

Figure 1 provides an example schedule activity density histogram in which the schedule activity density is shown by the number of activity-workdays scheduled per time analysis period (i.e., monthly periods).

Figure 1. An example schedule activity density histogram

A review of Figure 1 indicates that the schedule activity density is the highest about September 2017 in which the number of activity-workdays is at the highest point whereas, in a time analysis period such as December 2017, the number of activity-workdays is at the lowest point. This indication suggests that in or about September 2017, the highest number of in-progress activities are scheduled whereas in or about December 2017, the lowest number of in-progress activities are scheduled.

Figure 2 provides an example cumulative schedule activity density histogram in which the cumulative schedule activity density is shown by calculating the cumulative number of activity-workdays scheduled per time analysis period (i.e., monthly periods).

Figure 2. An example cumulative schedule activity density histogram

Two cumulative schedule activity histograms are provided in this figure. The blue histogram represents the schedule activity density for the case where the constraint type of all project activities is set to “As Soon As Possible” whereas the red histogram illustrates the schedule activity density for the case where the constraint type of all project activities is set to “As Late As Possible”. A comparison between these two histograms indicates that the cumulative number of activity-workdays scheduled per time analysis period (i.e., monthly periods) for the late chart is always less than or equal to this cumulative number for the early chart over the course of the project because setting the constraint type of all project activities to “As Late As Possible” prevents the non-critical activities from starting on their early start date and being completed on their early finish dates. This change reduces the cumulative number of activity-workdays scheduled per time analysis period (i.e., monthly periods) for the late chart and the activity density chart shifts to the right of the X-axis suggesting that more activities are being scheduled to be performed later than their original early start and finish dates.

Delayed work typically results in the overlapping of planned future work; therefore, delays are expected to increase the schedule’s activity density during the time frames in which planned future work will be scheduled. Analyzing a schedule activity density histogram is helpful in identifying the likely causes that adversely impact project schedules. For example, delaying events that prevent a set of activities from starting or finishing on-time reduce the schedule’s activity density during the time frames in which planned work cannot be performed in a timely manner but increase the schedule’s activity density during the time frames in which planned future work is supposed to be implemented. Schedule activity density histogram provides an effective way to visualize the density of schedules and obtain a better understanding of the effect of delays on the scheduled workload.

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Considerations in developing phasing plan in subway rehabilitation projects

Posted on July 7, 2018August 7, 2018 by Adroit

Maryam Mirhadi, Ph.D., PMP, PSP

Subway station rehabilitation/renovation projects, also known as subway rehabilitation projects, are among the projects with special needs. These projects have special characteristics that differentiate them from other types of construction projects. The most important characteristics of subway rehabilitation projects from a project planning perspective are the need to account for the schedule of diversions, utility/infrastructure relocations, piggybacking opportunities, special permits, flagger availability, and work train availability.

Because of the special characteristics of subway rehabilitation projects, some considerations for scheduling these projects shall be applied with special attention and emphasis. The following provides key considerations for planning and scheduling of these projects. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. Instead, it identifies some of the key considerations that need to be given to the planning and scheduling of subway rehabilitation projects.

Identify the activities that cannot be implemented during normal service hours (e.g., the activities that need diversion of train services). Examples include activities on the platform edge and activities on, under, or near tracks. If a project involves working on several stations on the same line, the stations that are between two immediate switches can utilize the same diversion (by piggy-backing on each other). Under these circumstances, diversion-related tasks should be scheduled properly to maximize efficiency.
Having multiple diversions on one line and between different switches is called double-heating. If the stations are not between two immediate switches, diversions are not usually scheduled at the same time to avoid double-heating and ensure train service interruptions are minimized.
Determine the preliminary number and type of the required diversions, work-trains, and other special services for the project. This determination will help the construction team consider diversions, work-trains, and other special services as project resources. This approach helps the construction team to identify the resources that are constrained. By using proper resource management strategies such as resource planning and optimization, the construction team can ensure it obtains access to these special services when the project needs these services.
Review the special services identified with operations departments to ensure availability. If the requested diversions cannot be accommodated during required timeframes, the scope of work, design requirements, alternative construction methods, job phasing, or the project timeline should be reviewed and revised based on the available diversion plans. In addition to time, budget, and resource constraints, the availability of diversions is one of the major constraints that impact subway rehabilitation projects.
Identify the areas and equipment that cannot concurrently be closed or taken out-of-service in each subway station to ensure of continuous and safe operation of the station. Examples include entrance stairs, platform stairs, mezzanine areas, elevators, and tracks. For instance, if two elevators in one station exist and upgrading both elevators are in the project scope of work, working on the two elevators at the same time may not be permitted.
Identify hazardous materials such as lead, asbestos, and mercury. Performing abatement operations might be necessary before the commencement of work in areas in which hazard may be present. In these cases, direct communication and coordination between the client, contractor, and environmental agencies is crucial to identify the proper course of actions. In addition, removal of these materials during the construction phase may require special permits and equipment for which contractors should plan in advance.
Identify the long-lead and client-furnished items. With respect to long-lead items, an opportunity may exist to fast-track some activities by creating an overlap between the design and procurement activities for the long-lead items. Moreover, early order placement for long-lead items plays an important role in making sure that long-lead items will be delivered to the project in a timely manner. In addition, the construction management needs to properly identify the client-furnished items and account for the possibility of receiving these items later than expected.
Identify the activities that are supposed to be executed in areas that are not under the authority of the construction team. Examples include utility relocations or working in a public street. In addition, it should be determined if these activities require additional permits (e.g., DOT permits). The project team should be aware that these tasks have the potential to delay the project to a great extent because the project team usually has little control on expediting the permit application, inspection, or review processes.

In sum, from a project planning perspective, some of the key characteristics of subway rehabilitation projects that differentiate these projects from many other construction projects include the need to account for the schedule of diversions, utility/infrastructure relocations, piggybacking opportunities, special permits, flagger availability, and work-train availability. As such, some considerations for planning and scheduling of these projects shall be applied with special attention and emphasis. This article briefly discussed some of these requirements.

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Shortening the project longest path

Posted on June 17, 2018October 31, 2018 by Adroit

The critical path represents a project’s longest continuous sequence of activities in the project schedule. This path determines the earliest time that the project can be completed. To complete a project earlier than its originally-planned completion date, the project longest path is typically shortened. Shortening a project schedule may be costly and result in unintended consequences. For example, schedule compression may cause stacking of trades and ultimately result in loss of labor and equipment productivity. Nevertheless, project teams may choose to shorten a project schedule due to a variety of reasons such as catching up to achieve the planned dates that are affected by delays or due to a need to achieve some milestone dates earlier than expected.

Due to the potential impacts of schedule compression on the project, the project teams should use proper strategies to shorten the project longest path. In accelerating project activities, priority needs to be given to the critical activities because these activities drive the expected project completion date in the schedule. If a number of options exist, priority is typically given to those critical activities whose crashing is less costly. Improper implementation of acceleration plans may result in less than expected time savings, unexpectedly high costs of crashing, quality or safety issues, and loss of labor or equipment productivity. It is important to note, however, that acceleration is not the only option for shortening the longest path.

Depending on the type of the project and its scope of work, project teams may have a number of options to compress project schedules. The following table outlines some of the example methods in each of the main phases of engineering, contracting and procurement, and implementation:

Phase	Method	Method Description
Engineering	Constructability review and analysis	The review of designs to ensure designs can practically be implemented with cost-effective means and methods.
	Incorporate modular components in design	The incorporation of modular components in design to ensure less time is needed to be spent on the jobsite to implement these components.
	Reuse designs and plans	The reuse of previously-used design elements may result in saving design time and efforts.
	Incorporate standard or typical components in the design	The use of standard or typical designs may help the design team save time and efforts in implementing designs.
	Incorporate pre-engineered or on-the-shelf components in the design	The incorporation of pre-engineered or on-the-shelf components may reduce the need for designing new elements.
Contracting and procurement	Fast-tracking	The creation of an overlap between design and procurement or an overlap between procurement and implementation activities may result in time savings.
	Outsourcing	The assignment of work to outside entities instead of implementing all activities in-house may help to use in-house resources in more effective ways.
	Find alternative or equivalent modular products or systems	The use of alternative or equivalent products or systems may help to save time that would have otherwise been used to fabricate or supply items.
Implementation	Improve work sequence	The improvements to the work sequence or betterment of the work schedule may help project teams identify time saving opportunities.
	Shiftwork and overtime	Working overtime or working in periods other than daytime hours may help project teams make more progress in the same or shorter amounts of time.
	Expend more resources in the same or shorter time periods	The use of higher resource usage rates and spending more resources in the same or shorter time periods may help project teams increase progress achievements.
	Incentivized working schemes	The use of incentivized schemes may encourage project teams to complete activities in a shorter amount of time or work in a more effective manner.

Because of the potential impacts of schedule compression techniques on the project, the project teams should use proper strategies to shorten the project longest path. Acceleration is not the only option to shorten the longest path. If a project team is intended to shorten the project longest path, it is recommended that the team chooses the most appropriate strategies in each of the main phases of engineering, contracting and procurement, and implementation to ensure the schedule can properly be compressed using a cost-effective manner that fits the project needs.

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Strategies to Minimize the Adverse Effects of Shiftwork

Posted on June 16, 2018August 7, 2018 by Adroit

Dr. Maryam Mirhadi, PMP, PSP

Shiftwork is defined as working other than daytime hours. Shiftwork is the most commonly utilized alternative to overtime. Despite its potential benefits in accelerating a construction schedule, shiftwork is considered among the factors with adverse effects on labor productivity in construction.

Some of the key issues with shiftwork include its adverse effect on circadian rhythms, dilution of supervision, challenges in exchanging performance information among individuals who work in different shifts, the adverse effects of shiftwork on social interactions, and higher work setup times. A number of studies address the adverse effects of shiftwork on productivity. Some of the key studies include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Business Roundtable, NECA 1969 study, the Construction Industry Institute (CII), and the works of Hanna et al. (2008 and 2009). The American Association for Cost Engineering (AACE) has identified some of the recommended specialized studies that can be used to evaluate the adverse effects of shiftwork on productivity (AACE, 2004).

Despite these negative effects, construction contractors use shiftwork as a way to accelerate construction schedules. But the question is what strategies are effective in minimizing the adverse effects of shiftwork on construction work. Some of these strategies include the following:

1- Refrain from shiftwork for those who are more susceptible to health problems: Construction contractors should refrain from scheduling shiftwork for those employees who are susceptible to health problems. Workers older than 50 years or pregnant women are examples of these individuals.

2- Use rapid rotations: Instead of weekly or monthly cycles, construction contractors are encouraged to consider rapid rotations in scheduling shiftwork. The use of rapid rotations in scheduling shiftwork is recommended because rapid rotations do not significantly disrupt sleep patterns of those individuals who work on a shiftwork basis. Three examples of rapid rotation shiftwork systems are shown in the following tables (Kodak, 1986):

3- Overlap consecutive shifts in part: By providing some overlap between consecutive shifts, construction contractors can overcome the challenges in exchanging performance information among individuals who work in consecutive shifts. That way, the arriving crews become aware of what has been performed by the previous crews. To achieve this objective, construction contractors can ask the foreman of the first shift to stay one or two hours longer or the foreman of the arriving crews to arrive earlier to the extent practically needed for coordination purposes.

4- Assign independent tasks to consecutive shifts: Different shift-working teams tend to work with the same set of tools, machinery, and equipment; therefore, work setup times are typically higher when multiple teams (instead of one team) use the same set of tools, machinery, and equipment. In addition, extra time is needed in shiftwork for the process of hand-over and transition from one shift to another if the work of consecutive shift are dependent. To overcome these challenges, construction contractors can assign tasks that are totally independent from the tasks performed by the previous shift to minimize the interdependency of shifts and reduce the materials and tools that are commonly used by two consecutive shifts.

5- Properly select the work assigned to a second shift: Construction contractors should assign to shiftwork only tasks that are on the project critical path or those work elements that are justified to be accelerated. Proper selection of work assigned to a second shift also includes assigning tasks that are less demanding from the supervision or engineering support perspectives to ensure progress can be made without waiting for supervision or engineering support that may not be readily available during shiftwork periods.

6- Make proper work environment accommodations: Since shiftwork is performed in hours other than daytime hours, work environment considerations need to be identified. Examples include natural lighting vs. artificial lighting and additional demands for air conditioning. Studies have shown that safety is significantly improved by providing an adequate amount of artificial lighting. Moreover, working in places in which work environmental considerations have been taken into account help employees work in a more efficient and effective manner.

In sum, despite the negative effects of shiftwork, construction contractors use shiftwork as a way to accelerate construction schedules. Nevertheless, construction contractors are recommended to use effective strategies to minimize the adverse effects of shiftwork on construction work. Examples of these strategies include refraining from shiftwork for those who are more susceptible to health problems, using rapid rotations, overlapping consecutive shifts in part, assigning independent tasks to consecutive shifts, properly selecting the work assigned to a second shift, and making proper work environment accommodations.

References:

AACE International (2004), Recommended Practice 25R-03 Estimating Lost Labor Productivity in Construction Claims, AACE International, Morgantown, WV. Can be retrieved from https://web.aacei.org/docs/default-source/toc/toc_25r-03.pdf?sfvrsn=4

Kodak, E. (1986). Ergonomic design for people at work. Volume, 2, 20-30.

Hanna, A. S., Chang, C. K., Sullivan, K. T., & Lackney, J. A. (2008). Impact of shift work on labor productivity for labor-intensive contractor. Journal of construction engineering and management, 134(3), 197-204. Can be retrieved from https://goo.gl/CPR9wm

Hanna, A. S., & Haddad, G. (2009). Overtime and productivity in electrical construction. In Construction Research Congress 2009: Building a Sustainable Future (pp. 171-180). Can be retrieved from https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/41020(339)18

To learn more about the adverse effects of shiftwork on labor productivity, please read this article.

If you’d like to learn more about Adroit’s construction management services, call 1.352.327.8029 or contact us using this form.

Adverse effects of schedule deficiencies on claim administration

Posted on May 29, 2018October 31, 2018 by Adroit

Dr. Maryam Mirhadi, PMP, PSP

Project schedules provide a basis for communication, execution, monitoring and controlling, and reporting and offer a platform for measuring project progress and performance. In addition, courts bank on project schedules to assess time extensions or time-related compensation requests. As such, project time schedules are one of the key inputs without which many construction claims cannot properly be prepared or investigated. Construction contractors should give proper attention to preparing detailed and reasonable project schedules throughout the project to ensure the project schedules remain acceptable and reliable over the course of the project, and they reasonably represent the plans as well as the actual progression of work. Some of the main issues with project schedules, especially those that adversely affect claim administration efforts, are discussed in this brief article.

The project schedule needs to be continuously updated at reasonably short time intervals; otherwise, project schedules will not reflect the most current information about the actual progression of work on the project. Inaccurate updated schedules and the lack of updated schedules for some of reporting/updating cycles make claim administration challenging because the updated schedules may not contain all pieces of information that a claim investigation team is looking to find. Examples of these pieces of information include planned start and finish dates, actual start and finish dates to quantify the extent of delays, periods of disruption, and the key dependencies that drive critical path delays within each updating cycle. In particular, delays cannot properly be assessed without having accurate project schedules for all the key reporting/updating cycles especially for the cycles in which delays have negatively impacted the progression of work.

Project schedules should not only represent the plans going forward but also illustrate the actual progression of work. In doing so, if an impact prevents a contractor from being able to achieve certain planned dates, these impacts should properly be reflected in the schedule. For instance, if during a time analysis period, a change has impacted a contractor’s work sequence, the project schedule updated at the updating cycle immediately after the change should properly illustrate the impact of this change on the work. Otherwise, retroactively correcting the project schedules may be challenging due to reasons such as lack of access to accurate contemporaneous data or lack of authorization to make changes after the fact. Project schedules also need to be complete to ensure they include a right set of project activities and work packages, properly reflect the project scope of work, and outline all reasonable steps that need to be taken to complete the project scope of work in its entirety.

Depending on the nature of the work, a proper combination of physical, safety, resource, and preferential relationships can be used in defining activity relationships. It is important, however, to make sure that project schedules are free of logic deficiencies. Example logic deficiencies that may call the credibility of project schedules into question include incorrect logic, missing logic, logic loops, excessive or improper use of time lags/leads, and redundant activity ties. Logic deficiencies make the process of delay analysis challenging because a schedule that suffers from logic deficiencies cannot reasonably be used to assess the expected and actual sequence of work.

Resource loading project schedules allows for resource planning, resource tracking, and resource optimization. It also allows for adjusting the schedule based on resource constraints by performing resource smoothing or resource leveling. In a similar way, cost loading project schedules allows for the development of funding plans, budget consumption plans, and cost flows. Resource plans and budgeted costs are also important for claim investigation purposes because they specify how resources and costs were supposed to be expended over the course of the project and identify if certain changes, delays, or productivity factors have impacted these schemes. As such, resource plans and budgeted costs should be prepared at a reasonably detailed level; otherwise, they cannot provide an insight into the impact of change on the project. Properly documenting the basis of estimates and using proper cost breakdown structures are two other important considerations in budget and cost flow documentation. Whenever, a delaying event occurs or a condition adversely influences the project schedule, the contractor should re-assess the project schedule to ensure the schedule is adequately detailed to measure the adverse effect of the delaying event or the condition with a negative impact on the project schedule.

Many factors play a role in the successful use of project schedules in administering construction claims. However, the quality of project schedules is one of the main role players in facilitating successful management and resolution of construction claims. The accuracy of project schedules, their completeness and reasonableness, and proper use of resource- and cost-loaded schedules are some of the important considerations that need to be given to using project schedules in administering construction claims.

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Pricing Change Orders

Posted on May 26, 2018August 7, 2018 by Adroit

Maryam Mirhadi, Ph.D, PMP

Owners typically have the contractual right to make changes to the scope of work outlined in contracts. Since these changes impact contracts’ scope of work and they potentially have time, cost, and productivity implications, it is important to give proper consideration to pricing change orders.

Pricing is either backward or forward. Backward pricing is used when the pricing is partly or wholly based on the actual cost of a work performed. Forward pricing, however, is based on the estimated cost of work that is yet to be performed.

If the forward pricing approach is used to price change orders or change order requests, the estimated cost of work is prepared based on the projected cost of materials, systems, products and permanent equipment needed to execute the work plus the costs of resources that need to be acquired in implementing the scope of work. The first category of costs is associated with those items that remain as part of the facility or the system being implemented whereas the second category of costs referenced above is associated with project resources (including workforce, temporary equipment, tools, and machinery) that do not remain in the project but are necessary to accomplish project activities. It is recommended that practitioners differentiate between these two categories of costs to ensure the cost of project deliverables can be differentiated from the resource costs.

It is important to account for projected levels of productivity in pricing change orders because the resource usage rate needed to perform a changed work may differ from the resource usage rates required to implement a work under normal circumstances in which no change is introduced. For example, if changing a scope of work adversely impacts labor productivity, the estimated usage rate of workforce originally used to estimate the unimpacted work does not necessarily suffice to complete a changed (i.e., impacted) scope of work. As such, in pricing change orders, the effects of change on the original scope of work need to be assessed to adjust the estimates.

One of the techniques that can be effective in assessing the impact of a changed work is assessing the project cost flow. Cost flow and cash flow are often used interchangeably. It is important, however, to identify the purpose each of these tools intends to serve. A cost flow diagram shows the budgeted amount of money that is needed over time to make progress as planned. A cash flow diagram, on the other hand, provides the estimated sums of money to which a contractor has access over time. Assessing the project cost flow can help analyze excessive costs and overruns by comparing the budgeted (i.e., time-phased estimates) cost of performing the changed work with the sums of money originally needed to make progress as planned. This assessment can help identify the adverse effect of the change on the resource costs needed over time.

This assessment can be insightful only if the cost flow and estimates are prepared at a sufficiently detailed level. Otherwise, they cannot provide an insight into the impact of change because of the lack of granularity of the pricing data available. Properly documenting the basis of estimates and using proper cost breakdown structures are two other important considerations in budget and cost flow documentation. Detailed budgets or cost flows are prepared by relying on certain assumptions and information available at the time of preparing these estimates. These assumptions and information should properly be documented in a document, entitled “basis of estimate”, for future references.

Per the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), cost estimates used in government contracts have to be reasonable, allocable, and allowable. Moreover, pricing data must be current, accurate and complete. The following excerpts from the FAR define reasonableness, allocability, and allowability of costs:

In defining the reasonableness of costs, Provision 31.201-3 of FAR states:

A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person in the conduct of a competitive business.

In defining the allocability of costs, Provision 31.201-4 of FAR states:

A cost is allocable if it is assignable or chargeable to one or more cost objectives on the basis of relative benefits received or other equitable relationship.

Per the FAR, a cost is allocable only if it:

(a) is incurred specifically for the contract; (b) benefits both the contract and other work, and can be distributed to them in reasonable proportion to the benefits received; or (c) is necessary to the overall operation of the business, although a direct relationship to any particular cost objective cannot be shown.

Per the FAR, the factors that need to be considered in determining whether a cost is allowable include the following:

Reasonableness
Allocability
Standards promulgated by the CAS Board, if applicable; otherwise generally accepted accounting principles and practices appropriate to the particular circumstances.
Terms of the contract
Any limitations set forth in this subpart

It is also important to differentiate between direct and indirect costs in pricing change orders and determine which types of direct or indirect costs have to be included to accurately prepare cost estimates. Typical direct costs of executing construction activities include direct labor and workforce, equipment, material, and services provided to each project activity. Direct costs can be assigned to specific project activities whereas indirect costs are intended to cover overhead expenses that are needed to manage, administer and support the work. Indirect costs are not typically assignable to particular project activities. General conditions costs support various aspects of the work and they are typically assigned at the project level, not at the activity level. Therefore, they are typically considered among the indirect costs unless a different definition of indirect costs is adopted.

Based on what was discussed above, it is important to give proper consideration to pricing change orders. The proper use of pricing approaches including backward or forward pricing is the first step towards properly pricing change orders. The other considerations is to identify the time, cost, and productivity impacts of changes on the original scope of work. Cost flow diagrams can assist in better identifying the impact of change on a project cost, schedule, and productivity. It is also important to ensure proper pricing and estimating practices are used to ensure estimates are reasonable, allocable, and allowable. An effective use of cost engineering techniques throughout the process plays an important role to ensure the estimates prepared for change orders are current, accurate and complete.

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Waiver language in contracts may obstruct recovery of damages

Posted on April 25, 2018August 7, 2018 by Adroit

Dr. Maryam Mirhadi, PMP, PSPS

Project risks are treated in a variety of ways. Contract documents are among the key mechanisms that parties to a contract may use to transfer a risk to another party, accept a risk, or select other risk response strategies to treat the risk. The use of waiver language in contract documents is one way to achieve this objective. Waiver language is increasingly incorporated in various contract documents such as contracts, payment releases, and change order or directive forms. The intent of waiver or disclaimer language is to constrain a contractor’s entitlement to compensation for resultant damages that are not expressly identified as compensable in the executed change order.

Therefore, it is important that contractors closely examine contract documents to identify which risks they are taking by entering into a contract or by accepting to include certain waiver language in the contract documents. This close examination becomes more important if a contractor intends to reserve its right to seek compensation for resultant damages. One of the other reasons that highlight the importance of close examination of waiver language in contract documents is that the impact of some changes on a contractor’s productivity or performance is not readily apparent. In these cases, a contractor may be able to evaluate these damages or assess their actual cost impact only after executing the work. If so, it is likely that the contractor has already been asked to execute a variety of contact documents containing some form of waiver language. Therefore, contractors are generally advised to exercise caution to the extent possible and adjust the contract language to avoid unintended consequences.

One of the mechanisms to achieve this objective is to use conditional phrases. An example provision that uses a conditional phrase may be as follows:

The amount of the individual change is in full satisfaction of the changed work and the contractor waives any claim for further compensation for cumulative impact costs unless the contractor expressly reserves that right and no other change concurrently impacts the scope of work.

It is imperative that construction contractors seek legal and expert advice prior to executing contract forms that contain some types of a waiver or release language to determine the best strategies that can be used to avoid unintended consequences of waiver language to the extent possible. Contractors are typically advised to avoid executing overarching waiver provisions.

The second strategy that a contractor may choose to pursue if a client requires the contractor to sign a contract form with some types of overarching waiver or release language is to engage in bilaterally negotiations that aim to include alternative language or adjustments to language as appropriate. These alternative language or adjustments are project-specific conditions or language that the contractor creatively phrases to appear on the contract document or forms, and they may entitle the contractor to reserve, at a minimum, a portion of the contractor’s rights to recover proper damages under defined circumstances.

Accepting a unilateral change order that pays for most of the costs without signing the documents that contain overarching waiver language is another strategy that prudent contractors may pursue if the magnitude of consequential impacts justifies the use of this strategy.

If the contract permits the contractor to carry out the changed work without a settled change order, the fourth strategy that contractors may choose to pursue instead of executing documents that contain overarching waiver language is to complete the work without formally signing the change order form and at the same time use the capacities of the contact dispute clause to seek payments to the extent contractually allowed.

Prudent contractors should closely examine contract documents to identify which risks they are taking by entering into a contract or by accepting to include certain waiver language in the contract documents. They are also advised to use any of the four main strategies discussed above if they are asked to execute forms that contain overarching waiver language to avoid the negative risks of waiver and release language and mitigate their potential impact to the extent practically feasible.

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