Standards & Frameworks
SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol
The Society of Construction Law's Delay and Disruption Protocol is widely cited guidance offering a common vocabulary and a set of recognized delay-analysis methods -- not a binding rule unless a contract expressly incorporates it.
Definition
First published in 2002 and revised since, the Protocol's central principle is a preference for contemporaneous schedule updates over reconstructions built long after the fact wherever possible. It recognizes several delay-analysis methods -- including Impacted As-Planned, Time Impact Analysis, Windows Analysis, As-Planned vs. As-Built, and Collapsed As-Built -- without declaring any one of them universally correct, explicitly stating that method choice depends on the facts available, the contract terms, and the forum. It also treats loss of productivity (disruption) as a distinct category from schedule delay, most closely associated with measured mile analysis.
Example
A contract that expressly incorporates the SCL Protocol may require delay claims to be analyzed using one of its recognized methods, giving both parties a shared reference point for what a defensible analysis looks like.