NCHRP Research Report 979 provides state departments of transportation (DOTs) guidance for producing consistently credible, reliable, and defensible contract time estimates. This guidebook also addresses the relationship of contract time to risk management and the post-construction feedback loop for continuous process improvement. The methods and tools discussed in this guide have also been integrated into an accompanying spreadsheet toolkit. These deliverables should be of immediate use to practitioners responsible for effectively developing, maintaining, and applying contract time determination procedures. 

Developing credible estimates of contract time is crucial to the decision-making process of any state DOT, as well as the DOT’s strategy for risk management and ability to develop, operate, and maintain the transportation system for which the agency is responsible. Contract time affects the cost of construction, traffic disruption and public inconvenience, the economic impact of projects to the surrounding areas, and schedule risks.

NCHRP Synthesis 502: Practices for Establishing Contract Completion Dates for Highway Projects, published in 2017, documented state transportation agency methodologies and procedures of estimating contract time for various highway project delivery methods. NCHRP Synthesis 502 found that guidance was needed to assist DOTs in producing consistently credible, reliable, and defensible contract time estimates.

Under NCHRP Project 08-114A, “Systematic Approach for Determining Construction Contract Time: A Guidebook,” the team led by Texas A&M University was tasked with developing a guidebook that can be used to establish and maintain a systematic approach to determining credible and defensible contract times using conventional and alternative contracting methods. The team conducted a critical review of leading policies, practices, studies, and tools for contract time determination (CTD). The team then applied multiple data collection and analysis methods to develop a comprehensive guide for determining contract time which is flexible and can be modified to fit agency needs. This guidebook was validated through workshops with DOT professionals familiar with CTD practices. Final deliverables from this research include this guidebook, a spreadsheet toolkit and user’s manual, a technical memorandum providing recommendations for implementation, and a presentation of project results. Links to these products may be found at www.nap.edu by searching for NCHRP Research Report 979: Systematic Approach for Determining Construction Contract Time: A  Guidebook. Additionally, the contractor’s final report is available as NCHRP Web-Only Document 298.