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TF = LS − ES (or LF − EF). It is the amount an activity can slip without delaying project completion. Zero-float activities form the critical path.

Free float is slippage available without delaying the successor’s early start (FF = ES(succ) − EF); total float is slippage available without delaying the project. FF ≤ TF always.

A constraint (e.g. contractual finish) earlier than the network can achieve. Response: recovery — re-sequence, crash critical activities, or formally re-baseline with approval.

With out-of-sequence progress: retained logic keeps remaining work behind incomplete predecessors (conservative); progress override lets it proceed (aggressive). It can swing the critical path materially.

DCMA-14 style checks: missing logic, dangles, leads/lags abuse, constraints count, high float, negative float, long durations, invalid dates, resource loading, critical path integrity.

You earn ₹0.85 per rupee spent — a 15% cost inefficiency. At 30% this rarely self-corrects: identify variance drivers by work package, quantify EAC (BAC/CPI), brief the sponsor, and act on the drivers or re-baseline.

The first assumes current cost performance continues (systemic variance); the second treats variance as one-off and remaining work per plan. Choose based on the cause of variance.

Efficiency needed on remaining work to hit a target: (BAC−EV)/(BAC−AC). Above ~1.10 is generally unachievable — it tells the sponsor whether the budget promise is still credible.

Rules of credit tied to measurable outputs: quantities installed vs total, weighted milestones per deliverable, 0/100 or 50/50 for short activities. Never unverified assessor opinion.

Time Impact Analysis — insert the delay fragnet into the current updated programme and measure movement of completion. It is prospective, contemporaneous, and preferred by most protocols for EOT assessment.

Employer and contractor delay events affecting the critical path in the same window. Common treatment (English-law influenced): time granted, money not — but it varies by jurisdiction and contract.

Contemporaneous ones: updated programmes, daily reports with manpower/locations, photos, correspondence, notices served on time, and minutes. Reconstructed narratives lose to records.

Report accurately — integrity is non-negotiable in controls. Offer to pair the bad news with a recovery plan and options; escalate through the dotted line (PMO/controls manager) if pressured.

Make it useful to them: build it around their execution plan, keep look-aheads short and practical, deliver answers fast (what-if runs), and give them credit when the plan works.

Surface the conflict transparently with the impact of each option (time/cost/resource), ask for a joint decision, and record it. Never silently pick one.