GLOSSARY
1.Common Acronyms
2.Definitions
Activity Weights. A value assigned to activities, often in terms of worker hours.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Methods, other than litigation, for resolving disputes including arbitration, mediation, and mini-trials.
Bankability. The degree to which a project is eligible to be funded by financial institutions.
Beneficial Occupancy. The procedure for when the buyer (owner) occupies or makes use of any part of the work prior to substantial completion.
Brown Field. A construction project carried out within an existing facility or the renovation of an existing facility itself.
Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS). A work breakdown structure (WBS) prepared for use in cost management.
Change Order (CO). An approved change request.
Charrette. Any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem.
Commissioning. The process of verifying, in new construction, all or some of the building's subsystems to achieve the buyer's project requirements as intended by the building owner and as designed by the building architects and engineers.
Consortium. A group of companies formed to undertake a joint project.
Constructability. The ease, safety, economy, and clarity of construction of a project.
Constructability Review. A review performed by personnel with expert knowledge of projects for purposes of assessing or determining whether the work can be performed with available, whether specialists are required, or (whether an alternative design is required.
Construction collaboration technologies (CCT). Software applications used to centralize project data storage that can be accessed by authorized project team members.
Contemporaneous documentation. Actual project invoices, daily job site reports, plans, specifications, or any other type of document in which activities are recorded at the time they occur.
Contract Documents. Documents that consist of an agreement between owner (client) and contractor that include conditions of the contract, drawings, specifications, and other documents listed in the agreement.
Contractor. An individual or a company (commonly referred to as the seller) that is responsible for providing all of the resources necessary to manage and perform the work in the contract documents.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The voluntary initiative and actions that a company undertakes to fulfill obligations to stakeholders (communities, environment, society, and employees) beyond what may be required by regulations.
Design-Bid-Build (DBB). Design is completed by a professional architect or engineer; a construction contract is awarded after competitive bids.
Design-Build (DB). A contracting method where the contractor is responsible for all aspects of the design and construction of the product in the contract documents, including management and design services; preparation and execution of construction documents; and construction, testing, and commissioning of the product.
Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM). Similar to DBOO except that the design builder has no ownership of the project.
Design-Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT). Similar to DBOO except that the design builder will operate the facility for a period of time and then transfer ownership to another entity or public sector, for example, highway tolls that are transferred to the state.
Design-Build-Own-Operate (DBOO). Similar to DB except that the contractor designs, constructs and operates the facility without transferring ownership to another entity or the public sector.
Discovery (Information) A term used in the legal and corporate industry referring to the steps involved in distilling evidence pertaining to a court- or dispute-related matter or compliance directive.
FEED. Front-end engineering and design. Basic engineering that comes after the conceptual design or feasibility study.
Fixed-Price Contract. A type of fixed-price contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as defined by the contract), regardless of the seller's costs.
Force Majeure. Events not reasonably anticipated such as acts of God, strikes, or other uncontrollable events.
General Contractor. A contractor who does not specialize in one kind of work. Often used to refer to the primary contractor who employs specialty subcontractors.
Green Field. A construction term usually associated with an entirely new construction project separate from existing facilities.
Hazard Analysis. A review of all the safety hazards that may be encountered in a project.
Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP). A risk assessment method.
Home Office Overhead (HOOH). A term used by a contractor seeking recovery of its home office administration costs associated with a particular project that has been delayed. The administration costs associated with a contractor's home (corporate) office's indirect expenses and a portion of fixed costs associated with a specific project.
Independent Neutral. An independent project advisor brought on by the contracting parties during the construction project to assist in resolving ongoing changes, disputes, and construction productivity problems.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Tools acting as integrators of telecommunications and information technology (IT).
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). A project delivery method that integrates people, systems, business structures, and practices into a construction project contract process that combines the expert knowledge and skills of participants to optimize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, construction, and project cost/schedule and often including the waste reduction.
Joint Venture. A partnership of two or more engineering, construction, manufacturing, trading, or investment companies, often of limited duration.
Liquidated Damages. A requirement in contract documents for the buyer's recovery of estimated expenses from the seller that result from the seller's delay in meeting contract performance milestones.
Lump Sum Contract. A contract based on a fixed-price amount for the work in the contract documents (see also fixed-price contract).
Nonconformance Report. A report detailing the failure to meet specifications and often recommending a method of correction.
Owner. The person or entity that owns the product of the construction project and to whom that product will be handed over at the time of its completion.
Partnering (alliance). A long-term relationship between an owner and an engineer/contractor in which the contractor acts as a part the owner's organization for certain functions.
Partnering (intervention). A form of alternative dispute resolution utilizing independent experts to analyze all related project documents of the disputing parties to present findings and make a recommendation for settlements.
Partnering (project-specific). An informal agreement of all major entities in a project to work closely and harmoniously together.
Prime Contractor. A contractor holding a contract directly with the owner.
Progress Curves. A plot of a project's progress shown in percent complete versus amount of time, which is used to display status and trends.
Progress Payments. A method defined in contract documents that specifies the payments to be made that correspond directly to the seller's monthly progress of work.
Project Financing. The long-term financing of construction projects based upon the projected cash flows of the project.
Project Specifications. The engineering and architectural plans and written requirements for a project. Similar to statement of work (SOW).
Public-Private Partnership (PPP). A medium- to long-term approach to procuring public projects (or services) between a public authority and private party, where the latter assumes a major share of the financial, technical, and operational project risks.
Punch List. The work items that are identified during a final inspection that need to be completed.
Request for Information (RFI). Typically a communication used by a contractor to request information or clarification from the designer or owner.
Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS). A hierarchical representation of resources by category and type.
Statement of Work (SOW). A narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by the project.
Subcontractor. A contractor who is holding a contract with a prime contractor (also referred to as a first-tier subcontractor) or is holding a contract with a subcontractor to the prime contractor (i.e., lower-tier subcontractor).
Substantial Completion. A contract milestone that is achieved by the owner's acceptance of the product constructed by the prime contractor.
Sustainability. The ability to use and dispose of natural elements, such as water and raw materials and resources, in a way that guarantees that future generations will have access to those same elements.
Tendering. In procurement, the acquisition of services or works from an external source. The process of making an offer, bid, or proposal, or expressing interest in response to an invitation or request for tender.
Tool-box Meeting. A regular meeting, restricted to a specific subject, of field supervisors and workers to review important work issues, particularly those pertaining to safety.
Trades. Workers in the various construction disciplines, such as carpenters and ironworkers.
Turnkey. A type of design build project where the design builder does all functions including start-up before turning the project over to the owner.