TOOLS TO MANAGE SCOPE, TIME AND COST IN AN EPC CONTRACT

Mimoune djouallahmimoune.djouallah@gmail.com

http://www.plannertuts.com/author/minoune-djouallah /

The Purpose The purpose of this presentation is the

description of the process for Project Controls (covering engineering, procurement and construction) for the execution small size projects

The tools are developed as database systems, with a clear separation between datasets and reports.

Excel was used for simplicity, but for more data integrity it is advisable to use RDMS ( Like MS Access )

The Approach

The approach used in this presentation : There is no real time integration or one system to

manage the different process. instead every process is managed using a

separate tool, the integration is done using well defined interface.

The data generated from different process is integrated in one place to generate Reports, curves, and dashboards.

All the stakeholder must agree before the start of the project on the interfaces and the level of the details and integration between the different process.

The interfaces WBS : Work Breakdown structure. CBS : Cost Breakdown structure. AREA : a geographic division of the plant. Workpackage is a group of deliverables. - Construction: Group of items ( building, piperack). - Engineering : Group of drawing. - Procurement : Group of equipment, material etc. Task_Code is a standard activity with efficiency and

physical quantity SCOPE_ID is the business rule primary key It is a concatenation of Area, Task_Code and Workpackage Steps is further detail of Task_code to basic activities

WBS

Level 1 & 2 L1 : the project. L2 : Phase (General, Engineering,

Procurement, Construction, Precommissioning, Commissioning, Start-up, Handover.

Level 3 : General

L4 : Milestones, Management L5 : - Milestones are split between contractual Milestones and Project Milestones. - Management is split between the different Department output for the project.

Level 3 : Engineering

L4 : Disciplines L5 : Work Packages

Level 3 : Procurement

L4 : Subcontract, Long lead items, Disciplines ( auxiliary, Civil ) and Bulk Materials.

L5 : Work Packages ( group of equipment)

Level 3: Construction

L4 : Zone L5 : Area L6 : Work Packages

Level 3: Precom, Commissioning

L4 : systems

Tools SCOPE: provide The whole scope of work(EPC),

including manhours and quantities Schedule: Time Management ( Planning software) PRT : Progress reporting and tracking, excel

tool to managed update progress and reporting Time_Sheet: The manhours spent in Construction. Job Card : detailed Progress report at level 5 DPR : Document Progress Register. PSR : Procurement status report. Cost : Cost Control is managed by Separate tool.

Task_Code

  Task_Code Descipline Task Class Unique identifierLevel   L1 L2 L3  XXXXXX XX XX XX         Example CV1020 CV 10 20

    CivilConcrete Works Foundation Civil Works

  CV1060 CV 10 60

    CivilConcrete Works Pipe support Civil Works

         

Task_Code : is a unique six digit Code. It is the concatenation of Discipline, Task

Class and a unique identifier The efficiency per Task_Code is a based

on a historical data of the company.

SCOPE

SCOPE is a live List incorporating all new update to the scope of works (EPC).

The integration between the planning software and SCOPE is using SCOPE_ID.

When there is a significant change in Scope of Work, the Planning software is update from SCOPE

SCOPE Flow Chart

SCOPE_ID

SCOPE ( Budget manhours, Quantities, weightage to the client as by the contract

revenue)

Construction ITEM List

Document Progress Register

Procurement Status Report

SCOPE_IDSCOPE_ID

Construction

Productivity database

Master Schedule Level 4

SCOPE_ID

Contract Value

PRT The data in the PRT is mapped at the

activity level in The Planning software, basically it is the same schedule but handled in a separate spreadsheet.

It is easier to record period performance in excel then in a planning software.

Anyone with basic Excel skills, can update the progress and produce reports without the need to operate a Planning software.

PRT ( Progress Reporting and Tracking) Flow Chart

PRT (Progress Reporting and Tracking)Weekly

Planning software (Weekly, Or Monthly)

Progress report

S Curve

Invoice

SCOPE_ID

Time sheet

ProductivityInternal Report

Cost

Dates by CBS

WBS

Job Card

Procurement register

Engineering Register

Planning software Planning software is used only to manage time, by using the

CPM calculation. In the initial baseline, load the physical quantities to level your

production output. A hammock can be used to split an Activity assigned to

SCOPE_ID The Frequency of updating the schedule, depend if you want to

generate a Forecast curve, Weekly or Monthly. The actual start, actual finish ( the facts) are imported from PRT. There is no magic formula to generate remaining duration, talk

to the guy doing the work, he is the best one to provide this information.

After scheduling, the new forecast dates are exported to PRT, to generate the forecast data.

Any planning tool can be used (MS Project, Primavera, etc). Never Ever input dates directly in Excel !!!!!

Time Sheet

For the sake of simplification the spent hours in the site will be recorded only by subcontractor, but in order to have a more accurate Productivity analysis, the hours should be at least recorded at the Subcontractor/ discipline level.

The data is recorded in a daily basis, the productivity factor in a weekly basis.

The time sheet records the roles by direct and indirect.

Cost

Cost control is a separate process. The cost breakdown structure is implemented using

the activity codes in the planning software. The spread of cost by cost account is done using the

dates from the schedule. PRT generate progress report by CBS, it should be

considered as an approximation, as progress based on cost weight and revenue weight are little bit different.

It is important to avoid the use the “best guess method” in distributing cost data.

The more CBS is detailed the more the distribution is accurate.

The Weight Factor

Engineering and construction the budget is in manhours.

Procurement the budget is the cost. The revenue Factor Revenue = Budget X Factor The overall Progress (EPC) is based on

the contract Value.

Reporting Format

The Primary Progress reports for the client are based on the WBS.

For different audience, there is a different reports.

1. By Contractor.2. By discipline.3. By Work Package4. By systems.

Effective reporting

Separate datasets from the reports. Never Hard Code a report Understand your Primary key. Use codes, standardize your codifications. Always prepare and generate data as

database. Pivot table in Excel is very powerful reporting

utility. Automatize your workflow, manual data entry

is a waste of time. Use both WBS and activity codes for

maximum flexibility in reporting.

Change Management Two Approaches1- Keep two revision of PRT. Stable Revision issued to the client, the

budget is frozen. An internal live revision incorporating the

latest changes from SCOPE.2- update the current schedule with the latest data from SCOPE ( without adding weightage) The period performance ( % complete) does

not change, as it is calculated in the JOB CARD using always the latest update from Construction ITEM LIST

PS : I added a new Excel file Project

dashboard, it is much easier to use, and all the calculation are automated