Project Management, Jobsite Safety, and Risk Control
Project Management
Planning and scheduling
The critical path method drives most scheduling questions. Build the network, calculate early and late dates, and identify the longest path - that path has zero total float and defines project duration. Total float is the time an activity can slip without delaying completion; free float is the slip that does not delay the next activity. Resource leveling trades float for a smoother labor curve and can lengthen the schedule; crashing adds cost to shorten it. Near-critical paths deserve attention because small delays create a second critical path.
Control during construction
Track submittals, RFIs, and change orders as controlled documents with turnaround times, since review delays are a common excusable delay. Monitor progress with earned value: cost performance index is earned value divided by actual cost, and schedule performance index is earned value divided by planned value; below 1.0 means trouble. Distinguish excusable delay (owner-caused or force majeure, time relief), compensable delay (owner-caused, time and money), and non-excusable delay (contractor-caused). Concurrent delay generally limits recovery.
Closeout
Substantial completion triggers warranty start, retainage release mechanics, and the punch list. Final completion requires as-builts, O&M manuals, warranties, lien waivers, and consent of surety.
Worked example
Three paths: A(6)-B(9)-D(5) = 20 days; A-C(4)-D = 15 days. The critical path is A-B-D at 20 days, and activity C has five days of total float. If C slips six days, it becomes critical and pushes completion by one day.
Traps: assuming any activity with money at risk is critical, and confusing float with slack in the owner's favor.
Jobsite Safety and Risk Control
The regulatory floor
Virginia operates its own OSHA-approved State Plan, VOSH, which adopts federal construction standards (29 CFR 1926) and also covers state and local government workers. The Focus Four hazards - falls, struck-by, caught-in or between, and electrocution - account for most construction fatalities and most exam questions. Fall protection is required at six feet in construction; scaffolds trigger at ten feet; excavations five feet or deeper need a protective system, with daily inspections by a competent person.
Field rules worth memorizing
Ladders extend three feet above the landing and are set at a 4:1 angle. Excavation spoil and materials stay at least two feet from the edge, and a ladder is provided when lateral travel exceeds 25 feet. Scaffold platforms are fully planked with guardrails and a base set on stable footing. Temporary power uses GFCI protection. Employers must report a fatality within eight hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours. Virginia's Overhead High Voltage Line Safety Act requires maintaining minimum clearance from energized lines and notifying the utility before work near them.
Managing risk
Risk control means transferring what you can and managing what you cannot: general liability, workers' compensation, commercial auto, and builder's risk or installation floater coverage; indemnity and additional-insured provisions; and a written safety program with orientation, toolbox talks, competent-person inspections, and near-miss reporting. Documented training is your best defense after an incident.
Worked example
A crew is excavating to six feet in Type B soil. Because depth exceeds five feet, a protective system - sloping, shoring, or a trench box - is mandatory, the competent person inspects daily and after rain, and spoil sits two feet back. Skipping any element is a citable violation.