One of the reasons for change orders that are attributed to the site supervision consultant’s action is the inappropriate rejection of the contractor’s completed works on site. The causes for such rejection could be unclear inspection requirements, additional inspection requirements not by what is specified, and others. Nevertheless, since there is no direct agreement between the site supervision consultant and the contractor, the project owner will become the party liable for those change orders which carry additional costs and delays to the project completion date.
One of the proven practices to reduce the likelihood of the inappropriate rejection of the contractor’s completed works risk is the adoption of predefined site inspection checklists that are designed to assist site inspectors in performing inspections of construction works. Those checklists need to be comprehensive and should include every item that must be inspected to verify compliance with the applicable contract’s technical specification requirements. Those checklists will be continuously improved to cover additional items that need to be inspected.
Examples of work inspection requests include Survey Works, Excavation Works, Backfilling, Blinding Concrete Work, Cast In Place Concrete, Anti-Termite, Blockwork, Acrylic Painting Works on Concrete Surface, Acrylic Painting Works on Gypsum Surface, Internal Painting, Oil Base Paint, Ceramic/Porcelain Tiling, Epoxy Painting Works on Concrete Surface, Epoxy Painting Works on Metal Surface, Waterproofing Works, Polyurethane paints on Wood Surface, Cement Plastering among many others.
Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the organization can develop and implement a comprehensive site inspection checklists module that can be used across their complete projects portfolio. Depending on the specification standard adopted by the organization, for example, the Construction Specification Institute (CSI) standard, the organization will require their engineering consultants, design, and supervision, the develop and continuously improve the content of those checklists to Fulfill the site inspection requirements which are an integral part of those specifications.
PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create those Request for Inspection checklists. For each specification section, there will be a separate form with all items that need to be inspected by the engineering consultant. The form will have the CSI Division and CSI Code set by default depending on the CSI code that the inspection form belongs to. The form will have fields for the inspection location which will be picked from a predefined list of values and the WBS level that includes the items being inspected as well as the project schedule activity that the inspection relates to. In addition, the form will include a field for the cost breakdown structure associated with the inspected scope of work.
The inspection items list will have two inspection status fields. The first is for the Contractor to confirm that the item to be inspected had been inspected by the Contractor and confirm it complies with the contract’s specification and is ready for the Engineering Consultant’s inspection. The second field will be completed by the site supervision inspector to verify if the work is by the contract requirements. The value will be either pass or fail. In addition, the form will include a field for comments or remarks made by the site supervision inspector.
Since PMWeb is a zero-footprint application, the Request for Inspection Checklist can be accessed using any browser or any mobile device such as an iPad among others. PMWeb is also responsive design enabled so the form will fit automatically on the displayed screen. Using the form on a mobile device also allows the user to take and attach pictures and videos as well as use the “Speech-to-Text” option to fill the text fields of the form.
The attachment tab will be used to upload and attach pictures and other documents that are relevant to the completed site inspection. If a mobile device like an iPad or any other smart device was used to access PMWeb, the user will be automatically advised if he/she wants to take a picture or video when the add attachment button is selected.
A workflow will be assigned to the site inspection form where it could be submitted by the contractor team member requesting the inspection and the next step would be the contractor’s Quality Assurance (QA) representative who will confirm the compliance of what is being requested with the contract requirements by completing the Contractor “Pass/Fail” field. The contractor’s Quality Assurance (QA) representative can either submit to the site supervision consultant for approval if all items have passed or return to the form initiator to rectify all failed items and resubmit.
The data captured from the site inspection forms will provide the organization with a real-time single version of truth monitoring and evaluation of site inspection performance. The site inspection performance dashboard will have a filter to select the project to be reported on as well as the CSI division that the request for inspections was made. For each CSI division, the request for inspections will be grouped and visualized by CSI 6-digit code, the location where the inspection was made, and the company who have initiated the inspection request. The dashboard will also include a log of all requests for inspections made from the selected CSI division. Of course, the layout and the format of the dashboard can be designed in other desired formats depending on the organization’s performance reporting requirements.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with more than 35-year service record providing project management and control services to over 100 projects with a total value of over the US $5 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, and Telecommunication and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training, and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker on topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management, and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 35 years, he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and South America. He has written more than 250 articles on project management and project management information systems that were featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP), and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA and London Business School, London, UK.