Project Risk Assessment and Decision Support Tools

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Reasons for High Cost per Unit

  • Implies: Only a few large repairs were done; expensive specialty work – requiring special skills/ custom-made/material/equipment/machinery was performed;  additional equipment required; did more repairs than planned; paving charges; overtime charges/ shift-work differential; first of a kind situation; an increase in overhead rates; price or wages/ benefit increases; loss of volume discounts or a high quality of service was provided/ excessive (possibly unnecessary) cutting-edge testing performed; emergency work – done continuously; permit stipulations delayed job; awaiting approvals; vendor delays/ unplanned inclement weather/ other delays; union-mandated overtime/ poor workmanship/ faulty equipment/ high rental equipment cost/ changes to design/ routine/scope; re-work; changes to specifications/ quality standards/ higher material costs (could result in reduced number of units produced)/ lost/ missing/ damaged material/ material shortages/ more frequent & smaller than planned deliveries/ longer testing/ analysis time periods/ holiday-related costs/paying for no-show or no-work jobs (hours that are never worked) or other falsely inflated tactics/ Expensive coding and billing codes (make people justify in-detail the conditions why specific codes are being billed) being applied (possibly unnecessary and excessive); too few workers (requiring overtime to complete the work); regulatory/ government requirement; underfunding creating unplanned expenses for others; over-classification of products/services/ possible litigation issues/ Acts of God/ additional or new benefits/ health care costs/ pay raises/ increased payroll/benefit/labor costs/ higher packaging costs/ increased transportation costs/ improper coordination of organizations/ trades on-site/ unavailable certified repair technician/ cost overruns/ skilled worker shortage
  • Less Efficient Workers: Perhaps training new/unskilled or inexperienced people; requirement to stand by/idle-time making the jobs take longer to complete; added staff & equipment to ramp-up production/ change in labor rate/ unnecessary overtime
  • Reflects: Not all units being reported for the reporting period; timing differences; expenses got recorded but the units did not; more complex work; piping not yet energized; possibly higher employee benefits being paid
  • Includes: Direct labor hours, mandated unfunded program costs
  • Does Not Include: Equipment cost; indirect costs
  • Evaluate: Possible culture-driven by self-interest to “pad” perform unnecessary activities
  • Note: This is an unfavorable variance