18th April 2006, 10:09 AM
Missed out on the start of this thread, but a v interesting one. As Dr Wardle has said, a contracting unit should already have made a judgement about how long the site should take to excavate. If the digging team is more effecicient, then (assuming the cost was fixed) there is a readily available hypothetical sum which theorectically could be shared among those responsible for the cost saving. It could be that the contract to the unit itself could incorporate some sort of bonus for early satisfactory conclusion of the archaeological works (clients occasionally paying out interest payments etc on the land, so faster completion = cost saving). I'm not saying it would be easy to incorporate, just floating an idea.
Of the Clan Sutton
Of the Clan Sutton