Since its inception in the late 1800s, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc. (MCAA) has been a leader in educational publications and seminars for its members.  These educational materials and seminars covered a wide range of subject matter including site safety, work planning, change order management, accounting and labor monitoring and control systems. In the late 1960s, MCAA member firms began to recognize the concept of loss of labor productivity caused by changes in scope, disruptions to the flow of the work, unplanned stacking of trades, overtime schedules and similar issues over which the contractor may have little or no control.  

This realization led MCAA’s Management Methods Committee to introduce a set of productivity impact guidelines for contractors to apply when estimating a possible loss of labor productivity not caused by the mechanical or plumbing contractor.  These were MCAA’s “Factors Affecting Labor Productivity,” which were first published in 1971 and have remained unchanged and in publication since that time. However, many MCAA firm executives asked for a comprehensive user’s manual for the MCAA Factors that would include a discussion of the concept of loss of labor productivity.

In 1999, Mr. Paul Stynchcomb, CCM, PSP, CFCC, a testifying expert in the areas of project scheduling, delay analysis and loss of labor productivity and principal of Vero Construction Consultants Corp, offered to draft such a user’s manual.  That writing began the evolution of the current publication. Approximately every two years, a new instructive chapter is added to the publication. Usually, the impetus for the new subject matter arises as a result of a request from an MCAA member firm executive.  At the outset of this new publication in 1999, Mr. Stynchcomb set the pattern of enjoining noted industry experts, senior construction firm executives and construction attorneys as co-authors or peer reviewers. Every chapter in the publication has industry executives and professionals as peer reviewers who ensure that the content and data are correct, reasonable and applicable to the current state of construction management and construction law.   Prominent construction attorneys such as Lawrence Prosen, Douglas Patin, Robert Cox, Robert Windus, Roger Jones, Henry Danforth, Charles Mitchell and Michael Loulakis have either co-authored or served as peer reviewers for each chapter in the current edition.

The subject matter is broad, including change order accounting and presentation, timely notification of impacts, CPM schedule development and updating, schedule delay analysis, cumulative impact, concurrent delay, maintaining control of labor productivity, labor hour tracking and trending, how to develop a measured mile labor analysis, the use of the MCAA Factors, the effects of overtime on labor productivity and how to develop and present a construction claim. These subjects are covered in detail with sample letters, forms for labor and schedule control, step-by-step descriptions of how to document and quantify time and labor productivity impacts and other detailed management guidance on claims avoidance and claims preparation.  This publication has been prepared with the mindset that the most effective way to avoid construction claims and costly litigation is to maintain reliable records and to read, understand and comply with the terms and conditions of the contract.

With the formal endorsement of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the full support of the American Subcontractors Association (ASA), this publication has evolved to include subject matter that is relevant to a broad range of trades.  While not every trade can apply the technical data in the same manner as a mechanical, plumbing, electrical or sheet metal contractor, there is a broad range of material that can be applied in a wide variety of construction settings. For instance, virtually all construction projects utilize production schedules and the subcontracts that ASA member firms execute usually have strict provisions for impact notification and quantification.  The MCAA’s publication contains insights on how to understand these contract terms and how to prepare an industry standard notice letter and schedule impact analysis. For labor intensive subcontractors, the publication contains vital information on how to track and trend field craft labor during the course of construction and what to look for in cases where labor expenditures exceed the project budget.  

The publication has been written for construction executives, project and construction managers, engineers, superintendents, estimators and accountants to provide valuable guidelines and data that can assist in better managing field labor, monitoring and controlling schedules, and adhering to contract requirements for notice and quantification of schedule and labor productivity impacts. In the end, the publication’s goal is to improve company profitability and avoid costly claims and litigation.