AEC definitions
Force account is a way to pay for extra work using set rates for labor, equipment, and materials, plus a stated markup, when the parties cannot agree on a lump sum or a unit price in time. It is common in public works and DOT specifications. Daily records are the payment.
Definition
The specification publishes how labor burden, equipment rates, and material invoices are counted, and what percentage is added. The inspector or engineer often must verify the hours on the day they are worked. Force account is time and materials under that public specification. It is not a blank approval of whatever crew showed up. Unauthorized force-account work is as unpaid as any other extra. The owner who directs it should say so in writing before the cost runs.
In depth
A change, a differing site condition, or a directed extra is the entitlement. Force account only prices it. Starting the crew without direction does not create the entitlement.
If a unit price already covers the item, the spec usually says to use the unit price, not force account.
Equipment rates may follow a named guide. Labor may be actual wages plus a listed burden. Substituting a private T&M sheet on a DOT job misprices the work.
Markup on subcontractors may differ from markup on the prime's own forces. The spec will say.
The inspector signs the daily extra-work report. Materials are attached with invoices. A reconstructed week is often rejected even when the work was real.
Idle equipment and a crew larger than the work needs will be challenged. Record what was required.
A force-account authorization can include a not-to-exceed amount. Hitting it means stop and reauthorize. The method is cost-based. The ceiling is a management limit.
Convert to a unit price or lump sum when the quantity becomes predictable. Force account is a poor way to pay a long, repeatable operation.
If a private subcontract says force account, define the rates in the subcontract.
Do not assume the public spec's percentages apply. If the subcontract says T&M, use that term and that rate sheet.
Examples
An unclassified obstruction is directed as force account. The inspector signs daily labor and equipment. Payment follows the DOT rate rules.
A unit-price item already covers the excavation. The engineer rejects a force-account ticket for the same work.
The authorization is NTE a stated amount. The contractor stops at the cap and waits for a revised order.
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