[UNDERSTANDING ACCELERATION]

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GO! GO! GO!

Time is Money, time is essentially for almost all construction projects, the owner relies
on the anticipated completion date for the project’s use and financing, sometimes
project owners are more concerning with time than cost as they rely on a seasonal
occasion. i.e., (School, mall,……)
A contractor also relies on the project completion as he plans to reallocate resources
and reduce the running costs.

So, what is Acceleration?

Acceleration in construction is the process of moving a project towards completion at a
faster pace than originally anticipated.
Generally, acceleration occurs after project delays have been encountered. However,
acceleration could also become necessary if the scope of work increases during the life
of the project, or if the finish date is moved up for some reason.

Types of Acceleration

Voluntary Directed Constructive

Acceleration Acceleration Acceleration

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Voluntary Acceleration when a contractor decides to accelerate its own work. In a

Voluntary Acceleration a contractor won’t be entitled to claims or damages based on
the cost of accelerating work, a contractor may voluntarily accelerate its work out of
necessity, i.e., to make up lost time for his own delay or to complete its own work

Directed acceleration occurs when a contractor is directed to accelerate the project

schedule via a specific order (Site instruction, Variation order,..)
Whether to
 Complete the project earlier than the originally scheduled completion date
 Resequencing the work or utilize overtime, additional shifts or extra supervision
or equipment to complete contract work or additional work within the original
contract time

Constructive acceleration occurs as a result of the situation. It’s not explicitly laid out
like directed acceleration, but it’s also not undertaken solely based on the contractor’s
decision like a voluntary acceleration.
Constructive acceleration generally occurs when the contractor faces an excusable
delay, then that contractor requests an extension of time. If that extension request is
refused and the contractor must instead accelerate work to catch up with the project
schedule, then the contractor has undertaken a constructive acceleration. Constructive
acceleration can take many forms, so let’s take a little deeper look.

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Voluntary Directed
Type Constructive acceleration
Acceleration acceleration
Decision Maker Contractor Owner Contractor
Could be compensable if contractor
Compensability Not Compensable Compensable
manage to persuade the owner

How to Accelerate?
 Procuring long lead items as early as possible and storing those
materials/plant/consumables on site, which will alleviate the risk of
manufacturer and supplier delays having a knock-on effect to the projects
running time.

 Alternative methods of construction, such as off-site manufacturing and modular

units – this enables items to be completed before they ever arrive on site, and
shortens the length of time spent building on site. These modular or lightweight
structures can then be dropped in place and if programmed correctly can save
relatively large portions of time.

 Additional ‘labor resourcing’, more operatives means more work completed, (in
theory!), this will have to be managed, you do not want to risk inefficient working
and put yourself in a ‘too many cooks’ situation.

 Additional shifts and/or overtime, working day and night shifts as opposed to just
one or the other, this approach tends to reap more rewards in the Value for
Money category of Programme Acceleration, as you are engineering additional
time rather than additional operatives.

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 Changing the specification, it’s possible to use a less complicated finish or build if
it achieves the same end result but differs aesthetically for example.
All of these methods differ from each other, but most share the likelihood of incurring
further costs without any guarantee of earlier completion.

Finally,
Acceleration is a key part of the construction process, but it really can be an area of
contention between contractors and clients – there are many potential pitfalls to
navigate and a lot rides on getting any acceleration strategy right so maintain good
channels of communication between client and contractor and ultimately, refer to the
contract.

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