Development of an Improved System for Contract Time Determination

Abstract

Contract time, is the maximum time allowed for completion of all work described in contract documents. The determination of contract time affects not only the actual duration of the construction project, but also such aspects of construction such as costs, resource planning, selection of contractors and traffic problems. An accurate estimation of contract time reduces the impact of a delayed project on the local economy and provides justification to contractors during construction claims. This research performed an extensive literature review on various contract time determination procedures and systems developed and used by various state agencies to estimate contract time for their highway projects. This study surveyed 24 DOTs in the United States to determine the prevalent contract time procedures and determined their advantages and disadvantages. Oklahoma Contract Time Determination System (Ok-CTDS) is a contract time estimating system for Tier-II type highway projects of ODOT which are categorized into eight types of road projects. The manual CTD system consists of nine templates, one general template for Tier I type category and eight templates for Tier II type category. The CTDS user supplies the system with actual work quantities for established controlling activities for a project and by applying average or project specific production rates, durations for each controlling activity can be calculated. A standalone computer software was developed using VB.Net linked with Microsoft Access database and Microsoft Project for estimating contract time in working days. This software is recommended to be used in ODOT for effectively running the contract time determination system. The major benefit of this system to ODOT is that its continuous use would provide a structured approach towards contract time estimation. This system will expedite the contract time estimation process, provide documentation for a stronger defense in contract time disputes and allow less experienced schedulers to gain confidence as they learn how to estimate reasonable and realistic contract times.