Acceleration Claims on Engineering and Construction Projects

1. INTRODUCTION

Time is money especially on engineering and construction projects. Because delays in the completion of the project usually result in increased owner, engineer, and contractor costs, the overall time of performance is vital to the financial success of the project. The importance of time is evidenced by the significant role played by CPM schedules, completion dates, and milestones in the bidding and awarding of engineering and construction contracts. The desire to minimize costs and the time of performance often causes the occurrence of acceleration.

This article discusses the following topics:¹

• Types of Acceleration;
• Key Elements of Acceleration Required by the Courts;
• Acceleration Claims Outside of the United States;
• Notice Requirements;
• The Relevance of the Date When the Time Extension Is Given;
• Contract Provisions Associated with Acceleration;
• The Effect of a "No Damage For Delay" Clause on Acceleration;
• Identifying Acceleration Using the Project Schedules;
• Documenting Acceleration Evidence; and
• Acceleration Damages.

2. TYPES OF ACCELERATION

There are three types of acceleration: directed acceleration, constructive acceleration, and voluntary acceleration.

Directed acceleration occurs when the owner or construction manager issues a specific order to its construction contractor under the contract provisions to 1) complete the project earlier than the originally scheduled completion date, 2) re-sequence the work and/or utilize overtime, additional shifts, and/or extra engineering or construction labor, supervision, or equipment to complete the base contract work plus additional or changed work within the original contract time,² or 3) re-sequence the work and/or utilize overtime, additional shifts, and/or extra engineering or construction labor, supervision, or equipment to make-up for contractor-caused delays that threaten the on-time completion of the project. These measures can result in costs being incurred that would not otherwise have been required.

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