AACE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT
total scope of an activity consists of a number of equal or
nearly equal parts, and status is logically determined by
counting parts completed and comparing that to the
total number of parts in the total activity. Ideally, each
unit is of relatively short duration. In engineering, a pos-
sible application is in the writing of a number of specifi-
cations of a given type where all specifications are con-
sidered to have essentially equal weight. In construction
it is useful in activities such as earthwork, concrete work,
and wire pulling.
2. Incremental Milestone—This method is appropriate for
activities of significant duration that are composed of
easily recognized, sequential subactivities. Percentage
completion values are established based on the effort
estimated to be required at each milestone point relative
to the total for the activity. This method is ideal for con-
trol of engineering drawings and can be used in pro-
curement. A typical example for drawing control is:
Start drafting 0 percent
Drawn, not checked 20 percent
Complete for office check 35 percent
To owner for approval 70 percent
First issue 90 percent
Final issue100 percent
Vessel installation and assembly is a classic example in
construction. For example:
Received and inspected 15 percent
Setting complete 35 percent
Alignment complete 50 percent
Internals installed 75 percent
Testing complete 90 percent
Accepted by owner 100 percent
3. Start/Finish Percentages—This method is applicable to
activities that lack readily definable intermediate mile-
stones and/or the effort/time required is very difficult to
estimate. For these tasks, controllers credit 20-50 percent
when the activity is started and 100 percent when fin-
ished. The reason that a percentage is assigned for start-
ing is to compensate for the period between start and fin-
ish when no credit is being given. In engineering, this
method is appropriate for work such as planning,
designing, manual writing, model building, and studies.
It also can be used for specification writing. In construc-
tion it is appropriate in any situation where scheduling is
detailed with multiple, short-term tasks.
4. Ratio—This method is applicable to tasks such as project
management, constructability studies, project controls,
and comparable activity that involve a long period of
time, have no particular end product, and are estimat-
ed and budgeted on a bulk allocation basis rather than
17.9
on some measure of production. It also can be used on
some tasks for which the start/finish method is appro-
priate. Percent complete at any point in time is found by
dividing hours (or dollars) spent to date by the current
estimate of hours (or dollars) at completion. This
method is useful on any project where non-production
accounts (such as overhead) must be statused individu-
ally and summarized with production accounts to deter-
mine the overall percent complete.
5. Supervisor Opinion—This is a subjective evaluation of
percent complete and should be used only where more
discrete methods cannot be used. There is a natural ten-
dency to over-estimate the level of completion of an
activity in its early stages.
6. Weighted or Equivalent Units—This method is applica-
ble where the task is a major effort involving a long peri-
od of time and composed of two or more overlapping
subtasks, each with a different unit of measurement (e.g.,
each, yd3). To set this up all subtasks are listed along
with their respective units of measure and quantities.
The subtasks are then weighted using relative work-
hours as weighting standards—the total of all weights
equals 1.00 or 100 percent. The progress of each subtask
is reported using one of the five measurement tech-
niques described previously. When this percentage is
multiplied by that subtask's weighting factor, its contri-
bution to overall task completion is calculated. Those for
all subtasks are added to give the overall percent com-
pletion of the major activity. A classic example is con-
crete placement, which is frequently estimated and
reported in terms of cubic yards in place; it can be broken
up into the subtasks of base preparation, forming, resteel
installation, concrete placement, curing, form stripping,
and patching. Another example is steel erection, which
is traditionally estimated and controlled in terms of tons
of steel. The process is illustrated in Table 17.1.
Productivity Measurement of Individual Work Tasks
Owners and contractors are always interested in comparing
actual field productivity to that estimated and budgeted.
When dealing with a single work activity, the calculation of
productivity is very simple:
productivity = (number of units completed) ÷ (work-
hours consumed)
What is more difficult is the calculation of productivity at a
summary level or for an entire project.
Productivity Analysis at a Summary Level
While a comparison of earned to actual workhours is used by
some practitioners to provide an evaluation of productivity
at a summary level, that approach is valid only if actual