Project Controls For Construction Projects

How can you control construction agendas, specialist team's reports as well as your own higher level business intelligence?

Knowing the true status of the project in construction, these days aren't just challenging, the lack thereof has become an expense load for project developers/clients/project sponsors. These days we continuously observe how three amounts of poor control emerge in development companies or even project intensive institutions which ultimately result in significant, unexpected losses.

Contractors

Due to a lack of requirements when it comes to construction schedules the next tend to happen:

(a) Contractors regularly submit low quality construction schedules which are totally unfit for good planning, improvement dimension as well as control or;

(b) Contractors are extremely well-versed in expensive appointment scheduling software which they provide really complicated agendas. These contractors have all the control as well as teams don't have any choice but to depend on these details, often in their own peril once the contractor starts posting claims for extension of time.

Think about a business exactly where we obligate the contractor to make their own bill of quantities and value the work in lack of any regular system for dimension. Contractors might simply create their very own trades and make their very own underlying assumptions of what is and isn't contained in their rates. Think of the chaos! And yet this really is the way the industry presently handles them. We place this responsibility within the lap of the contractor in lack of any standards of methods a schedule needs to be compiled and just what underlying presumptions can be created by all parties taking a look at a schedule.

Specialist teams (Level 2)

Alternatively, most Professionals on the project are highly trained of their specific trades and incredibly seldom hold the required, modern expertise or even time to scrutinize and attempt a contractor's schedule and set up an effective control facility. Whether a specialist submits a poor schedule or perhaps a highly complex one doesn't actually matter, the end result is the same:

(a) The team isn't clear on what is communicated through the contractor in the updated schedule, nor would they make a meaningful feeling of his 100-page improvement reports.

(b) The team is dependent on the contractor who gradually spreads his info. He is able to change and mask it by any means he believes fit. Teams sit along with poor info on which to create decisions or even measure the true difference often leading to disputes or even sudden awareness of project failure, often happening when it's far too late to consider any remedial actions.

Developer/Project Intensive Establishment (Level 3)

Regarding developing companies, the following is true for his or her project control performance:

(a) Some depend heavily on their own particular professional teams to provide all of them with proper reporting as well as project controls. Even though some of those teams might be highly trained, you will find mostly too little standardized control in between teams and every project team has their own individual, predetermined reporting systems according to their organization standard.

(b) Other establishments acquire state-of-the-art control methods on the senior level within their organization for extreme fees. Often these systems by no means fulfil their intended role simply because they cannot perform effectively without correct project controls systems applied on Level 2 and 1 mentioned previously.

Natural approach

The solution is exactly what our co-workers within the medical fraternity named the "holistic approach". A physician performing surgery on the serious leg fracture for example, only manages a part of the "health care" you will get. Healthcare as a alternative system needs post-operative care, rehab treatment with a physio etc. You can't attend therapy in isolation as well as expect your own fracture to heal. Nor can we expect great results by only having surgery and seeking to one-leg it home shortly after.

Project Controls are the exact same. For institutions seeking to have better control, appropriate construction schedules much better making decisions, additional time to take remedial actions, stick to good corporate governance principles, audit performance, close to disputes and lower the price of development, they need to implement steps and systems on the 3 levels.