Quantifying Inefficiency 209

crew may be hampered in their work by the presence of another trade, or the
crew may be obstructed by material stockpiled in the work area. With such inter-
ferences, workers may experience some reduction in productivity.

QUANTIFYING INEFFICIENCY
There are many ways in which a Contractor’s work can be affected because of
changes to the work schedule. The delays may cause these problems directly
or indirectly. The delays may be to critical or noncritical items. The Contractor
must be able to measure and demonstrate how the delays adversely affected the
workers’ productivity if it is to be compensated for the additional costs. There
are several methods for quantifying productivity loss. The delay analyst should
be aware of each of these options. The following list ranks the different methods
by their accuracy in measuring losses in productivity:
1. Compare unimpacted work with impacted work.
2. Compare similar work on other projects with the impacted work on the
Project in question.
3. Use statistically developed models.
4. Use expert testimony.
5. Refer to industry published studies.
6. Use the total cost.

Compare Unimpacted with Impacted Work

The impacted versus unimpacted method, usually referred to as a measured
mile, is the preferred method to measure losses in productivity. The Contractor
must show a comparison between unimpacted and impacted work. For exam-
ple, if a Contractor’s work is shifted into a cold-weather season, it should com-
pare the work during the cold-weather season with productivity during the more
favorable weather. Of course, the comparison must be made on the same type
of work.
Here is a more specific example. A Contractor plans to set reinforcing steel
during the summer. A delay pushes this activity into the winter months. The
Contractor’s records show that during the favorable weather, the work crews
were able to set two tons per crew-day. During the less favorable weather, how-
ever, the same crews are able to set only 1.5 tons per crew-day. Thus, the loss of
productivity was 25 percent.
To measure productivity in this manner, all information must be recorded in
a form that can be converted into productivity units. The other methods men-
tioned become less accurate as one progresses down the list. Total cost is the
least desirable. The reasons for this can be seen in the following example.

Total Cost Method

In the total cost method, a Contractor argues that it estimated a certain cost for
its work. Because of the delay and the subsequent inefficiency of a shift in work