QUESTION 2: PROJECT TIME-COST OPTIMISATION ---- Background A contractor has entered into a fixed price lump sum contract for which a delay that is not attributed to the owner would Not be tolerated. The owner requires the project to be completed in 11 days. The contractor envisages some delays in the execution of the project as part of his own risk. Being conscious of reputation, he would not want to soil his image by not completing to owners required time. He has consulted you to carry out a full time-cost trade off analysis and advise on the outcomes. Based on the information provided in Table 1, carry out a full time-cost trade off analysis to advise on the following:

2.1 The normal duration of the project

2.2 The direct costs, indirect costs and total project costs at the normal duration .

2.3 The optimum duration and optimum cost for the project;

2.4 The project cost at the owner's imposed duration;

2.5 The shortest possible completion time for the project and the associated project cost;

2.6 Plots of the total project cost versus incremental decrease in the project completion times from the normal duration to the shortest possible completion duration for the project. Annotate your plots showing the optimum conditions.

Normal Crash Prior Dur (day) Cost Cost Activity A Dur (day) 2 none 4 B A 5 2 A 6 3 $3,000 $5,000 $7,000 $2,500 $3,000 $5,000 $10,000 $8,000 $10,000 $4,000 $10,000 $9,000 D A 9 5 E C 6 3 F B, C 8 6 Indirect costs per day = $750 Normal Crash Prior Dur (day) Cost Cost Activity A Dur (day) 2 none 4 B A 5 2 A 6 3 $3,000 $5,000 $7,000 $2,500 $3,000 $5,000 $10,000 $8,000 $10,000 $4,000 $10,000 $9,000 D A 9 5 E C 6 3 F B, C 8 6 Indirect costs per day = $750