Having a formal Performance Evaluation and Appraisal for contractors provides project owners with valuable knowledge that is essential for future procurements. Performance Evaluations and Appraisals will be usually prepared following the completion of the work associated with a contract.
Performance Evaluations should include an evaluation concerning the quality of the work; whether the work is being completed in a timely fashion; whether the work is being completed in a financially responsible and efficient manner; whether the work is being completed by applicable laws and regulations; whether the entity performing the work is interacting in a responsive, practical, and efficient manner with project owner staff; whether work is being performed with an appropriate focus on safety; and whether the entity performing the work is approaching the change order and claims adjustment process reasonably.
Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb allows for creating the Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal form in a form and format that matters to the project owner. The appraisal form will usually have two parts. The first will be used to capture general information on the contractor being appraised such as contractor name, contractor’s project manager name, contract’s scope of work, planned and actual substantial completion, original and revised contract value, and any other details that could be needed.
The second part will be to capture the performance data. This will identify the performance categories that matter most for the project owner when it comes to evaluating and appraising the contractor’s performance during the project. Each performance category could have a different weight than other categories depending on the project owner’s priorities. For each category, the assessor will score the performance on a 5-point score where 1= Inadequate; 2= Deficient; 3= Standard; 4= Good; and 5= Superior. The appraisal table will also include a field to capture any comments made by the assessor.
Of course, the contractor’s performance appraisal can address different performance measures depending on what matters most for the project owner. The form below was also created using PMWeb custom form builder with the option of visual design assesses each contractor’s performance against ten performance measures covering Time Management, Financial Management, Health and Safety, Management of Sub-contractors, Quality of Workmanship, Progress in Making Good Defects, Collaborative Approach, Contractor Performance, Contractor Design, and Customer Satisfaction. Each performance measure is assessed on the 6-point score for which “5” for Excellent, “4” for Good, “3” for Average, “2” for Below Average, “1” for Poor, and “0” for Unacceptable.
The attachment tab will be used to upload, store and attach all supportive documents used in the contractor’s evaluation and appraisal. Some of those documents could be specific to one or many of the performance categories used for the assessment.
The Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal form workflow will ensure that the appraisal is reviewed and approved by the right project team members. Should there be a requirement for the appraisal to be done by different project team members, different tables will be created to group the relevant performance categories to allow assigning different team members for each group. In addition, the form could include fields for the final appraisal recommendations for which access can be restricted to specific individuals who are part of the workflow.
The Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal report will display the performance appraisal data captured in the form along with other information that has been designed in the report to provide a better explanation of each performance category. The report will also calculate the overall appraisal score achieved by the contractor.
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 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.