Glossary - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 475

involves settling all financial and accounting matters between the contractor and
the owner.
Contractor-Created Float —Schedule float that was created as a result of the
contractor's work being completed in a shorter than planned period of time.
This float may be created by shorter actual durations for performed activities, a
change in the logic, different calendars (6- or 7-day rather than 5-day week), or
a combination of these factors. This float is not a part of the total float calculated
in the original baseline schedule.
Cost Accounting —“The systematic recording and analysis of the costs of materials,
labor, and overhead incident to production” (Merriam-Webster, 2014)
Cost at Completion —See Actual Cost at Completion .
Cost Breakdown —See Schedule of Values .
Cost-Loaded Schedule —A CPM schedule in which each activity has a cost figure
assigned to it. In some software packages, the user may assign resources (labor,
equipment, materials) to each activity, and then the software calculates the cost
using the cost of these resources given in the resource dictionary.
Cost Performance Index (CPI) —The ratio of Earned Value of an activity to its
Actual Cost .CPI= BCWP∕ACWP or CPI = EV∕AC.
Cost Ratio —A method of measuring percent complete for an activity (or a project)
by distributing (linearly or by using other curves) the cost over the duration of
the activity (or project). Percent complete = Actual Cost∕Total Cost. This
method works well for activities with fixed budgets and fixed durations, such as a
salary staff member.
Cost/Schedule Control System Criteria (C/SCSC) —A formal planning and
control reporting system developed by the Department of Defense in the 1960s
for its contractors to use. It is used for reporting a project schedule and financial
information. This system was later simplified and modified to what is currently
known as Earned Value Management .
Cost This Period —See Actual Cost This Period .
Cost to Complete —See Estimate to Complete (ETC) .
Cost to Date —See Actual Cost (AC) .
Cost Variance (CV) —The difference between the Earned Value of an activity and
its Actual Cost .CV= BCWP − ACWP or EV − AC.
CPM —See Critical Path Method .
Crash Cost (CC) —Total cost of a construction project (direct and indirect),
including the impact of crashing (maximum compression of) the schedule.
Crash Duration (CD) —The least possible duration for a construction project
schedule. It is usually achieved by maximum Schedule Compression .
Critical Activity —An activity on the critical path. Any delay in the timely
completion of a critical activity will result in a delay in the entire project
Critical Path —The longest continuous path in a network from start to finish. It
represents the summation of the durations of activities and lags along that path,
taking into consideration calendars, constraints, resources, and other impacting
factors.