Programme & Delays

A construction programme is the time plan for a construction project, showing every activity, its duration, how activities depend on each other and the dates they are planned to happen. In Australia it is usually a linked Gantt chart, and most contracts require the contractor to submit and keep it updated.

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities in a construction programme, and it sets the shortest possible time to finish the project. Any delay to an activity on the critical path delays completion unless time is recovered elsewhere. Activities off the critical path have float.

An extension of time (EOT) is extra time added to the date for practical completion because of a delay the contractor is not responsible for, such as a variation, a latent condition or a principal-caused delay. A granted EOT protects the contractor from liquidated damages for that period.

Liquidated damages (LDs) are a fixed amount, usually a daily or weekly rate stated in the contract, that the contractor pays the principal for each day the works are late past the date for practical completion. They replace the need for the principal to prove its actual loss from the delay.

A notice of delay is a written notice from the contractor telling the superintendent or principal that something has caused, or is likely to cause, a delay to the works. Most Australian construction contracts require it promptly, and it is usually the first step towards a claim for an extension of time.

An RDO (rostered day off) is a scheduled paid day off that construction workers accrue by working slightly longer days than their 38 ordinary weekly hours. On most Australian commercial sites, RDOs follow an industry calendar set under enterprise agreements, and the whole site usually shuts on those days.

An S curve is a graph of cumulative cost, value or progress plotted over a project's duration. It gets its name from its shape: slow at the start during establishment, steep through the main construction phase and flattening towards completion. Builders use it to compare planned against actual progress and cash flow.

A site diary is the daily record kept by the site manager of what happened on a construction site: weather, labour and trades on site, plant, deliveries, work done, delays, instructions, visitors and incidents. It is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for extension of time and variation claims.

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical breakdown of a construction project into smaller, manageable packages of work, from the whole project down to individual deliverables. It gives the programme, budget, cost codes and subcontract packages one shared structure, so time and cost can be tracked against the same items.