Delay claims on capital construction projects are on the rise. Whether the extension of time requests where due denied access, delayed approvals, disruption of progress, unforeseen site condition, sever weather conditions, redo work, late material deliveries, non-availability of resources, interference by others among others, they all need to use the updated project cost-loaded schedules to analyze the time impact that those actions had. This requires ensuring that the periodical schedule updates are formally submitted, reviewed and approved. In addition, the approved schedule update will become the basis for reporting the project’s progress and sometimes to quantify the amount due for the interim payment certificate.
Similar to any other technical submittal or work inspection request, having a pre-defined checklist of items to be checked before the cost-loaded schedule update is approved is important. Not only it will ensure that all items required for a schedule update are formally reviewed and approved, but also eliminates arguments that could stem from carrying out such review. Specification section 01 32 17.00 20 would usually detail the requirement for baseline schedule and periodical updates and revisions requirements. For example, the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) has developed detailed checklists to review the integrated baseline schedule as well as monthly schedule updates. For the Contractor Monthly Update Schedule Review Checklist, there are 90 items to be reviewed and approved. Those are grouped as general, project requirements and setting, earned value, project calendars, WBS and codes, and schedule.
Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb the Contractor Monthly Update Schedule Review Checklist process will be managed. This requires creating the checklist input template using PMWeb form builder. The header of the form will include details on the project, contractor, baseline schedule, current schedule and periodical update. The header will also include the checklist status which will be automatically updated from the workflow.
Since the Contractor Monthly Update Schedule Review Checklist template will be initiated by the contractor submitting the periodical schedule update, the template will include a disclaimer statement stating that “The Contractor certify that checklist was accurately completed, and update schedule: Accurately represents; Contractor’s plan on how work will be accomplished as of data date, and How work was accomplished and how it was sequenced (as-built) prior data date. Will be used to plan and track progress up to next schedule update, and is Contract compliant.”.
For each section of the template, there will be items that need to be verified by the contractor by selecting the response as “Yes”. For items responded as “No”, there will be considered as non-compliant. The contractor will be required to provide separate written correspondence request for specific item variance consideration, and the project owner review and approval might accept to change those items to non-contractual “NA” status.
For all required Primavera P6 reports saved in PDF file format, screen shots, Daily Reported Activity PMWeb Monthly Summary Report and other supportive documents need to be uploaded and attached to the checklist submission. Section 01 Reports of the checklist will list all required reports and screen shots to accompany the checklist.
The form will also include a workflow to map the review and approval tasks to be carried out by the project owner team after the contractor’s planning engineer submits the Contractor Monthly Update Schedule Review Checklist along with all supportive documents. This submission will be the contractor’s certification that the checklist was accurately completed, and that the update schedule accurately represents the Contractor’s plan on how work will be accomplished as of data date, and How work was accomplished and how it was sequenced (as-built) prior data date. The certification will also include the confirmation that the updated schedule will be used to plan and track progress up to next schedule update, and the schedule is contract compliant.
Finally, and as a good practice, it is always recommended to import the approved updated contractor’s schedule created in Primavera P6 or MS Project into PMWeb schedule module. This will enable the project owner to use this data in reporting the project’s performance for which schedule status and percent complete will be part of the performance dashboard which will also include performance data on budget, contracts, risk, issues, quality, HSE, submittals among others.
In addition, having all schedules captured and stored in PMWeb will enable the project owner to create reports to compare the different schedule update versions include the baseline schedule. This comparison will enable to report variance on schedule’s activities start and finish dates, duration and total float values.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with 40-year service record providing project management, project controls services and project management information system to over than 200 projects with a total value in excess of US $100 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment, Hospitality and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, 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 in topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 40 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 300 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.