Definable Features of Work
Construction terms, explained
What Is a Definable Feature of Work (DFOW)?
A discrete, measurable, physical part of a construction project, used as the unit for tracking progress.
A definable feature of work (DFOW) is a discrete, measurable, physical part of a construction project — such as a floor's concrete slab, a building's structural steel frame, or a wing's interior drywall — used as the unit for tracking progress. The term comes from federal and heavy-civil construction practice (standard on USACE and other government contracts) but applies to any project where you want to know, concretely, how much of the actual building is done, not just how many schedule days have passed.
Why it matters
A schedule activity like "Framing, Level 2" tells you when work is planned. A DFOW tells you what physical thing that work produces and how much of it exists right now. Linking the two is what makes earned value management possible. Without that link, "percent complete" is a guess. With it, it is a measurement.
How Jig uses DFOW
Every schedule activity in Jig can be linked to one or more DFOW items. As field crews report progress against those items, Jig's EVM calculations (see Earned Value Management) update automatically.
New to the terminology? The construction project management glossary covers CPI, SPI, EAC and the rest in plain language.
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