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Retrofit projects are becoming increasingly more important as owners face economic and environmental constraints on grassroots projects. This article is n exploratory study that lists management, engineering, and construction techniques that can be effective in avoiding, mitigating, or controlling problems caused by retrofit project constraints. Specific examples of these techniques are included that show how they contributed to the success or failure of specific retrofit projects; this article also tabulates the lessons learned by professionals who have applied these techniques to retrofit projects. It cannot be overemphasized that this study focuses on the constraints that make retrofit projects so much more difficult than new construction projects. We therefore did not attempt to rediscover the basic principles of project management that apply to all jobs, both grassroots and retrofit, but neither did we ignore the basic principles when they were critical to success. We also identify several factors that seem to be essential to the success of retrofit projects. Because of the lack of available retrofit project management information, and the increasing number of retrofit projects, the Construction Industry Institute (IC) funded a task force to conduct this study [5].
RETROFIT PROJECTS
The retrofit project can be defined many ways. For the sake of uniformity and to place appropriate bounds on our. research, we define the retrofit project according to this description:
A retrofit project is the modification or conversion (not a complete replacement) of an existing process, facility, or structure. Such modification may involve additions, deletions, rearrangements or not-in-kind replacements of one or more parts of the facility. Changes may alter the kind, quantity, cost, or quality of the products or services being produced by the facility [5].
The retrofit project is different from the grassroots project in many ways. By definition, a retrofit project involves an existing facility. Working in an existing facility imposes constraints on the owners, operators, designers, and constructors. These constraints include insufficient information, physical limitations, and operational constraints related to the existing facility. All projects have constraints, but a retrofit project is unique because the degree of freedom available to all parties is limited. Appropriate management and technical methodologies might solve, mitigate, or circumvent problems caused by these constraints and thus reduce project costs, shorten schedules, and achieve other project...