Float — the spare time available on non-critical activities in a construction programme — is one of the most contentious concepts in delay analysis. Core Principles 8 and 9 of the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol address how float should be identified and how its consumption should be treated when delay events occur.
Total float is the amount of time by which a non-critical activity can be delayed without affecting the project completion date. Free float is the amount of time by which an activity can be delayed without affecting any successor activity. Both concepts are derived from the logic of the programme and the durations of the constituent activities. A delay expert witness will routinely calculate float values from the contractor's accepted baseline and updated programmes.
The Protocol's position on ownership is clear and consistent with most international authority: float belongs to the project, not to either party. This means that whichever party first encounters a delay event that consumes float is entitled to use it. The contractor cannot ringfence float for its exclusive benefit, and the employer cannot insist that the contractor compress activities to release float that the employer can then consume without compensation.
The practical consequence is that an employer-risk event that consumes float on a non-critical path does not entitle the contractor to an EOT, because the completion date is unaffected. However, if that same event later contributes to critical-path delay (for example because subsequent events exhaust the remaining float), the contractor may be entitled to an EOT at that later point.
In Middle Eastern arbitrations, float disputes are common in two contexts. The first is where the contractor has front-loaded its programme to create artificial float buffers; tribunals will often look behind such programmes to identify the contractor's true intended sequence. The second is where the employer or engineer applies a 'first in time' rule mechanically without regard to the actual critical path at the relevant time.
A properly trained delay expert witness will analyse float by reference to the contemporaneous programme as it stood at the time of each delay event, and will be transparent about the assumptions made. Float is a calculated value, not a contractual entitlement — and treating it as such avoids many of the disputes that arise in this area.