[mikerichards]

I'm not sure it's even possible to sell a good percentage of managers on the needs of a refactor no matter how good your arguments are. Many of them either don't have the technical chops to even understand the need for major refactorings (no matter how much you "educate" them), or consider the technical debt accumulation an acceptable risk vs a perceived low ROI with refactoring.

My advice: Don't tell them unless you think you have to rewrite the whole thing or huge chunks of it. Refactor as you go, and adjust your estimates accordingly.

[kluck]

Good advice, but when you give "correct" estimates (not pessimistic but realistic) you may be perceived as beeing a slow programmer.